Lemon Tree Casino Blackpool

June 22

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431 – Paulinus of Nola also known as Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus died on this date. He was a Roman Senator who converted to a severe monasticism in 394. Paulinus was from a notable senatorial family with possessions in Aquitaine, northern Spain, and southern Italy. He was educated in Bordeaux, where his teacher, the poet Ausonius, also became his very special friend. Letters from Paulinus to Ausonius have led to speculation that they had a homosexual relationship. He was a patron of the arts and eventually became Bishop of Nola. He helped to resolve the disputed election of Pope Boniface I, and was canonized as a saint.

Peter Pears (R) with Benjamin Britten

1910 – Peter Pears, the great English Tenor and muse for (and partner of) Benjamin Britten, was born on this date (d.1986). It used to be said, politely of course, that the English tenor was the companion of Benjamin Britten. Since 'companion' seems to conjure up an image of two old ladies in shawls, let's say, no less politely, but more vigorously, that the tenor and the composer were for many years devoted lovers.

For forty years Pears was the life partner of Britten, who wrote the leading roles in many of his operas and a number of song cycles with Pears as their intended interpreter. Their partnership is noteworthy not only for the vast body of music and recordings it produced, but also for the extent to which homosexual subjects figured in their work. As Poulenc did for Bernac, Britten wrote some of his most wonderful music for Pears, and Pears introduced Britten's songs and operas throughout the world. Together they worked indefatigably toward the creation of the Aldeburgh Festival, their musical child.

It has been said that Pears' voice is a 'quite unremarkable voice.' His voice was controversial, the vocal quality being unusual, described as 'dry' and 'white'. It was said, cruelly, that he had one good note, E-natural a third above middle C, which is why the crucial aria of Peter Grimes, 'Now the Great Bear and Pleiades', is mainly written on that note. His voice quality did not record well, but there is no doubt that he had unusually good articulation and vocal agility, of which Britten also took advantage. His place in the annals of music history will rest primarily on his association with Britten.

Pears was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, and died in Aldeburgh on April 3, 1986. He is buried there, next to Britten.

1922 – (William Ralph) Bill Blass (d.2002) was an American fashion designer, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is known for his tailoring and his innovative combinations of textures and patterns. He is the recipient of many fashion awards, including seven Coty Awards and the Fashion Institute of Technology's Lifetime Achievement Award (1999).

Bill Blass was the son of a dressmaker and a travelling hardware salesman. His father committed suicide when Bill was five, and afterwards Bill found refuge in the arts.

In his autobiography Blass wrote that the margins in his school books were filled with sketches of Hollywood-inspired fashions instead of notes. At fifteen, he began sewing, selling evening gowns for $25 each to a New York manufacturer. At 17 he had saved up enough money to move to Manhattan and study fashion. He excelled in his fashion studies immediately and at 18 was the first male to win Mademoiselle's Design for Living award. He spent his salary of $30 a week on clothing, shoes, and elegant meals.

In 1942 Blass enlisted in the army. He was assigned to the 603rd Camouflage Battalion with a group of writers, artists, sound engineers, theatre technicians, and other creative professionals. Their mission was to fool the German Army into believing the Allies were positioned in fake locations. They did this by using recordings, dummy tanks, and other false materials.

Blass began his New York fashion career in 1946. He was a protégé of Baron de Gunzburg – an influential fashion editor at Vogue and Harper's. In 1970, after two decades of success in menswear and womenswear, he bought Maurice Rentner Ltd., which he had joined in 1959, and renamed it Bill Blass Limited. Over the next 30 years he expanded his line to include swimwear, furs, luggage, perfume, and chocolate. By 1998, his company had grown to a $700-million-a-year business.

Blass's designs are best known for being wearable. In a time when other designers were designing clothes which were known more for being a work of art, Blass was designing clothing which even everyday women could wear day or night.

In New York, Blass is also remembered as a generous and influential supporter of AIDS treatment services since the late 1980s and was a major donor to Gay Men's Health Crisis at a time when prominent people were silent about AIDS.

In 1999 Blass sold Bill Blass Limited for $50 million and retired to his home in New Preston, Connecticut. Blass was diagnosed with oral/tongue cancer in 2000, not long after he began writing his memoirs. His cancer later became throat cancer and caused Blass's death in 2002. He died six days after completing his memoir, Bare Blass.

1930 – Paul Jacobs (d.1983) was an American pianist. He was best known for his performances of twentieth-century music but also gained wide recognition for his work with early keyboards, performing frequently with Baroque ensembles.

Paul Jacobs was born in New York City and attended school in the Bronx and studied at the Juilliard School, where his teacher was Ernest Hutcheson. He became a soloist with Robert Craft's Chamber Arts Society and played with the Composer's Forum. He made his official New York debut in 1951. Reviewing that concert, Ross Parmenter described him in The New York Times as 'a young man of individual tastes with an experimental approach to the keyboard that he already has mastered.'

He moved to France after his graduation in 1951. There he began his long association with Pierre Boulez, playing frequently in his Domaine musical concerts, which introduced many of the key works of the early twentieth-century to post-war Paris. At a single concert in 1954, which must have lasted close to five hours and also included works by Stravinsky, Debussy and Varèse, Jacobs contributed chamber music by Berg, Webern and Bartók and gave the première of a new work by Michel Philippot.

Tired of trying to live on $500 a year, he returned to New York in 1960 with the assistance of Aaron Copland who arranged for some teaching work. In November and December 1961 he gave a pair of Town Hall recitals, mixing Boulez and Copland, Stockhausen and Debussy. The New York Times described them as 'just about overwhelming ... make no mistake, Mr Jacobs is a virtuoso even in the traditional sense'.

During the 1960s and 1970s he continued to give solo recitals and played frequently for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He had a long collaboration with the American composer Elliott Carter, recording most of Carter's solo piano music and ensemble works with keyboard.

Sometime before April 1982, he began suffering from exhaustion and other symptoms of what was called the 'mystery disease' that appeared to afflict the homosexual male community. Shortly before his death in 1983, the disease was named AIDS, and Jacobs was one of its first prominent artist victims. At his funeral on September 27, 1983, Elliott Carter delivered a eulogy, recalling his friendship and collaboration with Jacobs dating back to the mid-1950s. A memorial concert held at New York's Symphony Space on February 24, 1984 was attended by some of America's most eminent composers and interpreters.

1953 – Ian Levine, English songwriter, producer, and DJ is also a well-known (and sometimes controversial) fan of the long-running television show Doctor Who. He was born in Blackpool, England.

Born into a Jewish family, his parents owned and ran the 'Lemon Tree' complex in Blackpool, including its casino and nightclub. Levine is openly gay.

Levine is most noted for his work in the music genres of pop, soul, disco, and Hi-NRG. He and songwriting partner Fiachra Trench were among the main figures in the development of the Hi-NRG style, writing and producing So Many Men So Little Time by Miquel Brown, and High Energy by Evelyn Thomas. During the 1980s and 1990s he mixed a huge amount of dance-pop hits including the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Kim Wilde, Bronski Beat, Bananarama, Tiffany, Dollar, Hazell Dean and founded his own groups: Seventh Avenue and Bad Boys Inc. He also wrote and produced for the highly successful UK boy band Take That and The Pasadenas. He has written and produced many TV themes.

Levine was also a resident DJ at the legendary London gay disco Heaven.

Levine claims to have the only complete set of DC Comics in the world, with at least one copy of each DC comic book sold at retail from the 1930s to present. The writer and comic book expert Paul Sassienie began cataloging, grading and certificating 'The Ian Levine' collection in May 2011.

He suffered a major stroke in July 2014, leaving him with severely limited movement on the left side of his body.

1953 – Cyndi Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT activist. Her career has spanned over 30 years. Her debut solo album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut female album to chart four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun', 'Time After Time', 'She Bop', and 'All Through the Night' earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number one hit of the same name and 'Change of Heart' which peaked at number 3.

Lauper has also been celebrated for her humanitarian work, particularly as an advocate for gay and transgender rights in the United States. Her charitable efforts were acknowledged in 2013 when the singer was invited as a special guest to attend President Barack Obama's second-term inaugural.

Lauper was born in Queens, New York to a Catholic family. Her father, Fred, was of German and Swiss descent. Her mother, Catrine (née Gallo), is Italian American (from Sicily).

At age 12, she began writing songs and playing an acoustic guitar given to her by her sister. Lauper expressed herself with a variety of hair colors, eccentric clothing and even took a friend's advice to spell her name as 'Cyndi' rather than 'Cindy'.

In the early 1970s, Lauper performed as a vocalist with various cover bands One was called Flyer in the New York metropolitan area, singing hits by bands including Bad Company, Jefferson Airplane and Led Zeppelin. Although Lauper was performing on stage, she was not happy singing covers. In 1977, Lauper damaged her vocal cords and took a year off from singing. She was told by doctors that she would never sing again, but regained her voice with the help of vocal coach Katie Agresta.

On October 14, 1983, Lauper released her first solo album, She's So Unusual. The album peaked at No. 4 in the US, and became a worldwide hit. Lauper became popular with teenagers and critics, in part due to her hybrid punk image which was crafted by stylist Patrick Lucas.

Lauper has been an LGBT rights supporter throughout her career, campaigning for equality through various charities and gay pride events around the world. Lauper stated that she became involved in gay rights advocacy because her sister Ellen was a lesbian and because Lauper herself was passionate about equality. Lauper's sister Ellen was a role model, actively participating in charity work in the gay community, including working at a clinic for AIDS patients.

The title track of Lauper's second album, 'True Colors', became an anthem of acceptance and inspiration, particularly for the gay community. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Lauper performed at pride events throughout America.

Her album Hat Full of Stars contains lyrics that address homophobia. Her song 'Above the Clouds' celebrates the memory of Matthew Shepard, a young man beaten to death in Wyoming solely because he was gay. Kinky Boots addresses the problems of acceptance for drag queens. As a member of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board, Lauper devoted a concert tour to promoting the Foundation's message of understanding and acceptance.

She co-founded the True Colors Tour for Human Rights throughout the United States and Canada in June 2007. The tour featured Lauper, Deborah Harry, Erasure, The Dresden Dolls, and Gossip, with Margaret Cho as MC. One dollar from each ticket was earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

The True Colors Tour 2008 debuted on May 31, 2008. Joining Lauper at various venues were a number of other artists including Rosie O'Donnell, The B-52's, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Joan Armatrading.

In April 2010, Lauper's True Colors Fund launched the Give a Damn campaign, highlighting the verbal and physical bullying and harassment faced by LGBT students as well as workplace prejudice.

Her song 'True Colors' is recognized by many as an LGBT anthem. Her many projects supporting LGBT rights made her a gay icon.

1961 – Jimmy Somerville, noted for his diminutive size and amazing voice, first shot to fame in the mid-1980s as the lead singer with the openly gay pop group of the time, Bronski Beat. Bronski Beat's first single, Smalltown Boy, which, along with its video, dealt with the problems of being gay in provincial Britain, was an instant success (reaching number three in the UK pop charts) and quickly established the group's reputation.

Born in Glasgow on June 22, 1961, Somerville was twenty-three when he formed Bronski Beat in 1984 as a collaboration with Steve Bronski and Larry Stenbachek. The three musicians met while they were working on a video by young gay men and lesbians entitled Famed Youth. It was during this project that Somerville realized that he could sing.

Bronski Beat's debut album Age of Consent (1984) included a pink triangle on the cover and listed the age of consent for gay sex in European countries on the inside sleeve as a means of calling attention to the disparity between British and Continental laws at that time. Consisting of a series of songs dealing with various aspects of gay life, the album sold more than a million copies.

In 1985 Bronski Beat teamed up with another gay singer, Marc Almond, to record a version of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love,' which was also a hit. After a series of disagreements over politics, Somerville left Bronski Beat in April 1985 and formed another group, The Communards, with another gay musician, Richard Coles. The music of The Communards was also politically tinged. It featured songs dealing with issues such as gay relationships ('There's More to Love than Boy Meets Girl,' 1987) and the loss of friends to AIDS ('For a Friend,' 1987).

Always up front about his sexuality and political affiliations, Somerville made no secret of the fact that he was an active member of the Labour Party Young Socialists and the Anti-Nazi League. It was no surprise that The Communards took part in a left wing collaboration, The Red Wedge tour, which actively supported the miners' strike against the closure of coal mines in the mid-1980s. When The Communards disbanded in 1988, Somerville spent some time in Los Angeles, where he channelled his political activities towards the fight against AIDS. He became an active member of the direct action organization ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power).

On his return to Britain, Somerville continued to work with ACT UP, using his celebrity status to highlight the AIDS epidemic and the plight of people with HIV. As a result of his activities with ACT UP, he was arrested in 1990.

In 1989 Somerville released his first solo album, entitled Read My Lips. The title referred to United States president George Herbert Bush's electoral promise not to raise taxes, which he subsequently broke. Not surprisingly, many of the songs on the album are overtly political. Commenting on the title song for an interview published in the program for his 1990 ACT UP tour of Britain, Somerville said,

With his strong tenor voice and ringing falsetto, Somerville appeared as an Elizabethan castrato singer in Sally Potter's 1992 film adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando.

Somerville's solo album Something to Live For (1999) includes 'Lay Down,' which is a paean to fellatio; while the title track of the album Manage the Damage (1999) is dedicated to Matthew Shepard, the young American college student who was killed in a homophobic murder.

1968 – Kevin Aviance (born Eric Snead in Richmond, Virginia) is an American female impressionist, Club/Dance musician, and fashion designer and nightclub personality. He is a very popular personality in New York City's gay scene and has performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He is a member of the House of Aviance, a local gay performer's group.

Aviance was raised in Richmond, Virginia, in a close-knit family of eight siblings. From an early age, Aviance dedicated himself to the study of music and theatre, his first experience in drag was in the seventh grade. His early influences were 'punk, Boy George, Devo, and Grace Jones'. He moved to Washington D.C. where he worked as a hairdresser and did drag performances

He developed a bad crack habit but with help of the House of Aviance, founded in Washington by Mother Juan Aviance in 1989, he was able to overcome it. After his initiation in the house he took the name Kevin Aviance.

On June 10, 2006 while exiting the Phoenix, a popular gay bar located in the East Village section of Manhattan, Aviance was robbed and beaten by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four suspects were arrested under New York's hate-crime law, but reports say up to seven men were involved in the attack. Aviance was not dressed in his gender-bending performance clothes but as a male. He had to have his jaw wired for a month. He also suffered a fractured knee and neck injuries as well as blows to the face. Despite suffering a broken jaw, he insisted on appearing in the city's gay pride parade later that month.

On March 21, 2007 all four assailants pled guilty, receiving prison sentences ranging from 6 to 15 years in plea agreements that included hate crimes embellishments. The four young men, who range in age from 17 to 21 years old, [would have] faced up to 25 years each for the attack, had they been found guilty in a trial. All had been charged with gang assault as a hate crime.

1977 – In San Francisco, Robert Hillsborough, 33, and his friend Jerry Taylor, 27, left a disco and stopped for a burger on the way home. In the parking lot, they were attacked by four young men. Taylor managed to escape to phone 911 but Hillsborough was stabbed 15 times by 19 year-old John Cordova who yelled 'Faggot! Faggot!' Witnesses also reported that Cordova yelled, 'This one's for Anita!'

Cordova was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to ten years in prison. Three other young men were also held – Thomas J. Spooner (21), Michael Chavez (20) and a 16-year-old boy whose name was not released by officials. Both Mayor Mascone and Hillsborough's mother blamed Anita Bryant and Sen. John Briggs for Hillsborough's death. The parents of Robert Hillsborough filed a $5 million lawsuit accusing Anita Bryant for conducting a hate campaign against homosexuals. Hillsborough's parents claimed – and rightfully so – that Miss Bryant's public comments constituted 'a campaign of hate, bigotry, ignorance, fear, intimidation and prejudice' against their son and other homosexuals. This, they said, amounted to a conspiracy to deprive Hillsborough of his civil rights. U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Weigel dismissed the case saying that he lacked jurisdiction because Miss Bryant lives in Florida.

1979 – Jai Rodriguez, born in Brentwood, New York, is an actor and musician best known as the culture guide on the Emmy-winning American reality television programme Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Rodriguez is a stage actor and singer known for his roles in the Broadway stage musicals Rent and Zanna, Don't! He has also acted in several plays. In 2005, he created and performed his own stage show, Jai Rodriguez: xPosed. xPosed told the story of Rodriguez' life and struggle to come out to his religious family - he is part Puerto Rican, part-Italian - and of his career on stage and in Queer Eye. His Queer Eye co-stars Ted Allen and Carson Kressley appeared as themselves.

In 2003 he became Queer Eye's resident 'Culture Vulture', functioning as the show's expert on the topic of culture, and the show's success brought him increased exposure. He was a replacement host for the show's original culture host, but was part of QE from the third episode.

In November 2005, while Queer Eye was on filming hiatus for two months, he joined the cast of The Producers on Broadway, playing the role of Carmen Ghia. He played a different role, that of Sabu, in the 2005 Producers movie.

As a singer, Rodriguez has performed on stage and as a recording artist. In 2002, he created his own musical cabaret show, titled Monday Night Twisted Cabaret, which ran at New York gay club XL for a year.

Rodriguez regularly appears on US TV hosting or taking part in various reality shows and, occasionally, as a actor. In March 2010, Rodriguez appeared as a newscaster in the music video for Telephone, with Lady Gaga and Beyoncé.

1985 – Heterosexuals Unafraid Of Gays (HUG) was formed in Wellington, New Zealand on this date.

1998 – British Columbia passes legislation granting same-sex couples access to pension benefit rights equal to those to which straight married couples are entitled.

2005 – Homophobe Jerry Falwell adds his voice to an anti-gay movement to punish Kraft Foods for its sponsorship of the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago. Kraft contributed $25,000 to Gay Games VII.

Haredi Pride protesters

2007 – On this date marchers in the Jerusalem Pride Parade encountered hundreds of Haredi, Israel's bizarre Ultra Othodox sect, who arrived with eggs and bags of human excrement to hurl. Before the parade, police arrested a 32-year old man carrying a bomb which he said he'd planned to detonate near the parade to 'scare people away.' Two hundred Haredi were arrested by the 7000 police officers brought in from all over Israel to protect the marchers, who numbered only 1000. For over a week before the parade the Heredi had rioted in protest of Jerusalem Pride. The previous year they had succeeded in getting the Pride observances cancelled entirely. They were unsuccessful with their thuggishness.

Sabry is an Egyptian theater director, playwright, film director, producer and screenwriter, poet, writer and cartoonist. A gay activist, he was the first director to portray gay and lesbian love in lyrical and sympathetic manner on the Egyptian stage. He pioneered with others gay forums for Egyptian LGBT on the internet, using the pseudonym “Horus”.

In 2003, he appeared in a documentary by John Scagliotti entitled Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World. The documentary focusses on the Cairo 52 case and features a Maher Sabry interview in addition to various insights from activists from Brazil, Honduras, Namibia, Uganda, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Fiji and the Philippines.

2011 – Sunil Babu Pant is Nepal’s only openly gay member of Parliament. He is an activist and former politician who was the first openly gay federal level legislator in Asia. He created the Blue Diamond Society, a shelter for battered LGBT people from surrounding countries.

2016 – Toronto Police apologize for the bathhouse raids of Operation Soap 35 years previously.

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