FAST FACTS: LGBT Milestones
CNN
(CNN) — Here is a look at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender milestones in the United States.
Timeline:
1924: The Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is the first documented gay rights organization.
September 1955: The first known lesbian rights organization in the United States forms in San Francisco. Daughters of Bilitis. They host private social functions, fearing police raids, threats of violence and discrimination in bars and clubs.
July 1961: Illinois becomes the first state to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws.
June 28, 1969: Police raid the Stonewall Inn in New York City. Protests and demonstrations begin, and it later becomes known as the impetus for the gay civil rights movement in the United States.
1973: Lambda Legal becomes the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. Lambda also becomes their own first client after being denied nonprofit status; the New York Supreme Court eventually rules that Lambda Legal can exist as a nonprofit.
Dec. 15, 1973: By a vote of 5,854 to 3,810, the American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the DSM-II Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
1974: Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly LGBT American elected to any public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Mich., City Council.
1977-1981: Billy Crystal plays one of the first openly gay characters in a recurring role on a prime time television show in “Soap.”
Jan. 9, 1978: Harvey Milk is inaugurated as San Francisco city supervisor, and is the first openly gay man to be elected to a political office in California. In November, Milk and Mayor George Moscone are murdered by Dan White, who had recently resigned from his San Francisco board position and wanted Moscone to reappoint him. White later serves just over five years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.
1978: Inspired by Milk to develop a symbol of pride and hope for the LGBT community, Gilbert Baker designs and stitches together the first rainbow flag.
March 2, 1982: Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
April 1997: Comedian Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian on the cover of Time magazine, stating, “Yep, I’m Gay.”
Sept. 20, 2011: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, ending a ban on gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
May 9, 2012: In an ABC interview, Obama becomes the first sitting U.S. president to publicly support the freedom for LGBT couples to marry.
Sept. 22, 2019: Billy Porter becomes the first openly gay black man to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series.
Related Articles
‘Sounds Like a Mutiny.’ Secret Recording Exposes Claims of Toxic Leadership After a Marine’s Suicide
This week’s War Horse story follows the systemic failures before and after the death of Cpl. Drew Mobley who was the third in two years at Marine Corps Base Quantico to die by suicide.
Southwest Georgia artists recognized at packed opening of exhibition
The annual juried exhibition, one of the region’s largest showcases of visual art, features approximately 46 artists and nearly 90 works spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and mixed media.
Powerful performances drive Theatre Albany’s ‘The Color Purple’
From the street, strands of purple ribbon wind around the white columns of the historic theater, hinting at the story waiting beyond its doors. Inside the foyer, a carefully curated slideshow flickers across a large screen, cycling through the faces of the cast. Some are seasoned performers. Others are stepping onto a stage for the very first time. Teachers stand alongside former students. Parents perform beside their children. People who worship in different churches, work different jobs and come from different corners of Southwest Georgia gather beneath the same lights to tell the same story.
