Pauline Park
@paulinepark.bsky.social
2.1K followers 1.7K following 16K posts
LGBT & Palestine solidarity activist & writer
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paulinepark.bsky.social
Edward VI of England (1537), Ramsay MacDonald (1866), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872), #AleisterCrowley (1875), Dick Gregory (1932), Luciano Pavarotti (1935), Chris Wallace (1947), Hugh Jackson (1968), Nancy Kerrigan (1969), Kirk Cameron (1970) & Li Wenliang (1986) were born #OnThisDay...
paulinepark.bsky.social
#AnitaHill testified about being subjected to #sexualharassment by #ClarenceThomas #OnThisDay in 1991; #JoeBiden blocked corroborating witnesses from testifying & ensure confirmation of the most right-wing justice in the history of the #SupremeCourt... #CreepyJoe

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_H...
paulinepark.bsky.social
New York State Assembly Member Brian Barnwell's staff with me at his National Coming Out Day event in Queens six years ago yesterday where I accepted a proclamation from his office recognizing Queens Pride House for the work we do on behalf of the LGBT community of Queens (10.10.19)
paulinepark.bsky.social
We are like ships on the silver waves,
drifting out of control;
like capricious winds are our affections,
every pleasure is a rock,
the whole of life a sea.
Antonio Vivaldi, "Siam navi all'onde algenti" — aria from the opera "L'Olipiade" (text by Pietro Metastasio)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgB...
paulinepark.bsky.social
St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx had a special event 12 years ago today to launch its #LGBTQ initiative (10.11.13); this is the talk I gave on that occasion:

paulinepark.com/2013/10/09/t...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V conferred rights to the succession of the duchy of #Milan to Philip II #OnThisDay in 1540; #Milano was the nodal point of the #CaminoEspañol, which was crucial in holding the #Habsburg empire together:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_o...
paulinepark.bsky.social
I wrote this short blog post 15 years ago but it seems more relevant than ever for #ComingOutDay as the #transgender community faces unprecedented attacks from #DonaldTrump's #fascist administration:

paulinepark.com/2010/06/22/f...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Hua Guofeng had Mao Zedongs's widow Jiang Qing & the other members of the #GangOfFour arrested #OnThisDay in 1976, bringing an end to the #CulturalRevolution that had torn #China apart for 10 years 江青

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Q...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of...
paulinepark.bsky.social
I wrote this short blog post 15 years ago but it seems more relevant than ever for #ComingOutDay as the #transgender community faces unprecedented attacks from #DonaldTrump's #fascist administration:

paulinepark.com/2010/06/22/f...
paulinepark.bsky.social
"Laura" premiered #OnThisDay in 1944 with #GeneTierney & #DanaAndrews; #OttoPreminger's film became one of the great classics of the #filmnoir genre:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPox...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDl-...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_(...
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012007-la...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council #OnThisDay in 1962, bringing the creaky old Roman Catholic Church into the modern world; Pope Francis revived its spirit & one hopes that Pope Leo XIV brings about still more radical change in a church that needs it!
www.history.com/this-day-in-...
paulinepark.bsky.social
I'm listening to #GeorgFriedrichHändel's #GiulioCesare (1724) being broadcast from Salzburg on WQXR right now; this is IMHO the greatest #Baroque opera of all; here's Inger Dam-Jensen singing Cleopatra's aria "V'adoro pupille" in 2005:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cHB...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_...
paulinepark.bsky.social
#GiulioCesare will be broadcast from from the Salzburg Festival on WQXR (@wqxr.bsky.social) at 1 p.m. with Christophe Dumaux (Julius Caesar), Olga Kulchynska (Cleopatra) & Lucile Richardot (Cleopatra), Emmanuelle Haïm conducting #GeorgFriedrichHändel's greatest #opera:

www.wqxr.org/story/giulio...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Pope Leo X conferred on Henry VIII the title 'Fidei Difensor' (Defender of the Faith) #OnThisDay in 1521 but after his break with Rome, Pope Paul III revoked it, prompting parliament to grant it to Henry & his successors as head of the Anglican Church...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defende...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Mayor #VirginiaRaggi came in fourth place in the municipal election in #Rome four years ago, blamed for the encroachment of #wildboar: I'd take #cinghiali over the populist right-wing #CinqueStelle any day~! #LaCittàEterna #Italia
paulinepark.bsky.social
Jean-Antoine Watteau was born #OnThisDay in 1684. "L'Enseigne de Gersaint" is his final masterpiece, noting the passing of Louis XIV as his portrait is put away & the emerging Rococo era of Louis XV (1720):

www.wga.hu/html_m/w/wat...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-An...
www.wikiart.org/en/antoine-w...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Jean-Antoine Watteau was born #OnThisDay in 1684; one of France's greatest artists, he created the new genre of 'fêtes galantes' of which "Le Pèlerinage à l'île de Cythère" is the supreme masterpiece:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZlH...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-An...
www.wikiart.org/en/antoine-w...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Henry John Heinz (1844), Harlan Fiske Stone (1872), #EleanorRoosevelt (1884), Fred Trump (1905), Jerome Robbins [Rabinowitz] (1918), Russell Oberlin (1928), Patty Murray (1950), Dawn French (1957), Jane Krakowski (1968) & Cardi B [Belcalis Almanzar] (1992) were born #OnThisDay...
paulinepark.bsky.social
#GiuseppeVerdi was born #OnThisDay in 1813; Italy's greatest opera composer ended his career with #Falstaff; this is video of a production starring Ambrogio Maestri — the leading Falstaff of our day:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFDY...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giusepp...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Oct. 10 is #WorldMentalHealthDay & an opportunity to challenge the stigma of #mentalillness; we need to make it OK to be not OK & to talk about the struggles we're going through & we need to make #mentalhealth a global priority~! #MentalHealthDay2025

wmhdofficial.com
paulinepark.bsky.social
Jean-Antoine Watteau was born #OnThisDay in 1684, one of France's greatest artists, who created the new genre of 'fêtes galantes' of which "Assemblée Dans un Parc" is one of the greatest exemplars (1721)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-An...
www.wikiart.org/en/antoine-w...
paulinepark.bsky.social
#OnThisDay in 732, Charles Martel led Frankish & Burgundian forces to victory over a raiding party led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi (Governor-General of al-Andalus) at the Battle of Tours (also called the Battle of Poitiers), the high water mark of al-Andalus...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...
paulinepark.bsky.social
"As soon as a ceasefire deal is signed, nobody bothers with the details. Gaza disappears & it's back to this slow, latent, invisible violence of starvation," says Muhammad Shehada: real peace means a permanent end to #ApartheidIsrael's #GazaGenocide 🍉
www.democracynow.org/2025/10/9/ga...
paulinepark.bsky.social
#EmmanuelMacron may try to reappoint #SébastienLecornu: the président des riches is demonstrating the profound weakness of the constitution of the #CinquièmeRépublique — it's time for radical constitutional reform to downsize #France's imperial presidency~!

www.politico.eu/article/emma...
paulinepark.bsky.social
Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684), Benjamin West (1738), Giuseppe Verdi (1813), Paul Kruger (1825), #FridtjofNansen (1861), Willi Apel (1893), Helen Hayes (1900), Alberto Giacometti (1901), Thelonious Monk (1917), James Clavell (1924), Adlai Stevenson III (1930) & Harold Pinter (1930) were born #OnThisDay