Remember the Stonewall riots? Me, neither.

But this is where LGBT history first got its press-worthy start in America. Gays and lesbians would gather at a New York City club, the Stonewall Inn. In 1959 you could get arrested and beaten up just for being suspected of your rainbow ties; I can’t even imagine. Some patrons of the club had grown tired of the mistreatment and started a protest that became a riot. A year after the riots, the first pride parades were held in several major cities in the US. Illinois was the first state to decriminalize being gay in 1961. And we’ve been fighting for our rights ever since. The right to hold political office. The right to join the Boy Scouts. The right to hold hands in public. All of these basic American rights have been denied us since our country’s inception.

The Original Gay Politician

Harvey Milk was one leader who paved the way for other LGBT Americans to be “out” in public. Harvey Milk was the first homosexual man to be elected to public office in the United States. This was 1977. Milk served on the San Fransisco Board of Directors; he was responsible for a city ordinance that gave gay people in San Fransisco equal rights. Milk was gunned down by another Board member along with the Mayor of San Fransisco, George Moscone. The movie, Milk, covering his life and his path to the Board of Directors is an insightful look at the struggles that LGBT individuals have faced to gain their rights.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

The 80’s and 90’s brought us many changes for LGBT people. The first openly gay man to run for president, David McReynolds, is defeated in 1980. The Human Rights Campaign is created in 1980. AIDS becomes connected to gay men and is a serious threat in the US in the 1980’s. The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy reinforces what the military thinks of gays in 1996. President Bill Clinton signs the Defense Of Marriage Act in 1996, further limiting cohabitation and marriage for LGBT individuals. Although there are several gay characters on television in the 1990’s, when Ellen Degeneres comes out on 1997 the world seemed to freak out and she was unemployed for several years.

Road to Tomorrow

The 2000’s seem to only get better for LGBTs. In 2003, in Lawrence v. Texas, all anti-sodomy laws are declared unconstitutional under the protection of the 14th amendment. Massachusetts is the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004. California legalized same-sex marriage in 2008, only to have it repealed shortly thereafter. And now in 2014, the US currently have 17 states where you can marry your same-sex partner. Fifty five years of progress and in half of the US you can still be fired from your job for flying the rainbow flag. At last count, eighteen countries have now given the right to marry to all (or almost) all of its citizens.

This post is by no means comprehensive of the laws, acts and individual people who have made an effort to be on the right side of history. But with their continued support and more protective legislation, maybe one day we can just call it marriage and people will stop linking it to bestiality and pedophilia.

What would you like to know about the LGBT community? Please list any questions or concerns in the comment box and I’ll do the rest.

-Rachel

*Note: All pictures are taken from wikipedia.org.