Gays And Homosexuality

Throughout history homosexuality had been seen as a sin and a punishable action. In the bible, in

"By 1973, there were almost eight hundred gay and lesbian organizations in the United States; by 1990, the number was several thousand. By 1970, 5,000 gay men and lesbians marched in New York City to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; in October 1987, over 600,000 marched in Washington, to demand equality" (Milestones)

Obviously, the gay community will not stop to remember the major events leading to gay liberation in the U.S. Those who witnessed the June 28, 1969 violent demonstrations by a group of gays at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village near Manhattan, New York City, will forever remember the impact of that early morning hours riots against police raid in the history of gay liberation movement.

The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar in New York City and it was the starting place of the Gay Liberation Movement. In the 1970s gay men and lesbians started wanting equality because they faced lots of legal discrimination. They didn’t have equal rights because they couldn’t even have consensual sex with their partners and it was illegal in almost all states. So in 1969 police raided the Stonewall Inn and gay men fought the police and proclaimed “Gay Power.” This event caused riots between the New York City police and all the gay residents.

There are certainly various points in history that can be construed as trailblazing for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. One event in particular, however, sparked awareness and a call to action that previously could never have been conceptualized in the United States. This unforgettable incident, the Stonewall riots of 1969, altered the public’s view of the gay community and arguably jumpstarted the next revolution in an entirely new civil rights movement.

Gay rights movements in the US can be traced back to the Stonewall Riots that occurred following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City at 3a.m on June 28th, 1969 (“Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?”). In the 1950’s and 1960’s, gay Americans were faced to a harsh anti gay legal system, thus taking away their rights for marriage. This resulted in the Stonewall Riots. Nowadays, 92 percent of the LGBT youth say they hear negative messages about the LGBT, their top sources being school, the internet, and their peers (Growing Up LGBT In America). American youth tends to have many hardships thrown at them by those who aren't like them creating a barrier between each other. F The hate against the LGBT is a major problem in america, stopping us from being a united

With Stonewall came the start of Gay Pride and Pride marches, the very first of which was held on the one year anniversary of the riots in both Los Angeles and Chicago. From then on, Gay Pride marches spread to the rest of country, and soon after many parts of the world joined in. Stonewall was the birth of gay pride, of gay communities joining together, and no longer advocating for silent assimilation, and no longer enduring harassment from society, but instead actively, and unabashedly fighting for social change.

People in this era believed that gay people were sick and this is what cause people to act indifferent towards them. Gay people distanced themselves from a society that treated them indifferent even though they were from the same race. They would see an opportunity when the United States entered World War II. They would sign up to go fight for the country that treated them indifferent. Both men and women would leave everything behind and join the military, “…where for the first time they met large numbers of gays” as seen on The American Challenge (780). They joined the military for the same reason that all the other minorities did, to fight for their country and maybe they would be accepted by society when they returned home. Unfortunately for them, many people had not changed their views on homosexuality. People would still look and treat them differently just like they did to African Americans and any other minority that fought in the war. After returning home from the war, many gays established themselves in big cities and urban areas were other gays lived. Discrimination towards gays would get worse in the upcoming years. In the early 1950s the government would prohibit gays from working for the federal government. Many gay men and women would loose their jobs due to this. Gays were now being persecuted in America the same way they were persecuted by the Nazis in Europe, the only difference is that the United

“The gay rights movement is not a party. It is not a lifestyle… It is not about sin or salvation. The gay rights movement is an integral part of the American promise of freedom” (Urvashi Vaid). Many people were not supportive of the minority of people coming out to the world and becoming a part of the LGBTQ+ community. The actions of the many who did not accept the idea of being gay, lesbian or transgender, would interfere with their confidence and freedom of being who they want to be. The idea of gay rights was not socially accepted since it had differed from the social norm of a male and female sexually attracted to one another. However, there would be a ‘safe haven’ in most cities for the LGBTQ+ community to thrive and reveal themselves towards the people that truly accepted them for who they are. Although there were very few ‘safe havens’ around, these places would be tormented by the police and many of the people in them would become oppressed since they wanted to be in a place of acceptance. From June 28, 1969 through July 1, 1969, the gay community faced massive oppression from police raids in Greenwich Village, NYC at Stonewall Inn, which caused them to start a riot which ignited a major conflict for the sake of their own safety and freedom. This riot allowed them to show their oppressors that they are human as well and are able to fight back for themselves and for the future generations ahead of them. Due to the lack of a formal compromise between the gay community and the police, many people questioned as well as oppressed them because of certain religious aspects and social norms, but the conflict resulted in the development of the Gay Liberation Front and allowing the LGBTQ+ community to freely express themselves.

Often times the phrase, “the first pride was a riot,” is used amongst the LGBTQ community in reference to what is commonly cited as the spark that started the modern gay rights movement. This event is known as the Stonewall Riots, an uprising against the NYPD that occurred as a response to police raids of gay bars. in the 60’s bars were one of the only places in which gay people felt safe enough to be themselves, and so these places became hotspots for New York City’s “undesirables,” from gay men and homeless gay youth, to butches, transwomen, and drag queens. These gay bars were also subject to regular police raids in which the patrons were harassed and arrested by cops, that is until the patrons of the Stonewall Inn stood up against the abuse on June 27, 1969, (Franke-Ruta 2013). It is said that the riot was led by Black and Latina transwomen, notably Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. To commemorate the beginnings of the modern gay rights movement, June is celebrated around the world as gay pride month, most countries (including the United States) recognizing the month as such.

Until the last half of the 20th century, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals were victims of discrimination in American society and in statutory laws, which limited their basic rights. On the night of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, and arrested three drag queens by using excessive force. Bar patrons and spectators, tired of police oppression, stood up and fought back. This was the first major protest based on equal rights for homosexuals. The Stonewall Riots became a turning point for the homosexual community in the United States sparking the beginning of the gay rights movement, and encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual, or "LGBT," to fight for their rights.

Times have changed we are living in a world more liberal , where for society is more commom see same sex couples, where same sex marriage are allowed , where laws protect people with different sexual orientation. Even in this times people with different sexual orientation are afraid to show their identity as lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender for fear of suffering some kind of abuse by society.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth century in Europe, people who were considered homosexual or cross dressers were not accepted socially whatsoever. It was thought of as wrong to be homosexual. The punishment of homosexuality

More gay rights have been given today. While going into present day, history is still in the making. Definitions, rules, and also outlooks have changed. In today 's time, the slang word "closet," means homosexuals who were hidden and not labeled as gay (Abelove B14). The word was first used in the 1960s and is still used today as "coming out of the closet" (Abelove B14). Gay slang terms that are used today have been used throughout history for several decades. The gay rights movement started in the United States in 1969. During the gay rights movement, a challenge that appeared was the AIDS epidemic in 1980s (ProQuest Staff “Topic”). The epidemic was a setback for the gay community. The public and press were not very impressed with AIDS crisis and it put history in the making on hold. On June 26, 2015, however, the United States Supreme Court finalized that same-sex marriage is to be legal though every single state. History is being made as America sees it. Many rules have been changed throughout history by slang words in society, and the gay rights movement encountered some difficult challenges. The gay ancestors have come to very tough decisions, punishments, and acceptance. The United States, however, has moved forward in recognizing the gay community and giving them more freedom that the community has wanted all along.

Gay Americans had enough and were no longer going to live in fear or repression that society put on them. The riots took place at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village and are considered to be the single most important event that led to the liberation of homosexuals. Because of the police raid and the proceeding violent acts, it ignited a fire within the LGBT community that they were no longer going to stand for what they had gone through. They began building alliances with other civil rights groups and protesting in the streets. The Stonewall riots finally gave them a platform to make their voices heard and so began the start of working toward LGBT