WILSON CRUZ (born Wilson Echevarría) is an American actor , born on this date, known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, Angel in the Broadway tour production of Rent, Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, and the recurring character Junito on Noah's Arc. As an out gay man of Afro-Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay youth of color.

Cruz went to Hollywood to seek work as an actor, intending to be open about his sexuality from the beginning of his career. In 1994 he was cast as Enrique "Rickie" Vasquez, a troubled, gay teen, in the short-lived, critically acclaimed cult classic TV series My So-Called Life. This made Cruz the first out gay actor to play an openly gay character in a leading role in an American television series.

Cruz works with and advocates on behalf of LGBT youth, especially youth of color. He has volunteered his time as host for the Youth Zone, an online community at Gay.com for LGBT youth. He was the Grand Marshal of the 1998 West Hollywood Gay Pride parade, the 2005 Chicago Pride Parade and the 2019 Fierté Montréal Pride Parade in Québec. In 2008, he was the keynote speaker at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Lavender Graduation and Rainbow Banquet honoring graduating LGBT students.

Cruz joined the board of directors of GLAAD in 1997 in order to assist the organization through a leadership transition, and joined the staff of GLAAD in 2012 as a National Spokesperson and Strategic Giving Officer.

In 2020, Wilson was honored on one of the covers of Out magazine's annual Out100 issue, saying Wilson "beautifully weaves his activism inside every aspect of his work".

ALAN BATES, English actor, died (b. 1934); One of the pair of actors in one of the sexiest scenes ever recorded on film: the naked wrestling in front of the blazing fireplace scene in Larry Kramer’s  Oscar-nominated, brilliant screenplay of D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love, second only to the boathouse scene in James Ivory’s production of Maurice IMHO. 

Bates reportedly dated both men and women throughout his career, although from Spoto's research, Bates' treatment of his female companions seemed indicative of a man who was unwilling to admit to being homosexual. As one passage puts it: "Oh, he's back with women again, is he?" said the director Peter Wood. "Really, he is so tedious!" Whether he was simply bisexual or a gay man trying desperately to escape his sexuality (which was a criminal offense for the first 30 years of his life, after all), Bates was an unabashedly free-spirited man, given to flights of romantic fancy and of course breaking many hearts along the way. I'm sorry I missed that.