In This Day in History, we discuss important events in history for the LGBTQ+ community from all around the world. This time, we're taking a look at a piece of history that happened in the U.S. in September back in 1964.

The event we're focusing on today is the first publication of two lesbians pictured on the cover of a magazine, both watching the sea on a beach. This photograph was published in The Ladder,the first nationally distributed lesbian serial publication. It was also the second lesbian magazine, with the first one being Vice Versa, founded by Lisa Ben (a pseudonym created from the word Lesbian), which only ran for nine issues.

Inside of The Ladder, readers could find news, editorials, poetry, short stories, letters, and a running bibliography of lesbian literature. It was found by the Daughters of Bilitis (known as the DOB) in 1956, which was the first national lesbian social and political organization inside of the United States. DOB used The Ladder as a primary tool for communication, and kept friendly relations with ONE, Inc, and the Mattachine Society, from whom they received support for the publication. The name of the publication came from its cover on the first issue, which was a simple line-art with figures moving towards a ladder, disappearing into the clouds.

Many contributors to The Ladder used either initials or pseudonyms, but Phyllis Lyon, who co-founded DOB and helped edit the magazine, dropped hers as a way of showing people not to hide. In 1963 Barbara Gittings took over, and she gave the magazine a more urgent political stance. She also added "A Lesbian Review" underneath the title. This was when the change in covers happened - rather than using line drawings, photos of lesbians were now used to obtain more visibility. Most of these photos happened to be taken by the editor's partner, Kay Lahusen.

The first photograph that came out with the model's name was from an Indonesian woman, who'd explained how isolated she was in a letter sent along with the photograph. The first picture in which a model was shown without sunglasses and profile view was of Lilli Vincenz, and it was taken by Kay.

The Ladder is an important piece of history, and it represents a key moment in the early Homophile Movement (an early name for the Gay Liberation Movement). It helped lesbians get into contact with one another unlike anything seen in their past, and it helped to form lesbian communities across the country with the help of the Daughters of Bilitis, who also helped maintain these communities.

When the DOB disbanded in 1972, so did the publication. This happened due to some internal conflicts, as well as the changes that happened within the movement. Upon disbanding, the group donated their lending library to the LHA.

The Ladder was important for the LGBTQ+ community for many reasons. As mentioned throughout the article, it helped lesbians get into contact and form communities throughout the United States. That wasn't the only reason though; The Ladder was also one of the first widely public representations that improved lesbian visibility. The Ladder showed people they weren't alone and that there were plenty of others like them, and it was also a key moment that related to the Homophile Movement and other progressive steps. It helped kickstart many other foundations across the Western world, and helped organize peaceful marches and demonstrations. Overall, The Ladder had a huge impact on society in helping to bring people together and inspiring later movements, which culminated in other key events such as the Stonewall Riots. There's a lot we can learn from these early activists and proponents for lesbian visibility, and we can only hope now that the people involved are proud of how far the LGBTQ+ community has come and where we are today: but that certainly doesn't mean we don't still have a long way to go.

Dear readers, I am back again with another edition of representation in the media. This time around, I decided to report on one of the longest-running scripted American prime time TV shows, Grey's Anatomy, which happens to be one of my all-time favorites. Nowadays, with season 18 being on air, many LGBTQIA+ characters and couples are represented, but since the show has been running for over 16 years at this point, I thought it might be interesting to examine if that always has been the case. As I am writing about specific characters throughout the show, there may be some spoilers. I will not be going into much detail, but if you are currently catching up on the show, it may be best to skip certain paragraphs of this article. I will start each paragraph by naming specific seasons to help you do just that.

First, some background information on the show for those that may not be too familiar with it. Grey's Anatomy is a medical drama TV show that first started airing on March 27, 2005. Since then, there have been 17 more seasons, with the 18th season having recently started airing on September 30, 2021. The show follows a group of surgeons in their everyday struggles, which includes both the characters' professional lives as well as their interpersonal relationships. Over the years there have been hundreds of minor characters and patients, so this article will only be concerned with main characters.

Season one of the show did, unfortunately, not focus on specific LGBTQIA+ characters in the main cast, which is not surprising given that it was the show's first season back in 2005, when media representation of LGBTQIA+ characters was not a very common occurrence compared to today.

It was only in season two with the introduction of Callie Torres, and later on Erica Hahn, that sexuality became a bigger topic for main characters on Grey's Anatomy. Throughout the show, Callie becomes more confident in her own sexuality. At the end of the second season, she starts questioning it as she finds herself attracted to Erica. However, it is not until the fifth season that Callie and Erica have sexual relations for the first time. Soon after, Arizona Robbins is introduced as a new lesbian character who ends up in an on-and-off relationship with Callie over the next couple of seasons. It has to be noted here that Callie does not only date women over the season, but she also is shown in relationships with men and is more and more confident in herself as a bisexual person. In season 11, Callie says a now iconic line concerning her sexuality: "So I'm bisexual! So what? It's a thing, and it's real. I mean it's called LGBTQ for a reason. There's a 'B' in there, and it doesn't mean 'badass'. Okay, it kind of does, but it also means bi."

Over the course of the next few seasons, there was a focus on mainly the relationship between Arizona and Callie and their relationships with other characters. In season 14, a new residency class was introduced, with a diverse group of residents in terms of sexuality. With Taryn Helm, Casey Parker, and Levi Schmitt there was a new lesbian, transgender, and gay character respectively. As only Levi is listed as a main character, I will focus on him. While the first sexual relationships between women were shown on the show in the earlier seasons already, it was not until season 15, when a gay kiss between two major characters, Levi and Nico Kim, was shown - 10 seasons after the relationship between Callie and Erica was at its peak.

There are quite a few more characters on the show that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, such as Teddy Altman, who, after her return to the show as a main character in season 15, reveals that the love of her life was another woman named Allison and that she was not just another straight character after all.

I hope these few examples could show a bit more about how the LGBTQIA+ community is represented in Grey's Anatomy. I find it interesting to see that the show not only introduces different sexualities and gender identities throughout the season, but that it also shows characters that are exploring their sexuality at the same time as the viewers learn more about them. That's it from me for this edition, see you again next time!