I ran across this Fast Facts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Milestones in the United States put together by CNN and thought it was a valuable way to learn more about the struggle for equal rights.
Timeline:
1924 - The Society
for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is
the first documented gay rights organization.
1950 - The
Mattachine Society is formed by activist Harry Hay and is one of the first
sustained gay rights groups in the United States. The Society focuses on social
acceptance and other support for homosexuals.
April 1952 - Homosexuality
is listed as a sociopathic
personality disturbance in the American Psychiatric
Association's diagnostic manual.
April 27, 1953 - President
Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an Executive Order that
bans homosexuals from working for the federal government, saying they are a
security risk.
September 1955 - The
first known lesbian rights organization in the United States forms in San
Francisco. Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). They host private social functions,
fearing police raids, threats of violence and discrimination in bars and clubs.
July 1961 - Illinois
becomes the first state to decriminalize
homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws.
September 11, 1961 - The first U.S. televised
documentary about homosexuality airs on a local station in
California.
June 28, 1969 - Police
raid the Stonewall Inn in
New York City. Protests and demonstrations begin, and it later
becomes known as the impetus for the gay civil rights movement in the United
States.
1969 - The "Los
Angeles Advocate," founded in 1967, is renamed "The
Advocate." It is considered the oldest continuing LGBT publication and
began as a newsletter published by the activist group Personal Rights in
Defense and Education (PRIDE).
1970s - The Pink
Triangle becomes a symbol of gay pride after being used during World War II as
a symbol of homosexuality, perversion and deviance.
June 28, 1970 - Community
members in New York City march through the local streets to recognize the
one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. This event is named Christopher
Street Liberation Day, and is now considered the first gay pride
parade.
1973 - Lambda Legal becomes
the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights of gays
and lesbians. Lambda also becomes their own first client after being denied
non-profit status, the New York Supreme Court eventually rules that Lambda
Legal can exist as a non-profit.
January 1, 1973 - Maryland becomes
the first state to statutorily ban same-sex
marriage.
March 26, 1973 - First
meeting of "Parents and
Friends of Gays," which goes national as Parents, Families
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 1982.
December 15, 1973 - By
a vote of 5,854 to 3,810, the
American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its
list of mental disorders in the DSM-II Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders.
1974 - Kathy Kozachenko
becomes the first openly LGBT American elected to any public office when
she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.
1974 - Elaine Noble is
the first openly gay candidate elected to a state office when
she is elected to the Massachusetts State legislature.
January 14, 1975 - The first
federal gay rights bill is introduced to address discrimination
based on sexual orientation. The bill later goes to the Judiciary Committee but
is never brought for consideration.
March 1975 - Technical
Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich reveals his sexual orientation to his commanding
officer and is forcibly discharged from the Air Force six months later.
Matlovich is a Vietnam War veteran
and was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. In 1980, the Court
of Appeals rules that the dismissal was improper. Matlovich is awarded his back
pay and a retroactive promotion. Upon his death, the inscription on his
gravestone read: ''When I was in
the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for
loving one.''
1976 - After undergoing
gender reassignment surgery in 1975, opthalmologist and professional tennis
player Renee Richards is banned from competing in the women's U.S. Open because
of a "women-born-women" rule. Richards challenges the decision and in
1977, the New York Supreme Court rules in her favor. Richards competes in the
1977 U.S. Open but is defeated in the first-round by Virginia Wade.
May 24, 1976 - "Tales of
the City," by Armistead Maupin appears in the San Francisco
Chronicle. It is among the first fiction works to address a disease that
initially affected gay men (it would later be identified as AIDS),
and feature many minority characters and homosexual relationships.
1977-1981 - Billy
Crystal plays one of the first openly gay characters in a recurring role on a
prime time television show in "Soap."
January 9, 1978 - Harvey Milk is
inaugurated as San Francisco city supervisor, and is the first
openly gay man to be elected to a political office in California.
1978 - Inspired
by Harvey Milk to develop a symbol of pride and hope for the LGBT community, Gilbert Baker
designs and stitches together the first rainbow flag.
November 27, 1978 - Harvey Milk and
Mayor George Moscone are murdered by Dan White, who had
recently resigned from his San Francisco board position and wanted Moscone to
reappoint him. White later serves just over five years in prison for voluntary
manslaughter.
October 14, 1979 - The
first National March on
Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place. It draws an
estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals marching for LGBT rights.
March 2, 1982 - Wisconsin
becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
1983 - Lambda Legal wins
People v. West 12 Tenants Corp., the first HIV/AIDS discrimination lawsuit.
December 1, 1988 - The
World Health Organization holds the first World AIDS Day in order to raise
awareness.
November 30, 1993 - President Bill
Clinton signs a military policy directive
that prohibits openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the military,
but also prohibits the harassment of "closeted" homosexuals. The
policy is known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
1994 - The
movie "Philadelphia," depicting a closeted gay man dying of AIDS,
wins two Academy Awards.
November 1995 - The Hate Crimes
Sentencing Enhancement Act goes into effect as part of the
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law allows a judge
to impose harsher sentences if there is evidence showing that a victim was
selected because of the "actual or perceived race, color, religion, national
origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any
person."
September 21, 1996 - President
Bill Clinton signs the Defense of
Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage
and defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as
husband and wife."
December 3, 1996 - Hawaii's Judge
Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same-sex
couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to
recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as
heterosexual married couples.
April 1997 - Comedian Ellen DeGeneres comes
out as a lesbian on the cover Time magazine, stating "Yep, I'm
Gay."
April 30, 1997 - Ellen
DeGeneres' character, Ellen Morgan on her self-titled TV series
"Ellen," becomes the first leading character to come out on a prime
time network television show.
April 1, 1998 - Martin Luther
King, Jr.'s widow, Coretta
Scott King asks the civil rights community to help in the
effort to extinguish homophobia.
October 6-7, 1998 - Matthew Shepard is
tied to a fence, beaten and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming. He is eventually
found by a cyclist, who initially mistakes him for a scarecrow.
October 9, 1998 - Russell
Henderson and Aaron McKinney from Laramie, Wyoming, make their first court
appearance after being arrested for the attempted murder of Matthew Shepard.
Eventually, they each receive two life sentences for killing Shepard.
October 12, 1998 - Matthew
Shepard dies from his injuries sustained in the beating.
April 26, 2000 - Vermont
being comes the first state to legalize civil-unions between same-sex couples.
May 17, 2004 - The
first legal same-sex marriage in the United States occurs in Massachusetts.
September 6, 2005 - The
California legislature becomes the first to pass a bill allowing marriage
between same-sex couples. Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger vetoes the bill.
December 9, 2005 - "Brokeback
Mountain" is released to limited audiences in New York,
Los Angeles and San Francisco. The major motion picture, directed by Ang Lee,
focuses on a love story between two men that stretches over decades, and
survives in a time and place in which the two men's feelings for each other
were utterly taboo. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, and goes
on to win several Golden Globe
Awards and Academy Awards.
October 25, 2006 - The New Jersey Supreme Court rules
that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay
and lesbian couples.
May 15, 2008 - The
California Supreme Court rules in re: Marriage Cases that
limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.
November 4, 2008 - Voters
approve Proposition 8 in California, which makes same-sex marriage illegal.
February 22, 2009 - Actor
Sean Penn wins an Oscar for
his role as Harvey Milk in the film, "Milk." The film also won for
"Best Original Screenplay."
August 12, 2009 - Harvey
Milk is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack
Obama.
October 28, 2009 - President
Barack Obama signs the Matthew Shepard
and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.
August 4, 2010 - Proposition
8 is found unconstitutional by a federal judge.
September 20, 2011 - "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed, ending a ban on
gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
May 9, 2012 - In
an ABC interview, Barack Obama becomes the first sitting U.S.
president to publicly support the freedom for LGBT
couples to marry.
September 4, 2012 - The
Democratic Party becomes the first
major U.S. political party in history to publicly support
same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.
November 6, 2012 - Tammy Baldwin
becomes the first openly gay politician, and first Wisconsin
woman, elected to the U.S. Senate.
June 26, 2013 - In United States v.
Windsor, the U.S. Supreme
Court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act,
ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits.
The high court also dismisses a case involving California's proposition 8.
October 6, 2014 - The
United States Supreme Court denies review in five different marriage cases,
allowing for lower court rulings to stand and allowing same-sex couples to
marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The decision opens
the door for the right to marry in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South
Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
June 9, 2015 - Secretary of
Defense Ash Carter announces that the Military Equal
Opportunity policy has been adjusted to include gay and lesbian military
members.
April 24, 2015 - In a televised interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, U.S. Olympic gold
medal winner Bruce Jenner says, "Yes, for
all intents and purposes, I'm a woman."Jenner later revealsthat she is now Caitlyn Jenner and
will live as a woman.
April 28, 2015 - The U.S. Supreme
Court hears oral arguments on the question of the freedom to marry in
Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. The Supreme Court's decision is
expected in late June 2015, and may bring a national resolution on the issue of
same-sex marriage.
June 26, 2015 - The
Supreme Court rules that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. The 5-4 ruling had Justice Anthony
Kennedy writing for the majority with the four liberal
justices. Each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent.
July 27, 2015 - Boy Scouts of
America President Robert Gates announces
that " the national executive board ratified a resolution removing the
national restriction on openly gay leaders and employees.
