 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(January 2023) |
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LGBTQ rights organizations are non-governmental civil rights, health, and community organizations that promote the civil and human rights and health of sexual minorities, and to improve the LGBTQ community.
The first LGBTQ rights organizations began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early organizations were primarily research-oriented psychiatric organizations that took a sympathetic, rather than a corrective, approach to homosexuality. The Uranian Union was an organization initiated by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs in 1865 with which he urged for the repeal of anti homosexual laws. [1] [2] The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee, WhK) was founded in 1897 by Magnus Hirschfeld, the first outspoken advocacy group for LGBT and women's rights in Germany. [3]
Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay the Mattachine Society (also called Mattachine Foundation) was one of the first LGBT rights groups in the United States. Its members began as communist-affiliated leftists and the society was a key member in the 1950s Homophile movement. [4]
Taking place from the 1940s into the 1960s, the "lavender scare" was a societal panic about the notion that gay men and lesbians were communist sympathizers. This connected with the anti-Communist Red Scare, spurred on by McCarthyism. As a result, thousands of LGBT people were fired from their jobs. [5]
Early LGBT organizations in the United States were, like earlier German organizations, primarily centered around the rights of gay men. The Society for Human Rights was founded in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, by Henry Gerber, who was inspired by Hirschfeld's work in Germany and produced the first gay-rights-oriented publication in the US, Friendship and Freedom . The Society for Human organization was short-lived, due to some members' arrests for "obscenity." Though the charges were dropped, the fees associated made Gerber file for bankruptcy. [6] The first national gay rights organization, the Mattachine Society, was formed in 1951, [7] was created by Harry Hay.
The first lesbian rights organization in the US was founded in 1955. The Daughters of Bilitis was founded in San Francisco, California, by activist couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. [7] In 1965, The Imperial Council of San Francisco was formed by José Sarria. In 1966, National Transsexual Counseling Unit was formed in San Francisco. [8]
In the wake of the Stonewall riots, LGBTQ organizations began to flourish around the United States, including politically active organizations. Many of these organizations formed in the early 70s were particularly militant in their approaches. As well as militant social justice groups forming, groups dedicated towards all aspects of gay living. In this era the Rainbow Flag was created by gay activist Gilbert Baker, a symbol that would replace the previous Red, Gold, and Green flag. The Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club was founded in 1971 by Martin & Lyon, as well as activists Beth Elliot and Ben Foster. In 1976, Harvey Milk founded a splinter organization known as the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club. In the 1980s LGBT organizations were happening in many aspects of culture from medical and dental to housing. At the same time,organization in this period was done within city centers the eventual strength of the organization led to more political parties building coalitions with these LGBT organizations. [9]
In 1981, American doctors began using gay-related immune deficiency (GRID) as a term for what would later be called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). [10] In the 1980s the syndrome was colloquially referred to as the gay plague, and other terms related to sexual practises of gay men. [11] This linked the virus to gay identity to many. The CDC has used acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) since 1982. [12] The Reagan presidential administration did not mention the term "AIDS" until 1985 in his second term. [13] Despite this, a member of his administration's press corp, Lester Kinsolving, would often make homophobic comments or jokes in the years between 1981 and 1985. [14]
The twenty-first century saw a dramatic rise in LGBTQ organizations and acceptance in the U.S.
Tremendous progress has been made over the beginning of the 21st century, though equal rights are only beginning for the LGBT community. Some notable organizations have had an impact for almost half a century and are still cornerstones today, including the Human Rights Campaign. [15] They stand for equal rights and have advocated for the legalization of same-sex marriage since 1995. The Human Rights Campaign has recently elected its first Black and Queer president (University of Missouri alumnae), Kelley Robinson. The National Black Justice Coalition has been monumental in advocacy for the Black LGBTQ community. They have been influential in policy-making and community outreach/education since 2003. [16] Starting in 1998, The Trevor Project began their mission of ending death by suicide in the LGBTQ community. This organization is now a leading crisis intervention service nationwide. [17]
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.
The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was an early national gay rights organization in the United States, preceded by several covert and open organizations, such as Chicago's Society for Human Rights. Communist and labor activist Harry Hay formed the group with a collection of male friends in Los Angeles to protect and improve the rights of gay men. Branches formed in other cities, and by 1961 the Society had splintered into regional groups.
The LGBTQ community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBTQ activists and sociologists see LGBTQ community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBTQ community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBTQ community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBTQ community.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1981.
Founded in 1952, One Institute, is the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in the United States, dedicated to telling LGBTQ+ history and stories through education, arts, and social justice programs. Since its inception, the organization has been headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride. In the feminist spirit of the personal being political, the most basic form of activism was an emphasis on coming out to family, friends, and colleagues, and living life as an openly lesbian or gay person.
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (SFGMC) is the world's first openly gay chorus, one of the world's largest male choruses and the group most often credited with creating the LGBT choral movement.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1960s.
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.
Timeline of events related to sexual orientation and medicine
The GLBT Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of archival materials, artifacts and graphic arts relating to the history of LGBTQ people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California.
Harold Leland "Hal" Call was an American businessperson, LGBT rights activist, and U.S. Army veteran. He served as president of the Mattachine Society and in the 1950s, was one of the first gay activists to speak publicly on television. Call founded printing presses for LGBT publications and later opened gay adult shops and pornographic film screening venues. He received a Purple Heart for his service in the Pacific War.
In the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people have a long history, including vibrant subcultures and advocacy battles for social and religious acceptance and legal rights.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.
The LGBTQ community in Chicago is one of the United States' most prominent, especially within the Midwest, alongside those of San Francisco and New York City, and holds a significant role in the progression of gay rights in the country. With a population of around 3 million, Chicago is the third biggest city in the US, and around 150,000 of those people identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, questioning, or other.
Gloria Frankel (1940–2007) was an LGBTQ rights advocate. She opened the first LGBTQ club in South Bend, Indiana in 1971 called the Seahorse Cabaret. Frankel was a grassroots activist for gay and lesbian rights in Michiana and a mentor to others who would eventually open other gay clubs in the area. Part of Frankel's activism included decriminalizing same sex dancing in South Bend. Frankel was a leader of LGBTQ justice in South Bend, IN.
The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history in the 20th century.
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.
