Notable Events

  • 1924: The Society for Human Rights created

  • 1948: Alfred Kinsey publishes his research on human sexuality

  • 1962: Illinois becomes the first state to decriminalize gay sex

  • 1969: The Stonewall Rebellion marks the beginning of the LGBT liberation movement as a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against police raids, located in New York City

  • 1978: Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay elected official in the United States, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from January to November of that year before his assassination

  • 1980: The Democratic Party includes LGBT rights in its platform

  • 1981: The first case of HIV/AIDS is detected in the U.S. It is unofficially referred to as 'GRID'; Gay-Related Immune Deficiency

  • 1982: After realizing HIV/AIDS is not solely affecting the gay community, the term AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is introduced

  • 1987: The Second National March on Washington for LGBT Rights, which leads to the first national coverage of ACT-UP, a direct action advocacy group for people living with AIDS

  • 1988: The World Health Organization conducts first World AIDS day to raise awareness

  • 1990: Ryan White Care Act

  • 1996: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Colorodo's Second Amendment, preventing lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from special protection as a minority group, is unconstitutional

  • 1996: President Bill Clinton signs Defense of Marriage Act

  • 2000: Vermont legalizes civil unions and partnerships

  • 2003: The Supreme Court of the United States rules sodomy laws are unconsitutional, overruling Bowers v. Hardick of 1986

  • 2004: Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage

  • 2008: California passes Prop 8, which upholds same-sex marriage as illegal. This inspires the 'NOH8' campaign as a protest and advocacy group primarily for the promotion of same-sex marriage

  • 2009: The Matthew Shepard Act makes attacks based in homophobia or transphobia hate crimes

  • 2010: California judge rules that Prop 8 is unconstitutional

  • 2010: Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" allowing LGBT members of the U.S. military to serve openly

  • 2015: The Supreme Court of the United States rules same-sex marriage is constitutional on June 26th

  • 2016: North Carolina passes HB2 legislation barring transgender individuals from using the bathroom of their gender identity on March 23rd

  • 2016: Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida is attacked by an armed gunman on June 12th, killing 49 LGBT people and wounding 53 more; the largest mass murder committed in modern U.S. history

  • 2016: On November 8th, Kate Brown of Oregon becomes the first openly bisexual state governor to serve in the United States