Feinstein's talent has earned him invitations to play for Britain's late Queen Mother and for three American presidents. When he went to the White House during the Clinton administration, he brought a male date.

Sponsor Message.

His appearance at a White House Valentine's gathering in 2006, where he played for a group that included right-wing politicians and new Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, raised eyebrows.

In response to an angry letter in The Advocate denouncing him for entertaining anti-gay politicians, Feinstein responded as follows: "My acceptance of the invitation was with the understanding that I would be bringing my partner of nine years. We were treated in every way as a couple, from both of our names on the invitations to having our photograph taken together with the President and First Lady. We introduced ourselves to other guests (both Repubicans and Democrats) as life partners and were accepted without issue as a couple. . . . The White House belongs to all of us."

Feinstein has been open in acknowledging his homosexuality. He has worked with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and he wrote a song for the Equality Rocks concert that the HRC sponsored as part of the activities of the Millennium March for gay rights in May 2000. He cited the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard as a motivation for his participation in the event.

[On October 17, 2008, Feinstein married his manager and partner of eleven years, Terrence Flannery, at their home in Los Angeles. Officiating at the ceremony were Judith Sheindlin (a former family court judge now seen on the Judge Judy television program) and Gabriel Ferrer, an Episcopal priest and the son of singer Rosemary Clooney.

Liza Minnelli and Barry Manilow sang at the wedding. Other friends in attendance included Lorna Luft, Joan Collins, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, David Hyde Pierce, and Henry Winkler.]

Historically, cabarets and revues have been much more likely to mention or imply same-sex desire than the "legitimate" theater; and same-sex desire has been less frequently condemned in cabarets and revues than in mainstream plays.

Marches on Washington in support of the rights of glbtq people have been a significant part of the modern movement for equality.

The largest glbtq political organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign has emerged as the leading national organization representing glbtq concerns.

Self-proclaimed male actress Charles Pierce took an aggressive stance against homophobia, believing that quick wit, a serious attitude, and consummate acting skill could vanquish oppression.

Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce, best known for his comic performance on the long-running hit comedy television series Frasier, belatedly acknowledged his homosexuality in 2007.

Living the paradoxical life of an openly closeted gay man, songwriter Cole Porter introduced non-normative values and risqué double entendres into what was one of the most pedestrian and hackneyed of cultural forms.

Matthew Shepard led an unremarkable life, but his shocking death transformed him into an icon of the glbtq movement for equality.