1981-01-22Marguerite Yourcenar named to the Academie Francaise.

Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman named to the Academie Francaise, the most prestigious literary society in France. Her writing, including the widely acclaimed novel, Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), often dealt with gay themes and characters. Yourcenar was together with her partner, Grace Frick, for more than forty years.

1981-06-05First report on AIDS in the United States

In its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States describes five cases of gay men in Los Angeles suffering from “pneumocystis pneumonia.” This proved to be the first report on what would later be described as AIDS.

1981-06-17Family Protection Act introduced in US Senate

Roger Jepsen, an Iowa Republican, introduces into the US Senate a bill titled The Family Protection Act. Among its provisions, the bill would have denied all federal funds, including Social Security and veteran benefits, to anyone who was gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or who claimed that homosexuality was acceptable.

1981-07-01Celluloid Closet Is Published

The Celluloid Closet, by Vito Russo, is published. Russo’s book told the history of how Hollywood portrayed gays and lesbians in film from the silent era through the 1970s. Covering over 300 films, it was deeply critical of the film industry’s homophobia. Russo toured the U.S. and Western Europe with an illustrated lecture of the history that was seen by many thousands.

1981-07-20Martina Navratilova becomes a U.S. citizen

Czechoslovakian-born tennis champion Martina Navratilova is granted U.S. citizenship. A few days later, the New York Daily News reports that she is a lesbian.