1967: In response to raids early on New Year’s Day, P.R.I.D.E. (Personal Rights in Defense and Education) stages demonstrations at Silverlake’s Black Cat Tavern. It’s the first use of the term “Pride” to become associated with LGBT rights. 1974: The “Brunswick Four” (Adrienne Potts, Pat Murphy, Sue Wells and Heather (Beyer) Elizabeth) perform a song … Read More
1962: Illinois repeals its sodomy laws, becoming the first U.S. state to decriminalize homosexuality. 1965: San Francisco police arrest gay and lesbian party-goers at a fund-raising ball for the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, held at California Hall. 1967: In the first hour of the new year, a raid occurs at the Black Cat … Read More
1967: Craig Rodwell opens the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors in the United States, the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop at 291 Mercer Street in New York City. (It moved to 15 Christopher Street in 1973.) Despite a limited selection of materials when the bookstore was first established, Rodwell refused to stock pornography and instead … Read More