in memoriam

Obituaries for the people who mattered to us: the icons, the activists, the ones who showed up early, and the ones the mainstream press will underplay.

the man known as the world's first openly gay MP came out in 1976 with his boyfriend in the room. 50 years later, he died with the same man beside him. Coos Huijsen, the Dutch politician who came out at his 1976 swearing-in to the Tweede Kamer and who, by his own account and his family's, was the world's first openly gay parliamentarian, died Oct. 19, 2026, at his home in... october 21 she came out at swarthmore in 1971, told students they could write in any of her nine languages, and has died at 93. we'd have taken the class. T. Kaori Kitao, a Swarthmore College art historian who taught there from 1966 to 2001 and was the college's first openly transgender faculty member, died Sept. 21, 2026, in New York City at 93, the college and the Philadelphia Inquirer... october 21 a trans showgirl said she could wear the dress onstage in buenos aires, then get arrested walking home in it. she has died at 82. rest easy, ana. Ana Lupez, the Argentine vedette who left the country under police persecution and became the star and co-owner of the Barcelona cabaret Barcelona de Noche, died early on Oct. 14, 2026, at Clinica Santa Maria in Mendoza, Argentina. She was... october 19 the man who wrote "sissy that walk" with rupaul has died at 46. we'll be playing it loud today. Lucian Piane, the music producer and songwriter who worked on RuPaul's Drag Race and co-wrote RuPaul songs including "Sissy That Walk" and "Cover Girl," died Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Glendale, California, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records.... october 13 he came out as gay in the '70s and as hiv-positive on tv in 1991. he was booked for a coming out day show this sunday. somebody read his lines. Michael Kearns, the actor, writer and AIDS activist who was out as a gay man from the start of his career in the 1970s and who came out as HIV-positive on national television in 1991, died on Monday, Oct. 5,... october 8 an lgbtq makeup artist in punjab was shot dead on saturday while he waited for his car to be washed. he had been threatened in july. we're heartbroken. Madhusudan, the makeup artist and social media influencer known as Mad Sandhu, was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle on Loharka Road in Amritsar, Punjab, around 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. Police say they have leads... october 4 a drag race queen died in her sleep in the middle of filming. this week the show aired her episode, with a yellow dragon for her. Misua, the stage name of Jason Elvie Ty, a 27-year-old drag performer from Cagayan de Oro, died in her sleep on April 2, 2026, during production of Drag Race Philippines season 4. On Oct. 2, 2026 the show aired "Can... october 4 the woman who gave british kids a number to call when they had nobody to tell has died at 86. thank you for picking up. Dame Esther Rantzen, the BBC presenter of That's Life! who founded the children's helpline Childline in 1986, died at her home in the New Forest, England, on Sept. 30, 2026, aged 86, her family said. She had lung cancer and... october 2 baltimore's legendary gay club owner died at 81. days later, its oldest gay bar announced a comeback. we like to think he had a word. Charles "Chuck" Bowers, who owned the Baltimore gay club the Hippo from 1978 until it closed in 2015 and hosted early AIDS fundraisers there, died Sept. 22, 2026, at 81, of natural causes. Days later The Baltimore Banner reported that... september 27 her son came out to her in 1980. she spent the next 46 years building queer south carolina a place to belong. Harriet Hancock, a Columbia, South Carolina attorney known as the "Mother of SC Pride," died on Sept. 23, 2026 at 89, days before her 90th birthday, the Harriet Hancock Center announced. After her son Greg came out to her in... september 24 hayden panettiere told us she was bisexual in may. by august she was gone, and now we know how. The Greenville County Coroner's Office in South Carolina ruled on Sept. 22, 2026 that actor Hayden Panettiere, 36, died of an accidental overdose, citing "the toxic effects of" fentanyl, 4-ANPP, alprazolam, methocarbamol and quetiapine. She was found Aug. 16 at... september 23 a broadway composer gave two schoolboys a love song in 2006 and let them both live. duncan sheik died thursday at 56. Duncan Sheik, the composer of Spring Awakening and the singer-songwriter behind the 1996 hit Barely Breathing, died on Thursday night at the age of 56. His mother, Suzanne Sheik, told the New York Times the cause was organ failure; the... september 18