Gayrights

The American Gay Rights Movement

By billerbes

  • 1924

    1924
    Henry Gerber, in Chicago, formed the Society for Human Rights, the country's earliest known gay rights organization.

  • 1948

    1948
    Alfred Kinsey published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, revealing that homosexuality was far more widespread than commonly believed.

  • 1951

    1951
    The Mattachine Society was formed by Henry Hay. Henry Hay is considered to be the founder of the gay rights movement.

  • 1955

    1955
    The Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian-rights organization in the United States, was established in San Francisco. .

  • 1962

    Illinois became the first state in the union to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private.