http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP39V26gSEM

Jason Collins spent sixteen years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for teams such as the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. On May 6, 2013, in the cover story of Sports Illustrated magazine, written by Collins himself, Collins came out as gay. Collins was the first active male athlete from one of the major U.S. professional team sports to do so. In this video, Collins sits down with George Stephanopoulos, co-host of ABC’s Good Morning America, to talk about his decision to come out.

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NBA Player Jason Collins Makes History appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YLGh32KHo

On November 6, 2012, Tammy Baldwin became both the first woman elected to represent Wisconsin in the United States Senate, as well as the first openly gay U.S. Senator. Prior to her election to the Senate, Baldwin had also been the first woman elected to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the first openly gay representative in the U.S. House. In this video, Baldwin discusses what it is like both as a female and an openly gay U.S. Senator, saying: “Women have different life experiences than men, and we bring those to the job. So I’m not necessarily going to say anything about ‘do we behave differently’, but nobody checks their life experience at the door like a coat check and then walks into the office to do their work. You bring it with you wherever you go. It informs your decision making, your approach to problem solving, and I think that’s a perspective we should value. We should value having diverse perspectives in every legislative body. You know, the more that our senate begins to look like America, the better I think we’ll be governed.

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Tammy Baldwin On Being First Openly Gay U.S. Senator appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b8pUbMqTIU

Tony Tripoli, head writer on the American television show “Fashion Police,” which comments on celebrity fashion, describes the humorous details that led Joan Rivers to select him for the job position. Tripoli had admired Rivers since he was a young boy having met her for the first time when he was 16 years old and saw her perform stand-up in Phoenix, Arizona. He also discusses how people believe her to be mean and clarifies, “She’s the sweet, Jewish lady who doesn’t understand why I don’t have a husband.”

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How Joan Rivers Chose Her Head Writer on ‘Fashion Police’ appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14TQAkxttlI

Edward Filed shares his memories of meeting Frank O’Hara after he mailed the fellow poet a letter and describes what he learned from their brief relationship in New York City. O’Hara was born on March 27, 1926.

The post Frank O'Hara
Edward Field on Frank O’Hara: ‘He Showed Me How A Gay Man Could Live’ appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyBChpiSwYw

Executive director of Pride at Work, a nonprofit organization that aims to seek full equality for LGBT workers, thanks late astronaut Sally Ride. Ride revealed through her obituary that she had maintained a secret relationship with Tam O’Shaunghnessy, an educator and childhood friend of Ride’s, for twenty-seven years. O’Shaughnessy is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Sally Ride Science. Ride passed away on July 23, 2012 due to pancreatic cancer.

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Peggy Shorey Thanks Sally Ride appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ5H92hum34

Psychologist Gil Horowitz witnessed the beginning of the Stonewall Riots, a series of demonstrations by the gay community against a police raid that occurred on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City. “I didn’t intend to be involved…I saw up Christopher Street, watching police man-handling young people for no reason that I could see. I was offended…” Horowitz tried to write-down the badge number of a cop when he was arrested. At the precinct, he saw young homosexual men being beaten with nightsticks.

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Witnify’s Interview With Gil Horowitz appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhygeD8ktv0

Williamson Henderson, President of the Stonewall Veterans Association, describes his experience with the police raid that occurred on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City, which lead to the Stonewall Riots, a series of demonstrations by the gay community in response to that day. Henderson describes the anti-homosexual, brutal police treatment he experienced: “But what happened is that really charged up the crowd more…”–the Stonewall Rebellion is considered to be the most crucial event that sparked the gay liberation movement.

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Interview With Williamson Henderson appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej745jBr2fs

Martin Duberman, author of “Stonewall,” remembers the event that catalyzed the modern gay rights movement. The Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969 were a response to a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, the hub of New York City’s gay night scene. According to Duberman, “for some mysterious reason,” the riots became not only a symbol of resistance, but also a launching pad for a new era of gay rights activism.

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Author Recalls the Event That Changed LGBT History appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UNOXD7HfCE

People involved in both the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and the first ever gay pride march in 1970 explain the importance of the march. They explain that the demonstration, beginning on Christopher Street in New York City, helped to commemorate the riots and spark more political action in the gay community. Also, they remember the atmosphere of the historical protests, as well as the bravery and emotions that took over the streets of New York that day.

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Pride in New York City appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SORjhEWi9XU

Arthur Evans, co-founder of the Gay Activist Alliance, explains how the gay rights movement began in 1970, the year that the first gay pride parade occurred. Evans talks about the first gay rights group, known as the Gay Liberation Front, as well as the rebellions that were sparked from the original Stonewall Riots during 1969 in New York City. He also comments on the inspiration that gay people received after seeing how African-Americans were fighting to gain their own rights.

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The Beginning of the Gay Rights Movement appeared first on Witnify.