-
Gay's & The War.
U.S. Secretary of War Harry Stimson ordered a review of gay discharges during World War II, with the aim of "reinducting" men who hadn't committed any in-service homosexual acts. -
McCarthyism
Though U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy is most famous for rooting out Communists and spies, he targeted homosexuals as well. In 1950s America, gay men and lesbians were regularly subjected to police harassment and dismissal from their jobs. -
First Gay Rights Organization if founded.
During the 1950s, it would have been dangerous and illegal to register any kind of pro-gay organization. The founders of the first major gay rights groups had to protect themselves by using code. -
First Public Protest.
One of the most significant figures in the gay rights movement, Dr. Frank Kameny, launched the first public protests by gays and lesbians with a picket line at the White House in April, 1965. The following year, the first known gay student organization was founded at Columbia University in New York City. -
The StoneWall Riots.
A series of violent demonstrations against police following an early morning raid on the Stonewall Inn, which openly welcomed gay people and catered to the most marginalized people in the community. -
Marriage In Minnesota
Jack Baker and James Michael McConnell apply for a marriage license in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The license is not only denied but subsequently appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refuses to hear the case. The following year, they obtain a license from another Minnesota county, and are married before a Methodist minister in Minneapolis. -
Randy Shilts's
San Francisco Chronicle journalist Randy Shilts's book And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, was released to critical acclaim and became a best-seller. It made clear that official neglect of the gay community, and incompetence, fueled the spread of the disease. -
European's.
The Northern European country is the first in the world to enact registered partnership laws for same-sex couples, allowing most of the same rights as marriage. -
Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton promised to reverse the executive order barring gays and lesbians from serving in the U.S. military. so long as military personnel didn't "tell" anyone about their sexual preference - nor engage in homosexual acts. -
NO MARRIAGE.
The U.S. Defense of Marriage Act is signed into law. It means that no state needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if it's considered so in another state. -
Matthew Wayne Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998. He was attacked on the night of October 6–7, and died a few days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12 from severe head injuries. -
Partnership
The U.S.states of New Hampshire, Oregon and Washington take major strides by either legalizing civil unions (New Hampshire) or domestic partnerships. -
Marriage
California and Connecticut's Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage. And Nepal's Supreme Court gets in on the act by ordering its government to do the same. -
Marriage .
U.S. states of Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire follow suit on same sex marriage -
It gets better.
Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other bullied teens by letting them know that it gets better.
