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Brandenberg-Prussia criminalizes sodomy, making it punishable by death
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The first known conviction for lesbian activity in North America occurs in March when Sarah White Norman is charged with "Lewd behaviour each with other upon a bed" with Mary Vincent Hammon in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Hammon was under 16 and not prosecuted
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The Colony of Conneticut outlaws sodomy, including women.
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Catherina Margaretha Linck is executed for female sodomy in Germany.
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Revolutionary France adopts a new penal code which no longer criminalizes sodomy. France thus becomes the first West European country to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults.
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The term "homosexuality" appears in print for the first time in a German-Hungarian pamphlet written by Karl-Maria Kertbeny
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In England, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, outlawing sexual relations between men (but not between women) is given Royal Assent by Queen Victoria
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The words "bisexual" and "heterosexual" are first used in their current senses in Charles Gilbert Chaddock's translation of Kraft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis.
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George Cecil Ives organizes the first homosexual rights group in England, the Order of Chaeronea
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Potentially the first openly gay American novel with a happy ending, Imre, is published
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The October Revolution in Russia repeals the previous criminal code in its entirety. Bolshevik leaders boast that "homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships are treated exactly the same by the law."
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In England an attempt to make lesbianism illegal for the first time in Britain's history fails
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The first homosexual rights organization in America is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago— the Society for Human Rights.The group exists for a few months before disbanding under police pressure. Panama, Paraguay and Peru legalize homosexuality.
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Transsexuality was first used in reference to homosexuality and bisexuality
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The Stonewall riots occur in New York; Paragraph 175 is eased in West Germany; Bill C-150 is passed, decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada. Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister is quoted as having said: "The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation."; Poland decriminalizes homosexual prostitution; An Australian arm of the Daughters of Bilitis forms in Melbourne and is considered Australia's first homosexual rights organisation
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Panama is the second country in the world to allow transsexuals who have gone through gender reassignment surgery to get their personal documents reflecting their new sex UK journal Gay Left begins publication. Minneapolis becomes the first city in the United States to pass trans-inclusive civil rights protection legislation
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Homosexuality is legalized in California due to the Consenting Adult Sex Bill, authored by and successfully lobbied for in the state legislature by State Assemblyman from San Francisco Willie Brown; Leonard Matlovich, a Techical Sergeant in the United States Air Force, becomes the first U.S. gay service member to purposely out himself to fight their ban; South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to make homosexuality legal between consenting adults in private.
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Rachel Maddow became the first openly gay or lesbian American to win an international Rhodes scholarship.
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The first lesbian wedding on television occurred, held for fictional characters Carol (played by Jane Sibbett) and Susan (played by Jessica Hecht) on the TV show "Friends".
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LGBT Organizations founded: "Queer Youth Alliance" (UK)
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Banning of Same-sex marriage and civil unions: US states of Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin
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A film sparking extreme controvery won 3 acadamy awards, after being nominated for 8. This was the first movie to show the sexual relationship between two men
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Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell
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Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote.
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Boy Scouts of America posponed it's decision whether to repeal it's ban on openly gay members
