In conjunction with the celebration of October as LGBT History Month, The Huffington Post will be providing you with "Know Your LGBT History" updates! Check back throughout the month for a brief overview of some of the landmark moments throughout the course of our journey as LGBT and queer-identifying individuals.
1977: Glenn Burke, the first openly gay man to play in Major League Baseball, invented the high five in front of 46,000 fans at Dodger Stadium. Despite misconceptions that Jason Collins was the first openly gay player in a major pro sport, Burke was reportedly "comfortably out to his teammates and friends" -- the press just wasn't ready for it.
(Image Courtesy of AP)
1985: Rock Hudson, a leading Hollywood actor, became the major first celebrity to dies of AIDS-related complications. A friend of Ronald Reagan, Hudson's death proved to be a catalyst that changed public perception surrounding the AIDS epidemic and the individuals affected by it. Until the actor's death, the mainstream media had largely ignored the AIDS crisis, with it existing in the realm of public consciousness as the "gay plague."
(Image Courtesy of Getty)
1999: California Governor Gray Davis signed three pro-gay bills into legislation. One of these bills was titled the "The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000," which sought to legally incorporate LGBT-inclusive education into public schools.
(Image Courtesy of Getty)