Brief Timeline

A short timeline reference on the history of LGBTQ+ community

1924

Society for Human Rights

founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is the first documented gay rights organization.

1950

The Mattachine Society is formed

activist Harry Hay and is one of the first sustained gay rights groups in the United States. The Society focuses on social acceptance and other support for homosexuals.

1969

Stonewall Riots

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the New York Police Department raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The police initially planned to line patrons up and verify that the clothing they wore matched the gender indicated on their identification. Pride is celebrated in June to honor the original uprising in 1969.

1977

Save Our Children Campaign

As the gay rights movement began to take root in the wider public, so, too, did groups that formed in opposition. Singer Anita Bryant was at the forefront of a public campaign to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance passed in Florida's Dade County in 1977.

1978

Harvey Milk Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the state of California. During his tenure on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he successfully sponsored legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations.

1979

National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay rights

The first national march for lesbian and gay rights takes place on October 14th, 1979 It draws an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals marching for LGBTQ rights.

1993

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and Shifting Views

One of Clinton’s campaign promises was to end the ban on gay people in the United States military. While Clinton did not outright end the ban on openly gay service members, he did issue Defense Directive 1304.26 – more widely known as "don’t ask, don’t tell." The policy barred military officials from asking or investigating the sexuality of service members but also banned any members of the military from openly saying that they were gay.

2009

Former president Barrack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill

The law expands the 1969 U.S. federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and becomes the first federal law to include legal protections for transgender people.

2013

The US federally recognizes same-sex marriages

extending federal benefits to couples in states that allow same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 that prohibited same-sex couples from receiving federal marriage benefits.

2020

The Supreme Court rules that federal law protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination.

The landmark ruling extends protections to millions of workers nationwide and is a defeat for the Trump administration, which argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that bars discrimination based on sex did not extend to claims of gender identity and sexual orientation..