1989: In a response to politcal outcries over a Robert Mapplethrope exhibit, Jesse Helms leads a fight in the U.S. Scnate to curtail National Endowment for the Arts funding for “obscene or indecent art,” including artworks that depict “sadomasochism, homoeroticism, the exploitation of children, or individuals engaged in sex acts.” The measure is overwhelmingly adopted … Read More
1970: The Vatican issues a statement reminding the faithful that the Roman Catholic Church considers homosexuality a moral aberration. 1979: Hundreds of demonstrators show up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to protest location shooting for William Friedkin’s new film, Cruising, which deals with a series of grisly mutilation murders within the city’s gay leather community. 1985: In Paris, … Read More
2011: The first legal same-sex marriages are performed in the state of New York. New York City records 659 marriages, a one-day record for the city.
1975: World-famous evangelist Billy Graham states that he is in favor of gay men being ordained as ministers, though he hedges on the question of whether women should enjoy the same right.
1980: In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons extends the Sexual Offenses Act to cover Scotland, decriminalizing most private consensual sex acts between men.
1980: Thirty-two-year-old Italian Enso Francone, in Moscow for the summer Olympics, chains himself to a fence in Red Square to protest Soviet persecution of homosexuals. With Western journalists looking on, a group of KGB officers moves in and drags Francone away. 1981: George Hamilton plays the twin roles of Don Diego Vega and his look-alike gay brother … Read More
1845: In Paris, a mob attacks a group of about 50 men arrested by police in a sweep of the Tuileries Gardens, a popular cruising area. 1951: The “Missions and Purposes” of the Mattachine Society are ratified under a California corporation. 1981: Despite having privately acknowledged her bisexuality to officials from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Czechoslovakian- born … Read More
1848: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Co-organizer Lucretia Mott invite several hundred women to Seneca Falls, New York, for the first Women’s Rights Convention. About 100 sign a “Declaration of Sentiments” modeled on the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The document marks the beginning of organized feminism in the United States. 1921: The U.S. Senate Naval Affairs Committee issues … Read More
1966: Around 25 people picket Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco when new management begins using Pinkerton agents and police to harass gay and transgender customers. 1990: Two congregations of the Lutheran Church−both in San Francisco−are suspended for having ordained gay and lesbian pastors.
1968: The Wall Street Journal publishes an article entitled, “U.S. Homosexuals Gain in Trying to Persuade Society to Accept Them”. 1982: Queen Elizabeth’s personal bodyguard, fifty-year-old Commander Michael Trestrail, is forced to resign after British newspapers reveal he is gay and has been involved in a long-term relationship with a male prostitute. Later, reports surface that Prime … Read More