Annotated Bibliography

After World War II the U.S. government composed a list of those thought to be high security risks, Homosexuals were placed on this list, reason being that the U.S State Department thought they lack emotional stability contrary to heterosexual persons. Homosexuals were denied federal job applications, about 5,000 of them were discharged from the military and 400 were fired from government jobs because people may have suspected them as being homosexual.The FBI kept track of the lives of homosexuals. The mail they received, what businesses they

The next thing I will be talking about is the Mattachine Society. The Mattachine Society was founded in 1950, and it was considered one of the earliest gay rights movement in the United States. Harry Hay and some of his friends had started this group to protect and form a

A longitudinal study conducted by Rofey et al. (2009) assessed the relationship of childhood depression and anxiety to weight gain. The purpose of this study was to examine the "relationships between mood disorders and weight in children" (Rofey et al., 2009 p.524).

Also, Hal Call was a huge part in the Mattachine society and the gay rights movement in the 60s. This quote represents this, “While it is true that there was ongoing organized political activity on behalf of American homosexuals starting in 1951 with the founding of the Mattachine Society, that organization.”

One of the minority groups that came into prominence during this tumultuous time were homophile activists who advocated for an assimilation of gays into society, and relied mostly on pacifist tactics. It wasn’t until the summer of 1969, in a Greenwich Village tavern, where a series of protests served as a catalyst to inspire gays to join together in the fight against inequality through more radical means; thus setting into motion the beginnings of modern American LGBT rights activism and Gay Pride.

According to Boslaugh, a LGBT activist, the Stonewall Riots was when “gay that they did not need to accept second-class status and they had sufficient strength in numbers to resist harassment”(Boslaugh 1). Due to the pride and confidence acquired from the Stonewall Riots, a movement of hope emerged, which is known as the Gay Liberation Movement. The Gay Liberation movement took place mostly in the 1960s - 1980s, however, it is still ongoing to this day. This movement urged the LGBT community to stand up for themselves and fight back against their discriminating enemies by conquering hatred and shame with pride and love. Ever since the formation of the LGBT community, they had struggled to become accepted and treated as equal counterparts to straight people. For example, they were not given the same right to marriage as straight people were, as it was illegal to marry someone of the same gender. The LGBT community was also treated unfairly in the work force. Numerous places refused to hire members of the gay community, depending on the places they visit. It was often that someone who went to a gay bar or restaurant, was not hired for the job even if they were well-qualified. The LGBT community also endured many violent hate crimes against them. In particular, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay commissioner on the San Francisco Board of Permits, who was quickly assassinated

In the recent years there has been a growing concern about the impact of homophobia. In the United States, few endeavors were made to make backing bunches supporting gay and lesbian connections until after World War II, albeit prewar gay life prospered in urban focuses, for example, Greenwich Village and Harlem amid the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. The interruptions of World War II permitted earlier detached gay men and ladies to meet as fighters, war laborers, and different volunteers evacuated from residential communities and posted around the world. More noteworthy mindfulness, combined with Senator Joseph McCarthy 's examination of gay people holding government occupations amid the mid 1950s, prompted the primary American-based political requests for reasonable treatment in psychological wellbeing, open strategy, and vocation. Until the passing of the Sexual Offences Bill in 1967, male homosexual activity was illegal. Gay men were frequently imprisoned for consensual sex with another man. Lesbianism was not illegal, but was similarly subject to public disapproval, or ignored.

Despite the dangers and difficulties involved, gay men and women were able to find places to meet. The Minorities Research Group (MRG) was formed in 1964, and provided isolated lesbians with resources and information about female homosexuality and the opportunity to meet other women” (Allan Horsfall 2014). “Through the 1980s, as the gay male community was decimated by the AIDS epidemic, demands

The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization.

These organizations were soon to have support from many prominent figures. One of which is Daniel Webster Cory. The Homosexual in America was published by D.W. Cory. This book told the story of the life and experiences of a homosexual. He just so happened to have published with his alias because he was a closet homosexual. His name is actually Edward Sagarin. In 1953, Dr. Evelyn Hooker won a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study gay men. She later demonstrated in 1956 that homosexuals were just as well off as heterosexual men, but with all efforts people didn’t stop getting incarcerated for their “taboo” sexual orientation until

Kameny. He continued the fight by creating another Mattachine organization, this one in Washington. According to Carter (2011), the new constitution of the Mattachine Society of Washington stated “to equalize the status and the position of the homosexual with the status and position of the heterosexual by creating equality under the law” (para. 10). Continuing in his pursuit of equality it took four years for his own organization to recognize that homosexuality was not a mental illness and that it would appropriate to publicly demonstrate for equality. Through public expression and demonstration, Mr. Kameny was able to sway the opinions of others who elected government officials that were able to modify laws to recognize the gay

Throughout the 20s, many gay and lesbian people remained in isolation however, many began to gather

Army of Occupation of Germany from 1920 to 1923 and got the opportunity to join the German homosexual civil right movement when he was in Germany. He had some activities in German homophile magazines and he sometimes wrote for this organization (Thies). He also was in contact with Scientific-Humanitarian Community in Berlin. In 1924, Gerber came back to the United States and his return was amongst a scenery of urbanization and a developing gay culture in the United States. According what Gerber had experienced in his country, he decided to found an organization to protect the LGBTQ rights. With some of his friends, Gerber founded an organization which is known as The Society for Human Rights, a nonprofit association in Illinois. Chicago 's LGBTQ media have firm and deep roots and an old history (Thies). This Organization’s goals were to protest police harassment, the US military 's treatment of gay people, and the disease model of homosexuality all over the nation. For example, Illinois became the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private in 1962. The Society for Human Rights published a newspaper, “Friendship and Freedom”, which was given away to its tiny membership (Harrington). The society could only publish two issues of its newsletter, which financed mostly out of its founder’s pocket; in 1925 the police attacked Gerber 's house and arrested all members of this small association. While there

The lawful action and formal movement groups made in the left coast throughout the seventies to help protect gay rights, built a foundation for the gay rights movement that gays all over the country used to gain equal rights such as marriage rights, counceling rights, and employment. For many years, the voices of the LGBT community were oppressed by regular society. But, beginning in the late 60’s, the movement of counterculture began to challenge common thought that other races and gender types should be treated with equal respect. Although these movements of counterculture such as the famous stonewall riots, helped spark the movement, it was not until cities like seattle and portland implemented legal protection, that the gay community started to grasp footing.

The American gay rights movement dates back to 1924, when the Society for Human Rights in Chicago became the country’s first gay organization. It was not until the 1960s that the movement began to make any real progress. However the feud over gay marriage did not become an issue until 1970. It initially became a problem when a Minnesota couple, Richard Baker and James Michael McConnell, were denied a marriage license by the Hennepin County District

Henry Gerber is not a name that many people know, but he had a big role in shaping the world around us. Gerber is the founder of Chicago’s Society for Human Rights in 1924. This organization is the first gay rights organization in America. Gerber was first introduced to homosexuality while fighting in Germany and decided the United States needed an organization protecting the rights of gays and lesbians. This was the first step in a long battle.