Page 158 - 2018-2019 Directory

GAY HISTORY 156 ©2018 GLPages.com
Gay History...
By Eldon (Skip) Teetsal
1924 Henry Gerber, having heard of and met with several organizations of homosexuals while in Europe duringWW1, tries to set up the Society for Human Rights in Chicago. He was not able to convince many people to join, and some pressure from the police quickly put an end to the group.
1951 The Mattachine Society, the first national gay rights group, is formed by Harry Hay as a service welfare group for the protection and improvement of “Society’s Androgynous Minority.”
1955 The Daughters of Bilitis becomes the first national lesbian organization.
1962 Illinois becomes the first state in the Union to decriminalize homosexual behavior between consenting adults.
1965 Well dressed, polite homosexuals picket theWhite House and the Pentagon for the first time.
1968 Troy Perry opens the doors to the Metropolitan Community Church. On Oct 6, twelve people respond
GAY HISTORY
to Perry’s ad in the Advocate, and meet in the house he and a friend were renting. Today there are over 300 congregations around the world.
1969 All hell breaks loose at 1:20 a. m. on Sat., June 28, just hours after Judy Garland’s funeral, when the New York City police once again raid a little bar called The Stonewall in Greenwich Village. This time the patrons don’t go along passively. Sylvia Rivera, a transgendered woman, is credited with throwing the first bottle. At one point the cops barricade themselves inside the bar and the patrons have to break the door down to get them out. Shouts of “Gay Power” are heard. A year later (1970), 5000 to 10,000 people march from Greenwich Village through Manhattan to Central Park.: The first Gay Pride Parade.
1973 Homosexuality is removed from the official list of mental disorders by the American Psychiatric Association. 1979The first March on Washington attracts 200,000 people. That number grows to 600,000forthe‘87March.In ‘93,1,000,000showuptodemandequalityunderthelawfromthe President and Congress.
1982 Discrimination based on sexual orientation is outlawed for the first time in the U. S. by the state ofWisconsin. Since then, 15 states and the District of Columbia have done the same: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont. The first Gay Games is held in San Francisco on August28atKezarStadium(nowgone).Dr. TomWaddell,whohadrepresentedtheU.S.inthe decathlon at the Mexico City Olympic Games in 1968, envisioned games that would show the world that we played as hard and as well as straights.With the emphasis on doing one’s personal best, anyone was allowed to compete, from the recreational athlete to those driven to set new records.
1985 Gay Republicans form the Log Cabin Club to work for change from within the party.
1987 October 11th -The Quilt goes on public display for the first time on the National Mall inWashington D. C. There are only 1920 panels, each measuring 3’x 6’.Today there are more than 44,000.The quilt was seen in its entirety for the last time in 1996, when it completely covered the Mall. It is the world’s biggest ongoing community arts project.
1988 The first Annual Coming Out Day is celebrated across America. October 11th is chosen to commemorate the ‘87 March onWashington and the first showing of the Quilt. It is promoted as a day to “come out” to friends, family and co-workers as a way to increase awareness of just how many of us there are.
1993 President Bill Clinton institutes the compromise policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for the United States military. This will eventually lead to the discharge of thousands of men and women from the armed forces.
2000 Vermont is the first state to legalize civil unions between same sex couples, but stops short of calling it marriage.