As Pride Month is celebrated around the world, the history and origins of it is often forgotten. But, it’s important to know how it started and how far it has come.
In 1924, the first gay rights group was established. It was founded by Hendry Gerber who was a World War I veteran in Chicago. The Society for Human Rights is documented as the first gay rights organization. Unfortunately, the group gets quickly shut down.
In 1950, the Mattachine Society was formed in Los Angeles. It was founded by activist Harry Hay and it was the first lasting gay organization. The group existed for around a decade and then split up into smaller groups.
Pictured Above: Picture of the Mattachine Society
In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a sociopathic personalty disturbance in the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. A sociopathic personality disturbance is “a mental health disorder characterized by disregard for other people.”
In 1953, an executive order was signed that bans homosexuals from working for the federal government (saying that they would be a risk to security) by president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In 1955, the DOB (Daughters of Bilitis) becomes the first lesbian rights organization by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in San Francisco. The organization was for hosting social functions, and it was conceived as a social alternative for lesbian bars (which at the time, was considered illegal and usually raided by police).
Pictured above: Picture of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
In 1969, the Stonewall riot is considered the start of the LGBTQ civil rights movement (in the U.S.). The police raided the New York City gay bar and customers therefore took a stand. The event ended up being violent protests which led to days of riots.
Pictured Above: The Stonewall Riot
In 1973, by a vote of 13-0, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. It also urged an end to discrimination of laws that discriminated against homosexuals.
In 1980, the Democratic Rules Committee said that it will not discriminate against homesuxals and therefore, the democrats became the first major political party to endorse the homesexual rights platform.
In 1988, Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, Coretta Scott King, asked for help in an effort to extinguish homophobia with the civil rights community.
Pictured Above: Coretta Scott King
In 2000, Vermont takes a huge step towards legalizing same-sex marriage. It becomes the first state in the country to give same-sex couples the same rights as those in other marriages.
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court stops the “homosexual conduct” law that discriminated same-sex sexual conduct.
In 2005, the California legislature is the first to pass a bill that allows marriage between same-sex couples.
In 2010, the U.S. senate repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which allows gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.
In 2012, president Obama stated that he publicly supports the freedom for LGBTQ couples to marry.
Pictured Above: President Barack Obama
In 2015, the Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage a Constitutional right nationwide which meant that all states must allow Americans to get married, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
In 2016, Obama announced the first national monument to LGBTQ rights. The Stonewall National Monument was in Christopher Park.
Pictured Above: The Stonewall National Monument
In 2018, more than 150 LGBTQ canditates were elceted into office for the 2018 midterm elections.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal law protected LGBTQ workers from any type of discrimination.
In 2021, president Joe Biden signed an executive order that repealed the 2019 Trump-era ban on transgender Americans joining the military.
Pictured Above: President Joe Biden
It is evident that the laws for the LGBTQ community have had great ups and downs the past couple of decades, and it is important to be able to know the history of it and see how far it has come.
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