Lili Elbe, F. W. Murnau, Manuel Puig, Leelah Alcorn, Susan Sontag
Born: Lili Elbe (1882), F. W. Murnau (1888), Manuel Puig (1932)
Died: Leelah Alcorn (2014), Susan Sontag (2004)
Born on this day
Lili Elbe
Lili Elbe’s life as a painter and trans woman became one of the earliest widely circulated accounts of gender-affirming surgery.
28DecBorn 1888138th birthdayF. W. Murnau
A silent-film director who found new ways to make movement, light and shadow tell a story.
28DecBorn 193294th birthdayManuel Puig
Manuel Puig made popular films, gossip and conversations part of a fiction that questioned sexual and political authority.
Died on this day
Leelah Alcorn
Leelah Alcorn’s account of rejection and isolation brought international attention to the need for acceptance and support for trans young people.
28DecDied 200422nd anniversary of deathSusan Sontag
Susan Sontag made criticism a form of public intervention, writing about images, illness and art while guarding much of the intimate life later revealed in her journals.