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[Chicago Society for Human Rights.](http:// http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Chicago_Society_for_Human_Rights:_December_10,_1924)The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization.
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Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, revealing to the public that homosexuality is far more widespread than was commonly believed.
Dr. Kinsey and his fellow researchers employed interviews to accumulate a body of empirical data regarding sex. Based on the personal histories of approximately 5,300 males, this volume describes the methodology, sampling, coding, interviewing, and statistical analyses used, and then examines sexual outlet and the factors and sources involved. -
Harry Hay History The Mattachine Society, the first national gay rights organization, is formed by Harry Hay, considered by many to be the founder of the gay rights movement.
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The Daughters of bilitis a lesbian organisationThe daughters of Bilitis is a pioneering national lesbian organiseation.
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Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private.
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The world's first the transgender organization, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, was established in San Francisco.
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June 27, 1969 in New York's Greenwich Village, police raided a gay bar causing mass riots which lasted for 5 days. http://socialistalternative.org/literature/stonewall.html
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Harvey Milk runs for city supervisor in San Francisco. He runs on a socially liberal platform and opposes government involvement in personal sexual matters.
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Homosexual Activists Intimidate American Psychiatric Association into Removing Homosexuality from List of DisordersThe American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders.
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San Francisco Mayor George Moscone appoints Harvey Milk to the Board of Permit Appeals, making Milk the first openly gay city commissioner in the United States
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November 7, voters reject the proposition by more than a million votes. "the Briggs Initiative", a proposal to fire any teacher or school employee who publicly supports gay rights. Harvey Milk campaigns against the bill and attends every event hosted by Briggs.
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About 75,000 people participated in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, D.C., in October. It was the largest political gathering in support of LGBT rights to date.
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Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
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The city of Berkeley, California, becomes the first city to offer its employees domestic-partnership benefits.
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The “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy is instituted for the U.S. military, permitting gays to serve in the military but banning homosexual activity. President Clinton's original intention to revoke the prohibition against gays in the military was met with stiff opposition; this compromise, which has led to the discharge of thousands of men and women in the armed forces, was the result.
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Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize civil unions between gay or lesbian couples. “couples would be entitled to the same benefits, privileges, and responsibilities as spouses.” It stops short of referring to same-sex unions as marriage, which the state defines as heterosexual.
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In November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that barring gays and lesbians from marrying violates the state constitution. The Massachusetts Chief Justice concluded that to “deny the protections, benefits, and obligations conferred by civil marriage” to gay couples was unconstitutional because it denied “the dignity and equality of all individuals” and made them “second-class citizens.” Strong opposition followed the ruling.
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Civil unions become legal in Connecticut in October
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In November, the House of Representatives approves a bill ensuring equal rights in the workplace for gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals.
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On November 12, same-sex marriages begin to be officially performed in Connecticut.
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the U.S. Senate voted 65 to 31 in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Clinton-era military policy that forbids openly gay men and women from serving in the military. President Obama officially repealed the policy.
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he Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled 2–1 that Proposition 8, the 2008 referendum that banned same-sex marriage in state, is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
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Maryland beccomes the 8th state to pass a legislation to legalize gay marriage.
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Obama Endorses Gay Marriage "It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," he said. He made the statement days after Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan both came out in support of gay marriage.
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Congress approves a law signed in December 2009 that legalizes same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.
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At the 1980 Democratic National Convention held at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
Democrats took a stance supporting gay rights, adding the following to their plank: "All groups must be protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, language, age, sex or sexual orientation."
