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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", which reveals that homosexuality was far more widespread than commonly believed.
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Dr. Frank Kameny launched the first public protests by gays and lesbians with a picket line at the White House in April, 1965.
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The Stonewall riots transform the gay rights movement from one limited to a small number of activists into a widespread protest for equal rights and acceptance. Patrons of a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn, fight back during a police raid on June 27, sparking three days of riots.
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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.
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The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders. This was significant because it showed that a good amount of people were starting to view homosexuality in a less negative light.
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Harvey Milk made national news when he was sworn in as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors He began his term by sponsoring a civil rights bill that outlawed sexual orientation discrimination. Only one supervisor voted against it, and Mayor Moscone signed it into law. Later that year, Milk and Moscone would be assassinated by another San Francisco city supervisor, Dan White.
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The Democratic Rules Committee states that it will not discriminate against homosexuals. At their National Convention on August 11-14, the Democrats become the first political party to endorse a homosexual rights platform.
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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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Matthew Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming on October 7, 1998 because of his sexual orientation. His death later inspired the play, "The Laramie Project".
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President Obama signs a Presidential Memorandum allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive certain benefits. The memorandum does not cover full health coverage.
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The Matthew Shepard Act is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on October 28th. The measure expands the 1969 U.S. Federal Hate Crime Law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
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The US Senate voted 65 to 31 in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The ban will not be lifted officially until President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agree that the military is ready to enact the change and that it won't affect military readiness. On Dec. 18, President Obama officially repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.
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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.
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Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic congresswoman from Wisconsin, became the first openly gay politician elected to the Senate. Also on the same election day, gay marriage was approved in a popular vote for the first time. Maine and Maryland voted in favor of allowing same-sex marriage. In addition, voters in Minnesota rejected a measure to ban same-sex marriage.
