You may have seen on the television news channels recently that celebrated queen of the polka dot, the Japanese eccentric and artist Yayoi Kusama had passed on to the realm of the Japanese ancestors. But as LGBTQ Nation magazine reports, she was an ally to LGBTQIA people a long, long time ago - showing solidarity even before the 1960 Stonewall Riots kick started the modern gay movement.

 The LGBTQ Nation website says "Kusama, who passed away on August 14, officiated the November 25, 1968 event, styling herself as the “High Priestess of Polka Dots” at her Church of Self-Obliteration in Lower Manhattan, according to Smithsonian magazine. For the ceremony, she designed a two-person “orgy” wedding gown meant to be worn by the grooms, and she used a phone book instead of a Bible."

Follow the full story of Kusama and LGBTQIA people at the LGBTQ Nation website here: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/09/heres-the-wild-forgotten-story-behind-new-yorks-first-public-gay-marriage-ceremony/