LGBTQ people in the United States
In the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people have a long history, including vibrant subcultures and advocacy battles for social and religious acceptance and legal rights.
Swann was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community's right to assemble.
[8] The organization published two issues of a magazine, Friendship and Freedom, but was short-lived due to police harassment and legal challenges.
[10] The Mattachine formally opposed the Stonewall riots and put up a sign pleading for peace, which created tension between members who advocated for assimilationist versus radical tactics.
[8] The first gay pride parade, then called Christoper Street Liberation Day, was held on June 28, 1970, the anniversary of the first night of the riots.
After an initial wave of success, the late '70s saw a backlash led by Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign, wherein a number of recently-passed bills were repealed.
This decade saw the election of the first politicians to run as openly gay candidates, including Kathy Kozachenko, Elaine Noble, and Harvey Milk.
[12] Among the most visible groups of this time period was the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), founded by author and activist Larry Kramer in 1985.
The show is widely seen as having created the opportunity for future series with gay leads, and for helping to increase public acceptance of the LGBTQ community.
Anti-sodomy laws were ruled unconstitutional in 2003, making it legal throughout the nation for consenting adults to have sex with a person of the same gender.
[20] In 1955 in San Francisco, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon founded Daughters of Bilitis, part of the homophile movement, to create lesbian community.
[22] Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), founded in 1970 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, provided housing and support to homeless LGBT youth in Lower Manhattan.
[24] Initially focused on housing, STAR later advocated for trans recognition in the gay liberation movement, leaving a legacy of resilience and advocacy.
Sexual acts between persons of the same sex have been legal nationwide in the US since 2003, pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.
Hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are also punishable by federal law under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.
With the withering and downfall of sodomy laws on a state-by-state basis after 1960, LGBT rights activists began to develop increasingly detailed demands and campaigns for legal equality at all levels of government, a process which has been incremental in each jurisdiction.
In 1984, Berkeley, California became the first jurisdiction to recognize same-sex unions of any type (then in the form of domestic partnership health benefits for city employees).
However, following the Stonewall riots, the social conservative movement in the United States became increasingly defined by its opposition against rights for LGBT people.
The most pre-eminent laws advocated at the federal level by social conservative politicians in the 1990s include Don't ask, don't tell, a continued restriction upon the service of LGBT persons in the United States Armed Forces, and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a heterosexual-exclusive institution and bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions enacted by municipal, state or foreign governments.
Protests against the vote and its outcome ensued nationwide among pro-LGBT rights activists, media personalities and politicians, resulting in Hollingsworth v. Perry, a Supreme Court challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8 which ultimately struck down the initiative.
The law divided American religious groups morally opposed to same-sex marriage;[28] it was supported by some as a suitable compromise between the rights of LGBT couples and religious liberty,[29] a position that was taken by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,[30] but was prominently opposed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention due to their views on sexual ethics.
[31][32] Even after the decriminalization of same-sex sexual activity, LGBT persons have continued to be targeted—violently and non-violently—by individuals who claim any degree of emotional or religious motivation for their crimes.
While this violence is sometimes narrowly termed homophobia or gay bashing, combating it is often understood as part of a broader struggle for human rights.
In response, Seattle-area opinion columnist and rights activist Dan Savage participated with his husband in the making of a video which encouraged children and teenagers to resist and overcome peer bullying, inaugurating an ongoing series of videos by politicians, media personalities, business leaders, activists and others both within and outside the United States listed under the It Gets Better Project.
