Summary: The American Gay Rights Movement

The Gay Rights Movement officially began in 1924 with the Society for Human Rights. Henry Gerber, along with six other men, applied for a charter on December

The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as

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

Homosexuality has been an issue for the public for an extremely long time dating back to even Ancient Rome and Greek. Especially with the birth of Christianity, the religious society has been persecuting anyone claiming homosexuality, forcing people to hide their own sexuality for centuries. It is important to understand and know the past of the homsexuality to understand the reason for their fight and the mentality of their opposition. Homosexuality has never been accepted into the norms of society and was even viewed as a mental disease by the American Psychiatric Association (Bowman). Not until a few decades ago has the movement for gay rights began to kick off. The event that really set off the movement was the Stonewall Riot of 1969. “New York’s gay community had grown weary of the police department targeting gay clubs, a majority of which had already been closed. The crowd on the street watched quietly as Stonewall’s employees were arrested, but when three drag queens and a lesbian were forced into the paddy wagon, the crowd began throwing bottles at the police” (“Stonewall”). This event is regarded as the foundation for the modern gay rights movement including the formation of many gay, lesbian, and bisexual civil rights organizations.

This timeline provides information about the gay rights movement in the United States from 1924 to the present: including the Stonewall riots; the contributions of Harvey Milk; the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy; the first civil unions; the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York; and more.

After the 19th century European history, we merge into American history. There was close to no studies done up until Post World War II. There was some encouraging growth for gay life that was very much apparent in Greenwich and Harlem in the 1920’s and this is also when the community adopted the pink and black triangle. The war allowed for gay men and lesbian women to insert themselves into the war efforts without being constantly chastised. There were efforts to work towards gaining more acknowledgement of this community. One of whom that led for this justice in the 1950’s was Senator Joseph McCarthy with his investigation of homosexuals in government positions. His investigation is what led up to the first politically inclined demand for

In the modern era, people of the United States of America have increasingly become more tolerant and accepting of differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. However, the new liberal mindset of people regarding characteristics such as race and sexual orientation would not be possible without the relentless protesters and dedicated activists who fought hard to make their views heard through a movement that would greatly impact and shape the future of this country. The gay rights movement which started in the late 1960’s aimed at achieving human rights for homosexuals; the phenomenal empowering poems and widely acclaimed literary works of Audre Lorde significantly promoted gay rights and provided a unique point of view of the life of a homosexual.

According to the data bank of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (organization founded in 1950 and that has led the fight for equal rights and social justice in The United States of America for over half a century) the origin of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement can be traced back to the Stonewall Inn, a little gay bar in New York. (Civilrightsorg, 2016)

In the late 1940s the gay rights movement would receive aegis from an unlikely source, science. In the 1940s, while teaching a course on marriage, scientist Alfred Kinsey noticed there was very little scientific data on sex. He spent the next years applying the principles of scientific research to the topic of sexual behavior. In 1948 Kinsey published his first book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. The book was based on more than 10,000 interviews, during which, subjects answered very candid and personal questions. The book sold close to 500,000 copies and Kinsey used the royalties for further research. Even though the sold, its contents were still extremely taboo, for the time. The book, itself, deals with human

The current status of the gay rights movements has gone a long way. Same-sex couples can now marry in all 50 states, which is the biggest gain they have ever had. It was a long time coming, but in June 2015 same sex marriage became nationwide. The lesbian, gay bisexual, and transgender movement still have a lot to achieved and some of them are: they are working to make public school safe and bias-free for LGBT students. They are defending students’ free speech in school and helping students start gay-straight alliance clubs. They are still working hard on their civil rights and civil liberty for all, to achieve a lasting legal and social change. Also the transgender people’s rights to be themselves, fighting against discrimination in employment,

The LGBTQ movement has been taking place since the late 19th century (Morris, 2016) with many people now acknowledging and paying attention to the colorful movement in the 21st Century.

Hodges. On June 26, 2015 homosexual marriages were declared legal in all fifty states based on the fourteenth amendment. This new law took the traditionally heterosexual institution of marriage and changed it into something completely new that was unthinkable before. This is an example of evolution of thought. In 1776, when America was founded, homosexual individuals were outcasts, were considered immoral people, and homosexual marriages were not legal. Since the beginning of America, the issue of homosexuality has evolved from a heterosexual only outlook, to a don’t ask don’t tell approach, and finally to an attitude of acceptance of all people including homosexuals. In 239 years the popular opinion on homosexual marriage has changed for the worse. The evolution of thought concerning homosexual was a direct opposite of the way of thinking of the founding fathers of

In 1993, Hawaii first put forward the legal possibility of same-sex marriage, but was rejected. Since then, the U.S. 30 states and the federal government have passed legislation to ban recognition of same-sex marriage. March 16, a law allowing gay’s marriage passed by House of Representatives in Vermont with 76 votes to 69 votes. After the vote, they cried

The issue of gay marriage is a very controversial subject in the late 1990's. Recently, Hawaii and California legalized the marriage of gay individuals, with Vermont not far behind. Proponents of this

In 2015, same-sex marriage has been ruled legal in all 50 states but that wasn’t always the case. Gay Marriage has been a conflict since the Roman Empire. In 342 AD Christian emperors Constantius and Constans issued a law in the Theodosian Code prohibiting same-sex marriage in Rome and ordering execution for those who married. Marriage existed between a male Roman and female Roman citizen, so that marriage between two Roman males (or with a slave) would have no legal standing in Roman law.