1977: The ABC sitcom, Three’s Company, premieres. The “sit” in the sitcom is that an unemployed straight chef (John Ritter‘s Jack Tripper) moves in with two female roommates, but in order to satisfy the landlord’s suspicions that there might be sexual impropriety, pretends he is gay. The show stays in the Nielsen Top Ten for … Read More
1977: Blueboy Forum, which bills itself as the U.S.’s first gay-oriented TV show, debuts on New York cable. 2012: Maryland passes legislation to legalize gay marriage, becoming the eighth state to do so.
1977: After a television producer cancels plans to develop a weekly series around her, Anita Bryant complains to the press that she is being “blacklisted” in Hollywood because of her crusade against homosexuals.
1977: White House aide Midge Constanza meets with officers of the National Gay Task Force to discuss what the Carter administration can do to further the cause of gay rights.
1977: The U.S. State Department lifts its ban on the employment of LGBT people and announces that it will consider gay applicants on a case-by-case basis going forward. 1978: The Oklahoma State House of Representatives passes a so-called “Teacher Fitness” statute, which allows local school boards to fire homosexual teachers or any teacher “advocating . … Read More
1975: The American Association for the Advancement of Science passes a resolution deploring discrimination “in any form” against gay men and lesbians. 1977: Washington, D.C.’s Human Rights Commission fines the Grand Central, a local gay bar, over $6,000 for discrimination against women and African-Americans.
1977: Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way begins its 17-week top 40 run. It goes on to become a perennial gay anthem. 1991: Minnesota governor Arne Carlson issues an executive order banning sexual orientation discrimination in the public sector.
1977: Miami becomes the first major Southern U.S. city to pass a gay rights ordinance, despite highly publicized opposition from Floridan orange juice spokesperson Anita Bryant.
1977: The Advocate reveals that the CIA has been collecting information on some three hundred thousand people who have been arrested in the U.S. for committing homosexual acts. 1981: Premiering tonight on ABC, Dynasty, featuring gay character Steven Carrington, cat fights and more shoulder pads than have ever been seen on TV before. 2000: The … Read More
1975: The Chicago Board of Ed. approves a plan that allows, for the first time, the City’s teachers to answer students’ questions about homosexuality. 1977: The Episcopal Church of New York ordains an openly lesbian woman, Ellen Marie Barrett, as a minister. 1980: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence forms in San Francisco. 1982: Paul Lynde, … Read More