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Loading ...An American gay history timeline: 1903 – 2008
09.30.2008 8:43pm EDT
1903
On Feb. 21, New York police conduct the first recorded raid on a gay bathhouse.
1924
The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country’s earliest known gay rights organization.1948
Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, a groundbreaking study which broaches topics of homosexuality and bisexuality previously undiscussed.
1951
The Mattachine Society is formed by Harry Hay, and becomes the country’s first national gay rights organization.
1956
National lesbian group The Daughters of Bilitis is formed.
1962
Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize private consensual homosexual acts between adults.
1965
The first gay rights protests occur in Washington, DC and in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
1969
The Stonewall Riots begin on June 27 for three days, launching the previously quiet gay rights movement into a massive period of social change, with members increasing from hundreds into the thousands in less than a year.
1971-73
The Gay Raiders, a gay militant group, campaign against television networks to feature and discuss gay people on the air. They disrupt various programs including the CBS Evening News.
1973
The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders.
1975
Governor Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania creates the first committee to research and report on discrimination against sexual minorities. One year later, Governor Shapp issues an executive order outlawing discrimination against sexual minorities in employment, housing and public accommodation.
1981
The first cases of AIDS are found in homosexual men in New York and Los Angeles.
1982
Wisconsin becomes the first state legislature to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
1982
The first Gay Games takes place in San Francisco, drawing over 1,350 athletes.
1985
A spokesperson for actor Rock Hudson acknowledges the star has AIDS, brining the disease to the media forefront for the first time.
1993
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is instituted for the U.S. military, permitting gays to serve in the military but banning homosexual
activity. Thousands of gay and lesbian persons are relieved of their positions.
1996
The Supreme Court strikes down Colorado’s Amendment 2, which denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination,
1997
Ellen Degeneres’ character Ellen Morgan comes out as a lesbian on the popular sit-com Ellen, drawing 36 million viewers.
1998
Matthew Shepard is murdered.
2000
Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize
civil unions between gay or lesbian couples.
2003
The Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that laws prohibiting sodomy are unconstitutional.
2004
On May 17, same-sex marriages become legal in Massachusetts.
2005
Civil unions become legal in Connecticut in Oct. 2005.
2007
Gay domestic partnerships are legalized in Washington state on July 22.;
Oregon, Colorado, Ohio, and Iowa ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the private sector.
On August 9, Logo hosts the first presidential forum in the United States focusing specifically on LGBT issues. Six Democratic Party candidates participate in the event, including Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
2008
The civil union law goes into effect in New Hampshire on Jan. 1; domestic partnership legislation in Oregon becomes effective Feb. 4.
On May 15, the California State Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples equal marriage rights, making California the second state to legalize same-sex marriage.
I feel the one historical event missing is World War II. With the draft covering all parts of the country this was the first time that gays and lesbians were able to realize that they were not just an abnormality living in isolation.
How can you ignore ONE,INC (1952)and the first public publication, ONE Magazine (1953?
This has to be the lamest list I have seen of a “Gay History” No mention of Harvey Milk, the Castro, Briggs initiative, Orange Juice, Gay cable – and those were just the ones from 1975 – 1990. My older friends could list 10 others from 1945-1975. I’d be ashamed of this article, 365gay …
There is a fairly comprehensive timeline (both in America and abroad) on Wikipedia that includes a lot of things that are missing here.
The link is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_LGBT_history
Let us all just hope that the timeline has less lags in it in the future, and that all new additions are positive and progressive ones.
~ Bud Evans
Hi all,
It’s so great that you’re adding things. Please do, and we’ll add them to this master list.
Eventually, there will be a permanent home for gay history on the site, and this will live there. So your additions are very welcome!
Gay history is so rich (more so than the public realizes) that it would be impossible to cover all the highlights in a list. I applaud this writer for making an attempt but do lament the lack of major events, particularly the Harvey Milk tragedy and the riots that followed his murder. I also want to bring attention to the significance that small towns played. For example, the Emma Jones Society in Pensacola, FL that was active from the late 50’s into the mid-70’s, or the Pink Panther riot in Dania Beach, FL in the sixties. Small town America is just as important to this story as San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. It’s gay history month, spread the word and your stories!