|
1.2. Time line of the homosexual history and rights
04/12/2010 01:43
The history of the homosexual movement in USA started in 1924, when The Society for
Human Rights became the country's earlies known gay right organization. However, it
was a couple of decades later, when there was any real progress. The Mattachine
Society, which is first national gay right organization, is formed by Harry Hay in 1951.
Harry Hay is considered by many to be the founder of the gay rights movement. In the
1950s it was dangerous to found any kind of gay organization, so the founders had to
protect themselves by using code.
The real progress started in 1962, when Illinois became the first state to decriminalize
homosexual acts between consenting adults in private. The decision of American Law
Institute stunned many, and a lot of the states ignored the recommendation.
1969 is often regarded as the year that the gay rights movement took off. When the
NYPD (New York City Police Department) raided a gay bar in Greenwich Village and
started arresting employers and performers. Contrary to expectations, the patrons fought
back and approximately 2000 supporters of the bar took on the police, forcing them into
the club. Three days of riots followed and almost overnight a massive gay rights
liberation was born.
In 1973 American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from DSM-II
(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), as they began the realize that
homophobia was a real social problem. The early psychiatry was haunted by the legacy of
Sigmund Freud, who sometimes had an unhealthy obsession with normalcy.
Two years later the Civil Service Commission eliminated the ban of the employment of
homosexuals in most federal jobs. Many states included sexual orientation in their civil
rights, for example Wisconsin and Massachusetts. The lesbian and gay world wasn't an
underground subculture anymore but a well-organized community. Especially in the larger
cities there were businesses, political clubs, social service agencies, community centers
and religious congregations bringing people together.
The growing gay rights movement had also an opposition. A singer Anita Bryant led a
campaign to repeal a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida in 1977. Her success
encouraged others and by 1980s, a conservative force targeted the gay rights movement.
The AIDS epidemic also intensified the anti gay rhetoric of the New Rights but it also
stimulated further organizations such as the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City
to provide services and assistance to those infected. The AIDS paradoxically
strengthened the political army of the gay movement.
In 1993 the ”Don't ask, don't tell” policy was instituted for the US military. It permitted
the homosexuals to serve in the military, but it banned homosexual activity.
President Clinton's original intention was to revoke the prohibition against gays, but it
was met with strong opposition. The ”Don't ask, don't tell” was a compromise.
Homosexual movement gained a lot of sympathy when a 22-year-old college student
Matthew Shepherd was brutally beaten and left then die. Just a year and a half after his
death, Vermont became the first state of USA to legalize civil unions.
In 2004 San Fransisco became issuing same-sex-marriage licenses. However, it was
muted by President Bush, who called for a country-wide ban on same-sex marriage.
| |
