Though the first national gay organization was formed in 1950, the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City are often cited as the beginning of the modern gay civil rights era.[1] The AIDS crisis in the 1980s was a large influence on gay communities and activism. In the late 20th century, social acceptance began to increase, and legal rights followed.
We'wha was a Zuni Native Americanlhamana from New Mexico. Lhamana are biologically male people who take on the social and ceremonial roles usually performed by women in their culture
There are varying accounts of the place LGBT people occupied in pre-Columbian era Native American tribes.[2] In modern parlance, the term Two-Spirit is often used to describe Native American LGBT people. There were (and are) hundreds of different tribes across the US, each with its own culture, thus acknowledgement and acceptance of and social roles for LGBT people varied across tribes.[3] In the reservation era, Christian missionaries and European government agencies denounced homosexuality and gender variance, forcing LGBT people to adopt social roles and dress considered appropriate, such as making males cut their hair and making females wear dresses. Though the violence and intimidation enacted by the church and government were disproportionately directed at Native Americans, both Native and non-Native LGBT people often lived in hiding to avoid being incarcerated or killed because homosexuality was a criminal offense.[3][4]
The first person known to describe himself as a drag queen was William Dorsey Swann, born enslaved in Hancock, Maryland. Swann was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community's right to assemble.[5] During the 1880s and 1890s, Swann organized a series of drag balls in Washington, D.C.. Swann was arrested in police raids numerous times, including in the first documented case of arrests for female impersonation in the United States, on April 12, 1888.[6]
Story on gay fathers published in May 1983 Life Magazine
LGBT acceptance had shown slow improvement in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The first documented gay rights organization in American, the Society for Human Rights, was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Henry Gerber, a German-American activist inspired by the progress made by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin.[7] The organization published two issues of a magazine, Friendship and Freedom, but was short-lived due to police harassment and legal challenges.[8]
In the 1950s, there was both greater organization within the LGBTQ community and greater government repression, known as the Lavender Scare. In 1950, the first national gay organization was founded in Los Angeles. The Mattachine Society was a leader in the homophile movement of the 1950s and '60s. The organization rapidly lost popularity in the late '60s before ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 1976.[9] The Mattachine formally opposed the Stonewall riots and put up a sign pleading for peace, which created tension between members who advocated for assimilationist versus radical tactics. The radicals broke off to form the Gay Liberation Front, while Mattachine membership continued to decline.[9]
The riots ushered in a new era of open advocacy for gay rights. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM and more states began decriminalizing sodomy.[7] In the 1970s, activists lobbied for a number of anti-discrimination bills in their local communities. After an initial wave of success, the late '70s saw a backlash led by Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign, wherein a number of recently-passed bills were repealed. This decade saw the election of the first politicians to run as openly gay candidates, including Kathy Kozachenko, Elaine Noble, and Harvey Milk. In addition, while the early days of the gay movement were dominated by white gay males, the movement became more diverse in the 1970s with the formation of groups like Lavender Menace and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.[10]
Members of ACT UP NY protest in Manhattan.
There were more rapid changes with HIV/AIDS crisis activism in the 1980s. The disease disproportionately affected gay men, leading to mass mortality within the community. Among gay men who were between the ages of 25-44 at the start of the epidemic, 1 in 10 had died of AIDS-related complications by 1995.[11] Among the most visible groups of this time period was the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), founded by author and activist Larry Kramer in 1985. The group lobbied for more research, funding, and treatment options for HIV/AIDS due to perceived apathy from the Reagan administration.[11] A number of writers, artists and entertainers publicly acknowledged their homosexuality.
In the 1990s, the popular media began including gay characters. Ellen was cancelled in 1998, shortly after both the main character and her namesake star came out as a lesbian, making the series the first to have a gay main character.[12] That same year, Will & Grace premiered. The cast and crew feared that it would be cancelled as well, but the series was well-received and went on for an initial eight-season run. The show is widely seen as having created the opportunity for future series with gay leads, and for helping to increase public acceptance of the LGBTQ community.[13]
The socially conservative Don't Ask Don't Tell policy (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) were two of the highest-profile policy changes affecting LGBTQ people in the 1990s. At the time, DADT was seen as a compromise between the traditionally conservative military, which had banned homosexuals from service from its inception, and the Democratic Party, which increasingly favored ending the ban. DADT barred military officers not inquire into soldiers' sexual orientation, while also prohibiting soldiers from coming out.[14] DOMA was passed in response to a number of states passing laws protecting domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, as well as speculation that Hawai'i might legalize gay marriage. Under DOMA, neither the federal government nor any other state was required to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another state, excepting gay marriages from the full faith and credit clause.[15] DADT was dropped in 2011, and DOMA was ruled unconstitutional in 2013.
Anti-sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional in 2003, making it legal throughout the nation for consenting adults to have sex with a person of the same gender. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, states began legalizing same-sex marriage. By 2015, 37 states had voted to legalize same-sex marriage. Obergefell v. Hodges ruled the remaining laws restricting marriage to heterosexual couples unconstitutional, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.[16]
Official church positions on LGBT issues have been slower to change and mostly among mainstream Protestant denominations.
In 1950, a gay community in Los Angeles with communist ideals founded the movement "The Mattachine Society". It began in 1940 when a man named Harry Hay proposed the term the term homophile, with the hope that de-emphasizing the sexual aspect of homosexuality would increase societal acceptance.[17] The Mattachine Society originated under the name "International Bachelors Fraternal Orders for Peace and Social Dignity." The new name was founded by the influence of European masked performers. The main goal of this movement was to go against discrimination and create a strong identity within the gay community. The goals started to change into assimilation instead of advocation and the group started to decline from being a national organization to smaller chapters in the 1950s.[18]
While never officially affiliated with the Mattachine Society, One Magazine is thought to have been started based on a discussion in a Mattachine Meeting.[19]
The Lesbian Movement
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon kissing in the aftermath of their wedding in San Francisco, 2004
In 1955 in San Francisco, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon founded Daughters of Bilitis, part of the homophile movement, to create lesbian community. The organization was intended to be a safe space for lesbians and to advocate. It was influenced by The Mattachine Society and other groups.[20]
In the early 1970s, lesbian activists created their own communities and institutions including self defense schools. Many of their activities were separate from the broader feminist movement and from the gay men's movement. In the late 1970s, the lesbian movement dwindled due to the economic recession, and it generally integrated with the broader gay movement.[21]
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), founded in 1970 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, provided housing and support to homeless LGBT youth in Lower Manhattan.[22] Rivera and Johnson funded the organization largely through sex work, becoming known as the "mothers" of the household.[23] Initially focused on housing, STAR later advocated for trans recognition in the gay liberation movement, leaving a legacy of resilience and advocacy.[24] Rivera briefly revived STAR in 2001 as Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries, continuing the fight for transgender rights until her death in 2002.[25][26]
LGBT rights in the US have evolved over time and vary on a state-by-state basis. Sexual acts between persons of the same sex have been legal nationwide in the US since 2003, pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
Adoption policies in regards to gay and lesbian parents also vary greatly from state to state. Some allow adoption by same-sex couples, while others ban all "unmarried couples" from adoption.
With the withering and downfall of sodomy laws on a state-by-state basis after 1960, LGBT rights activists began to develop increasingly detailed demands and campaigns for legal equality at all levels of government, a process which has been incremental in each jurisdiction. In 1984, Berkeley, California became the first jurisdiction to recognize same-sex unions of any type (then in the form of domestic partnership health benefits for city employees). In 1999, California passed its domestic partnership law, becoming the first state to recognize same-sex unions; Vermont became the first state to legalize civil unions (often seen as a reduced version of full marriage rights).
However, following the Stonewall riots, the social conservative movement in the United States became increasingly defined by its opposition against rights for LGBT people. The most pre-eminent laws advocated at the federal level by social conservative politicians in the 1990s include Don't ask, don't tell, a continued restriction upon the service of LGBT persons in the United States Armed Forces, and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a heterosexual-exclusive institution and bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions enacted by municipal, state or foreign governments. These were followed by the passage in the 2000s of state-level statutory and constitutional prohibitions of legal recognition of same-sex marriages or unions of any type.
The most controversial moment in the history of the movement for same-sex marriage rights took place in California during the period from May 2008, when the State Supreme Court abrogated Proposition 22, which barred the state from legalizing same-sex marriage, as unconstitutional, to November 2008, when Proposition 8, a proposition against the court ruling brought by social conservatives, passed with 53% of the vote. Protests against the vote and its outcome ensued nationwide among pro-LGBT rights activists, media personalities and politicians, resulting in Hollingsworth v. Perry, a Supreme Court challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8 which ultimately struck down the initiative.
On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that states must license and recognize same-sex marriages. Consequently, same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. Currently, same-sex marriages are neither licensed nor recognized in American Samoa, due to its unique constitutional status. The legal status of same-sex marriage also varies in Native American tribal nations, as their reservations are considered sovereign entities and were not affected by the Supreme Court's legalization in 2015.
Current U.S. LGBT hate crimes laws by state. A national hate crimes law encompasses both sexual orientation and gender identity.
Sexual orientation and gender identity recognized in state hate crimes law
Sexual orientation recognized in state hate crimes law
Sexual orientation recognized for data collection about hate crimes
State hate crimes law uninclusive of sexual orientation or gender identity
Even after the decriminalization of same-sex sexual activity, LGBT persons have continued to be targeted—violently and non-violently—by individuals who claim any degree of emotional or religious motivation for their crimes. This phenomenon has been variously attributed to the influence of institutional and authoritarian homophobia in various environments. The torture and murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998 became a rallying moment for activism against hate crimes, and the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed in 2009 under President Barack Obama; the Act was also the first federal legislation of any purpose to specifically refer to transgender persons. Anti-bullying and anti-hate crime movements increasingly focus on bias against sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 required data collection about crimes motivated by biases that included "sexual orientation."[32] Since then, the FBI has produced an annual report with relevant statistics. In 2013, the FBI's hate crime report began separately considering bias against "gender identity" and "gender" for the first time.[33]
National data collection can be complicated by inconsistent reporting requirements on the state level. For example, as of 2019, 37 states still do not have anti-bias statutes for crimes based on gender identity.[34]
The FBI reports show that, throughout the 21st century, bias against sexual orientation has consistently accounted for between one-seventh and one-fifth of all reported incidents that were motivated by a single bias.
Violence against LGBT people in the US is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals (LGBTQI), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of America. Gay men are victimized by homophobic violence at a much higher rate than other identities within the LGBTQ umbrella.[58][59] Those targeted by such violence are often perceived to violate heteronormative rules and contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. While this violence is sometimes narrowly termed homophobia or gay bashing, combating it is often understood as part of a broader struggle for human rights.
In 2009–2010, a number of suicides by teenage and young adult Americans who were victims of sexual orientation- or gender expression-related bullying by fellow students garnered headlines, bringing to the fore a debate on bullying in schools and other environments. In response, Seattle-area opinion columnist and rights activist Dan Savage participated with his husband in the making of a video which encouraged children and teenagers to resist and overcome peer bullying, inaugurating an ongoing series of videos by politicians, media personalities, business leaders, activists and others both within and outside the United States listed under the It Gets Better Project.[60]
Freedom to Marry was the leading advocate for same-sex marriage; the organization closed after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide. Some of the original staff from Freedom to Marry moved to a new organization called Freedom for All Americans, which now seeks to "adapt the multi-level and multi-prong strategies" of the marriage equality movement to a movement for "a broader array of LGBT rights and protections," according to Courtenay W. Daum.[63]
Since the 1980s, Gay Straight Alliance organizations have helped students and teachers and provide resources to their institutions. The 1984 Federal Equal Access Act prohibits schools receiving federal funding from discriminating between clubs. This law has been used in legal challenges to reverse school bans against GSAs. Research has shown that LGBTQ adolescents feel safer and more included when they belong to these groups. Presence of a GSA on campus has been shown to increase LGBTQ student wellbeing and educational attainment.[64]
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their interests, numerous LGBTQ rights organizations are active worldwide. The first organization to promote LGBTQ rights was the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, founded in 1897 in Berlin.
Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin and Phyllis Ann Lyon were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay-rights activists.
LGBTQ culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, LGBT culture, and LGBTQIA culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.
"Gay agenda" or "homosexual agenda" is a pejorative term used by sectors of the Christian religious right as a disparaging way to describe the advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual sexual orientations and relationships. The term originated among social conservatives in the United States and has been adopted in nations with active anti-LGBT movements such as Hungary and Uganda.
The origin of the LGBT student movement can be linked to other activist movements from the mid-20th century in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement and Second-wave feminist movement were working towards equal rights for other minority groups in the United States. Though the student movement began a few years before the Stonewall riots, the riots helped to spur the student movement to take more action in the US. Despite this, the overall view of these gay liberation student organizations received minimal attention from contemporary LGBT historians. This oversight stems from the idea that the organizations were founded with haste as a result of the riots. Others historians argue that this group gives too much credit to groups that disagree with some of the basic principles of activist LGBT organizations.
Libertarian perspectives on LGBT rights illustrate how libertarian individuals and political parties have applied the libertarian philosophy to the subject of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) rights. In general, libertarians oppose laws which limit the sexual freedom of adults. However, they may also oppose hate crime legislation, viewing it as antithetical to freedom of speech, and oppose discrimination laws on the grounds that it would constitute government overreach into private enterprise.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in the United States are among the most advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence changing significantly since the late 1980s.
LGBTQ movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer social movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBTQ people. Some have also focused on building LGBTQ communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia, homophobia, and transphobia. LGBTQ movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity, including lobbying, street marches, social groups, media, art, and research. Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes:
For the lesbian and gay movement, then, cultural goals include challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights, benefits, and protections from harm.
Pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements. Pride has lent its name to LGBTQ-themed organizations, institutes, foundations, book titles, periodicals, a cable TV channel, and the Pride Library.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Scotland are generally in line with the rest of the United Kingdom, which have evolved extensively over time and are now regarded as some of the most progressive in Europe. In both 2015 and 2016, Scotland was recognised as the "best country in Europe for LGBTI legal equality".
The U.S. state of New York has generally been seen as socially liberal in regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights. LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". The advocacy movement for LGBT rights in the state has been dated as far back as 1969 during the Stonewall riots in New York City. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults has been legal since the New York v. Onofre case in 1980. Same-sex marriage has been legal statewide since 2011, with some cities recognizing domestic partnerships between same-sex couples since 1998. Discrimination protections in credit, housing, employment, education, and public accommodation have explicitly included sexual orientation since 2003 and gender identity or expression since 2019. Transgender people in the state legally do not have to undergo sex reassignment surgery to change their sex or gender on official documents since 2014. In addition, both conversion therapy on minors and the gay and trans panic defense have been banned since 2019. Since 2021, commercial surrogacy has been legally available within New York State.
New York state, a state in the northeastern United States, has one of the largest and the most prominent LGBTQ populations in the world. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote that New York City has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful" LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rises, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBT Americans in New York City constitute by significant margins the largest self-identifying lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities in the United States, and the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village are widely considered to be the genesis of the modern gay rights movement.
The U.S. state of Illinois has an active LGBT history, centered on its largest city Chicago, where by the 1920s a gay village had emerged in the Old Town district. Chicago was also the base for the short-lived Society for Human Rights, an early LGBT rights advocacy organization (1924).
LGBTQ history in the United States spans the contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, as well as the LGBTQ social movements they have built.
This article addresses the history of gay men in the United States. Unless otherwise noted, the members of same-sex male couples discussed here are not known to be gay, but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of male homosexuality—that is, same-sex male sexual and romantic behavior.
New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+ populations. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBTQ advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."
The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBTQ topics:
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the United States.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is a memorial wall in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". Located inside the Stonewall Inn, the wall is part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the country's LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty inductees were unveiled June 27, 2019, as a part of events marking the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. Five honorees are added annually.
Queer radicalism can be defined as actions taken by queer groups which contribute to a change in laws and/or social norms. The key difference between queer radicalism and queer activism is that radicalism is often disruptive and commonly involves illegal action. Due to the nature of LGBTQ+ laws around the world, almost all queer activism that took place before the decriminalization of gay marriage can be considered radical action. The history of queer radicalism can be expressed through the many organizations and protests that contributed to a common cause of improving the rights and social acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.
↑ Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibily. ed Reina Gossett, Eric A. Stanely, and Johannah Burton. "Trans History in a Moment of Danger: Organizing Within and Beyond 'Visibility' in the 1970s" by Abram J. Lewis
↑ Cohen, Stephan L. (2007). The Gay Youth Liberation Movement in New York: 'An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail'. New York: Routledge. ISBN978-0203940570.
↑ Rivera, Sylvia (2002). Queens in Exile, the Forgotten Ones. Los Angeles: Alyson Books. p.67.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
↑ Beard, Lisa (2023). If we were kin: race, identification, and intimate political appeals. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-751732-1.
1 2 Crary, David (November 16, 2022). "Faith groups split over bill to protect same-sex marriage". Associated Press. Retrieved November 17, 2022. Among U.S. faith leaders and denominations, there are sharp differences over the bill advancing in the Senate that would protect same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law... On Tuesday, one of the most prominent conservative-leaning denominations – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – came out in favor of the legislation. But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention remain opposed...
↑ Esbeck, Carl (November 17, 2022). "Everything You Need to Know About the Respect for Marriage Act". Christianity Today. Retrieved November 18, 2022. Rather than just say no to RMA, a small collective of faith groups moved quickly in the Senate to see if the act could be brought into balance. A few senators from both parties who were keen on doing just that helped. After adding in a measure of religious liberty protections, the Senate substitute of the House bill passed the higher chamber earlier this week, 62–37. Churches, Christian colleges, K-12 religious schools, and faith-based social service providers can take comfort in these boundary lines. All in all, RMA is a modest but good day's work. It shows that religious liberty champions and LGBT advocates can work together for the common good. It says to the original House bill, 'If a bill is about us, it has to be with us.' And it shows that Congress can still legislate, not just be a gaggle of egos who go to Washington to perform but never fix.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
