Monday Meme: Lily

lily meme

Iconic and legendary are words that barely scratch the surface when it comes to Lily Tomlin. The comedian, actress, writer and producer turns 77 this week and we’re honoring her with a Monday Meme. Tomlin recently nabbed her 23rd Emmy nomination for her role on Netflix’s hit ‘Grace & Frankie’ and shows no signs of slowing down. A vocal feminist and LGBT activist, Tomlin has long chosen roles and projects that reflect her beliefs. Tomlin and her wife/collaborator Jane Wagner met in 1971 and have been together ever since. Remarkably,however, the couple never had a formal coming out. “I certainly never called a press conference or anything like that,” Tomlin told Metro Weekly in 2006. The pair’s relationship was well-known but hardly talked about until the couple was married in 2013, after 42 years together.

Got a birthday, anniversary or special occasion coming up? We’ve got a card for that! 

Monday Meme: Wild Thing

capote meme 2

Born today in 1914, writer and dancer Jack Dunphy once said, “I never wanted fame.” His lover of  more than 3 decades, Truman Capote was quite the opposite. They are pictured here in today’s Monday Meme in Italy where they lived together in the 1950’s. The unlikely pair, Dunphy the quiet introvert and Capote the outspoken, controversial icon, first met in 1948. Although they drifted in and out of one other’s lives the couple remained close until Capote’s death until 1984. Dunphy was named chief beneficiary of Capote’s estate.  Dunphy wrote about his relationship with Capote in a book entitled, Dear Genius which was published before his own death in 1992.

Monday Meme: Madonna

madonna meme

We’re celebrating the Queen herself, who turns 58 tomorrow, with a Monday Meme dedicated to asking for what you want. An LGBT ally and AIDS activist long before it was the cool thing for pop stars to do, Madonna also provided the coming out soundtrack for an entire generation. Far from perfect and at times misguided, Madonna has nevertheless been a vocal ally and big time fundraiser for LGBT causes for several decades. Towleroad came up with 25 of her best LGBT ally moments last year if you need further proof.  Happy birthday, Madonna and if you’re looking to say what you want with an amazing card, check out our selection here! 

Monday Meme: Andy

andy meme

Had he survived a routine operation in 1987, Andy Warhol would have turned 88 on August 6. The bold artist, the shrewd business person and the mythological creature that was Andy Warhol was unlike anything the world had ever seen. Warhol changed the way we think about art, commerce and celebrity. An openly gay man, Warhol had a 12 year relationship with interior designer Jed Johnson. Warhol famously captured gay icons like Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland but now is undoubtedly a gay icon himself.

Monday Meme: Cool

coolmeme

Happy Monday! The order of the day? Staying inside and staying cool! We turn to gay young adult author Tim Federle for Monday Meme inspiration. Federle recently published The Great American Whatever, a coming of age tale that the New York Times calls “laugh out loud funny.” The novel, which tells the story of 17 year-old aspiring screenwriter Quinn who loses his sister and best friend, is one of many recent young adult books where the coming out of the gay protagonist is a non-issue. Hooray for progress!

Get the coolest cards for weddings, anniversaries and any old occasion right here.

Monday Meme: Enthusiasm

Eakins meme

Born today in 1844, painter, sculptor and educator Thomas Eakins is unquestionably one of America’s master artists. We honor him on his birthday with a Monday Meme featuring his art and words. Known for his landscapes, figurative paintings and the incredibly famous and controversial,  The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins’ legacy is not one without mystery or debate. The ongoing presence of the male figure in his work has led to decades of “Was he or wasn’t he” type of discussions. Clearly homoerotic in tone, many of his figure studies have caused scholars to look deeper in Eakins’ personal life. Eakins, although married, was well-known to have close intimate relationships with male students and colleagues including sculptor Samuel Murray. Murray was a constant companion to Eakins in the latter years of his life. The relationship with Murray is said have been more important to Eakins than his marriage to fellow painter Susan Hannah Macdowell. Alas, the art world will never know the sexuality of Thomas Eakins. Instead, what we’re left with is the breathtaking work of master artist able to capture America and the men who lived there in an era long gone.

Monday Meme: Bacon

bacon meme

Love– part of a balanced breakfast! Today’s Monday meme features gay icon Rock Hudson and a quote from underrated but important LGBT author Patricia Nell Warren. Talk about delicious. Warren wrote The Front Runner, the first gay novel to make the New York Times bestseller list way back in 1974. The book chronicled the story of a gay track coach’s struggle to get an openly gay runner on the US Olympic team. Controversial, funny and ahead of its time, The Front Runner is now considered a classic in gay fiction. Warren later became an advocate for LGBT youth and even ran for City Council in West Hollywood in 2006.

Monday Meme: Mistakes

Tallulah Meme

Hello, dahling!

The fierce and fabulous Tallulah Bankhead serves as the inspiration for today’s Monday Meme. Unabashedly outspoken and no stranger to scandal, Bankhead is that rare actress whose status as a gay icon has truly survived. Utterly quotable and exaggerated, drag queens and old movie lovers alike have bitten Bankheads’s style for decades. After being a popular theatre actress in London’s West End, Bankhead made movies with the likes of Gary Cooper, Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock. But it was the star’s legendary personal life and off-screen antics that cemented her as a queer legend. Bankhead was rumored to have had affairs with everyone from Billie Holiday and Greta Garbo to Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Cornell. Ever the quick wit, Bankhead shrugged off the titles off “lesbian” or “bisexual” and instead called herself “ambisextrous”.  After years of partying and chain-smoking, Bankhead’s lifestyle caught up with her and she died of pneumonia at the age of 66. Today, her wild legacy endures. Her story is so glamorous and so tragic that her life has been told several times on stage and screen. She was recently played by Valerie Harper and Kathleen Turner, respectively.

So here’s to fabulously making mistakes. Tallulah, we salute you!

 

Monday Meme: Reduce

bayard rustin meme

Is there a better time than now during Pride month to celebrate LGBT leaders and activists? We think not! Today’s Monday Meme celebrates a true pioneer in not just the civil rights movement but in the gay rights movement too. Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. Rustin was inspired by Gandhi’s protest techniques and brought them to the American civil rights movement, while helping Martin Luther King, Jr. become an international symbol of peace and nonviolence.Being an openly gay man in an incredibly homophobic era, Rustin was beaten, imprisoned and cast out of huge leadership positions. His behind the scenes work during the civil rights movement in the 1960’s gave way for a role as a public advocate of LGBT causes in the 1980’s. Rustin was honored posthumously with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by President Obama.

Celebrate Pride and do something good for the community! Now thru June 30, Proudly Yours will donate 50% of the proceeds of all card sales to the Pulse Victims Fund. 

Monday Meme: Victory

hirschfeld meme

As part of Pride month, we’d like to give a shout out to gay trailblazer Magnus Hirschfeld in today’s Monday Meme. As a homosexual and a Jew, Hirschfeld was advocating gay rights back in the late 1800’s. Hirschfeld spoke out against the German government and pushed for the legalization of homosexuality long before it was even a conversation in most parts of the world. As a sexologist and researcher, he published volumes on homosexuality, gay rights and equality for women, many of which were later burned by the Nazis. Hirschfeld died in Nice, France in 1935 but the groundwork he set down as an early LGBT pioneer won’t ever be forgotten.

Buy a Proudly Yours card now until June 30 and we will donate 50% of the proceeds to Equality Now to help the victims of the Orlando attack.