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First Gay Rights Group Establish
In 1924, Henry Gerber founded the first Gay Rights group in America, and published the Newsletter "Friendship and Freedom." This group was later disbanded however the premise of it stuck around.
Henry Gerber's House -
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gay Rights
In the famous case One, Inc. v. Olsen the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay rights. During this case, they rules that the Post Office should still deliver the ONE: The Homosexual Magazine. While many opposed this, the ruling of this case was the first time freedom of speech and homosexuality overlapped. -
Mattachine Society "Sip-In"
In 1966, many bars and services refused to serve gay people. The Mattachine Society, staged a "Sip-In" where they entered a bar, announced they were gay, ordered drinks and waited to be served. This form of protest was also used in the Civil Rights movement of African Americans during the 1960 movement. These protests were meant to be peaceful, but could turn violent as seen in many other protests. -
Stonewall Riots
In 1969, New York, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club. Raiding this club started a six day protest, which lead to lots of violence and damage to property. This riot became a famous day and united many organizations. The Stonewall Inn later became a national monument.
Stonewall Riots -
Homosexuality Removed from DSM
The American Psychiatric Association board previously publishing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders removes Homosexuality from being considered as a mental illness. This opened the door for acceptance, and seeing it is not something that has to be "cured" -
Vermont Grants Civil Unions to Same-Sex couples
In July of 2000, Vermont made same-sex couples the right to enter civil unions. While these civil unions are not legal marriages, they grant the same rights and benefits as legal marriages. This begins to open a huge door for legal homosexual marriages.
Civil Unions & Vermont Judiciary -
The Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act signed into Law
In 2009, after Matthew Shepard was killed for being gay, and James Byrd, Jr. was killed because he was black, President Obama signed this act into law. This new law expanded previous hate crime legislation, and included crimes that were due to actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identify and disabilities as hate crimes.
This act was a huge step for Civil Rights Movement of African Americans, and Gay Rights alike. -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, is revoked
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, is a previous law that prevented openly gay Americans from serving in the US armed forced. This law made it so that if someone were openly gay, and enrolled in the military, they could be discarded. On September 20th, 2011, this law was officially revoked, officially allowing openly Gat people to serve in the forces. -
SCOTUS strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act
In 2013, SCOTUS officially declared the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. This overturned previous legislature that made it so that only straight married couples could receive legal benefits such as Social Security and health insurance. By overturning this it mean that same-sex couples could receive federal benefits.
What It Means:Video -
Love Wins
With the ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Court officially added the Fourteenth Amendment requiring states to license and recognize same-sex marriages. A June 2015, same-sex marriage is ruled as Constitutional right nation wide, granting same-sex couples are now legally allowed to marry in any state, no matter their gender or sexual orientation.
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