Queer History and Culture 1.0 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

In 1955, Martin and Lyon were founding members of Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), one of the first political associations for lesbians in the United States. The San Francisco-based DOB and its main publication, "The Ladder", were leading voices for homosexual women through the 1960s.

In 1966, Martin and Lyon were the first lesbian couple to join the National Organization for Women. In the 1970s, both women were active in the influential Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, and in 1979 a San Francisco clinic for lesbians was named Lyon-Martin Health Services.

Answer: Imperial Court System

One of the largest queer organizations in the United States, the Imperial Court System was founded in 1965 by Jose Sarria, who billed himself as the widow of Joshua Norton, the nineteenth-century San Francisco eccentric who claimed to be Emperor of the United States. Leaders in the Imperial Court System are often bestowed titles of nobility, and chapters of the organization are organized as "empires", though the terms "barony" and "ducal court" are used in special situations.

The largest events of each chapter are the annual "coronations" of the year's new monarch(s). Causes that the various imperial courts have contributed to include AIDS causes, centers for domestic abuse victims, and homeless shelters. Amounts raised are substantial; the Imperial Court de San Diego claims over $25 million in donations over its lifetime.

Answer: James Baldwin

Though Baldwin was better known for his place in the intelligentsia of the Civil Rights movement, he was never lax in asserting his place in the discourse of gender and sexuality. In his own words: "Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is battle, love is a war; love is growing up."

Answer: Judas Priest

Halford's orientation had been an open secret in the rock world for several years preceding this interview, and he had not been a regular bandmember since 1991. In 2003, however, Halford rejoined the group for a well-received tour of Europe and a leading spot in 2004's Ozzfest.

In 2005, the reconstituted ensemble released the album "Angel of Retribution" to critical acclaim and commercial success.

Answer: Paragraph 175

A cardinal section of the German Criminal Code at that country's unification in 1871, Paragraph 175 was largely protested and parodied under the Weimar Republic in the 1920s. Following the Nazi rise to power, however, the law was used to imprison and torture gay men, often in concentration camps.

The pink triangle, used in the camps to differentiate gay men from other groups much as the Star of David was used to identify Jews, has since been reclaimed by many queer groups as a symbol of pride and solidarity. Paragraph 175 would not be removed from the books until 1994.

Answer: Batwoman

Ironically, Batwoman was origninally introduced in the 1950s as a feminine counterpart to (and, often implied, lover of) Batman, largely to blunt criticism that Batman and Robin were intended to be read as a gay couple. The original Batwoman was largely a creative failure, however, and she had faded from the scene by the 1980s.

The character was reimagined as the former lover of longtime "Batman" supportng character Renee Montoya in 2006. Both iterations of Batwoman have the civilian identity Kathy Kane, heir to a fortune comparable to Bruce (Batman) Wayne's.

Answer: James Bond

Born Barry Kenneth Cossey in 1954, Tula grew up with an androgynous appearance due to Klinefelter's Syndrome, characterized by an XXXY chromosomal alignment. Tula began transitioning to a female identity in her late teens (including hormone therapy), assumed the name "Caroline", and was working as a showgirl by age 17.

She had sexual reassignment surgery in 1974 and worked as a model thereafter, appearing in "Playboy" in 1981. That same year brought a small role in the Bond film "For Your Eyes Only", followed by her outing as a transsexual by "News of the World" the following year.

She would stay in the public eye pursuing a judgement by the European Court of Human Rights to declare her female, and was again featured in "Playboy" in 1991, this time as an acknowledged transsexual.

Answer: ACT UP

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power was formed after a well-attended speech by writer Larry Kramer which lambasted the most prominent AIDS organization of the time, Gay Men's Health Crisis, as politically toothless and ineffective in bringing real change.

The thrust of the organization was that the prevailing sentiment of being amenable to the heterosexual-dominated political structure was not working, and only highly visible confrontation would be ultimately effective. The organization would adopt the slogan "Silence = Death", and would hold actions in such entrenched bastions of power as Wall Street, the New York City General Post Office (where procrastinators were filing their 1986 tax returns), and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Answer: US Civil War

Born in Ireland 1843, Jennie Irene Hodgers immigrated to the USA and enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 under the name of Albert Cashier. Cashier served through the war's duration, his biological sex remaining a secret even during his time as a Prisoner of War. Cashier would continue to live as a man after being mustered out, settling in Saunemin, Illinois.

His secret was only discovered when he was hit by a car in 1910. Cashier passed away in 1915, much of his early life a mystery, even to those who had known him for years.

Despite being forced to wear a dress by Veterans Home staff in his last days, Cashier was buried in his service uniform with a standard military headstone summarizing his service.

Answer: He was a born female who lived almost his entire adult life as a man - even women who lived as his wives were unaware of this

Pianist/saxophonist Tipton was born Dorothy Lucille Tipton in 1914. In 1935, she began dressing as a man and using the professional name Billy, an identity she gradually adopted completely. A territory musician through the southwest, Tipton gained some measure of fame as a pianist, releasing two albums in 1957. Later in life, he would work as an agent in the Seattle area.

In the meantime, Tipton carried on relationships with several women, keeping his biological sex a secret from all of them.

He settled with dancer Kitty Kelly in 1960, and the couple presented themselves as husband and wife. They adopted three boys, with whom Tipton had a close relationship. On Tipton's death in 1989, Kelly and all three sons claimed that they had had no idea Billy was born a woman.