Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbySeptember 14th, 2011
TODAY’S AGENDA:
AIDS Walks This Weekend: Cranbrook, BC; Detroit, MI; Edmunton, AB; Hamilton, ON; Hazelton, BC; Kamloops, BC; Kingston, ON; London, ON; Nelson, BC; Niagara, ON; North Bay, ON; Prince George, BC; Rochester, NY; Sacramento, CA; Saskatoon, SK; Sydney, NS; and Vancouver, BC.
Pride Celebrations This Weekend: Dallas, TX; eKurhuleni, South Africa; Hartford, CT; Honolulu, HI; Las Vegas, NV; Modesto, CA; Rehoboth Beach, DE; Roanoke, VA; Sapporo, Japan; Stratford, ON; and Valdosta, GA.
Also This Weekend: North Louisiana Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Shreveport, LA.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Disgusting Depravity: 1822. The following notice appeared in the September 14, 1822 edition of The Times of London:
DISGUSTING DEPRAVITY — On Monday last Benjamin Candler, late valet to the Duke of Newcastle, was committed to Lincoln Castle by Sir R. Heron, Bart., charged with an unnatural offence. On the same day was committed to the same place by the Alderman of Grantham, William Arden, Esq., of Great Pultney-street, Golden-square, London, charged with the same offence; and on Tuesday was committed to the Castle , by the Alderman of Grantham, John Doughty, of Grantham, joiner, charged with the same. A discovery of the abominable intercourse which had been carried on it, it is stated, was made through the circumstance of a letter from Rantham, intended for the valet at Clumber, but accidentally not addressed on the outside, falling into the hands of the Dike of Newcastle. His Grace, on discovering the nature of the contents, proceeded with due caution for furthering the purposes of justice, and the consequence has been the commitment of the above persons to Lincoln Castle for trial at the next assizes. The person committed as an Esquire, was apprehended in London after the first examination of the others at Grantham, and was brought down in safe custody in one of the mail coaches on Sunday morning. We understand that he had apartments at Grantham during the last hunting season.
The “unnatural offence” was a capital crime, and the three men were hanged at Lincoln Castle on March 21, 1823.
ACT-UP Protests At NY Stock Exchange: 1989. Chaining themselves to a banister at the New York Stock Exchange and unfurling a sign reading “SELL WELLCOME,” five AIDS activists protested the price the Burroughs Wellcome had set for the price of AZT, the only drug that had been approved in the U.S. to fight AIDS. Burroughs Wellcome had been charging from $7,000 to $8,000 per year for the drug, which was far beyond the ability for many people to pay. Four days later, Burroughs Wellcome announced a twenty percent reduction in the wholesale price of the drug. A spokesman denied that the announcement was connected to the high profile protest.
Another one for his fans.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:
Ben Cohen: 1978. The former England Rugby Union player for Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks, Cohen was already a well-liked gay icon before retiring from professional rugby earlier this year. He often speaks highly of his gay following, a fan base which he has rewarded by almost never wearing a shirt (or so it seems). In 2010, he released this video as part of the “It Gets Better” project, and since retiring, he has devoted his time to the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, which he established as the world’s first foundation dedicated to combating anti-gay bulling and homophobia. He was inspired by two things in his life: his father was killed when he stood up for an employee who was being attacked, and Cohen’s clinical deafness (he has about a 33% hearing loss in each ear) has made him keenly aware of how being different can make someone stand out.
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. PLEASE, don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).
And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?
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jpeckjr
September 14th, 2011
There’s a Pride event in Valdosta, Georgia?! Speaking as a native Georgian, who’d a thunk it? I mean, just who’d a thunk it! Hoping it all goes wonderfully well.
james
September 14th, 2011
Jim, I always love your history stories. Now let me see if I understand what happened in 1822.
Mr. William Arden of London, a gentleman of some social rank, visited Grantham during the last hunting season, renting some accommodations. While there, he met and engaged in depravity with Mr. Benjamin Candler, a valet who worked for the Duke of Newcastle, and Mr. John Doughty, a skilled woodworker.
Someone from Grantham — Mr. Doughty perhaps — wrote a letter to Mr. Candler either thanking him for the good depravity or suggesting further depravity or denouncing the depravity they had already shared with Mr. Arden. Anyway, Mr. Candler’s boss, the Duke of Newcastle, read the letter and turned them all in for depravity. A few months later they were all executed.
I shall think of these men today with sadness and respect. I imagine it was equally shocking that Mr. Arden would consort in any way with two men of social classes lower than his. I am reminded of the movie “Maurice” in which essentially the same story is told.
Timothy (TRiG)
September 14th, 2011
1822 isn’t really that long ago, when you stop to think about it.
Typo: chargign.
TRiG.
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