-
Society for Human Rights
The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization. -
Daughters of Bilitis
The first lesbian-rights organization in the United States, the Daughters of Bilitis, was established in San Francisco in 1955. -
Illinois Decriminalizes Homosexuality
Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private. -
National Transsexual Counseling Unit
The world's first the transgender organization, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, was established in San Francisco. -
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders. -
A brutual (Tempoary) Defeat
Activists in Miami, Florida pass a civil rights ordinance making sexual orientation discrimination illegal in Dade County. Save Our Children, a campaign by a Christian fundamentalist group and headed by singer Anita Bryant, is launched in response to the ordinance. In the largest special election of any in Dade County history, 70% vote to overturn the ordinance. It is a crushing defeat for gay activists. -
Dont Ask, Dont tell
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. -
A Second Strike-Down
In Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court strikes down Colorado's Amendment 2, which denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, calling them “special rights.” According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, “We find nothing special in the protections Amendment 2 withholds. These protections . . . constitute ordinary civil life in a free society.” -
Same Sex Marriage in Oregon
Oregon passes a law that allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners allowing them some spousal rights of married couples -
Obama endorses Same-Sex Marriage
President Barack Obama endorses same-sex 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.
