1955: In the wake of the murder of a Sioux City, Iowa, boy earlier in the year, 29 men suspected of homosexuality have been committed to mental asylums as a preventive measure authorized by the state’s “sexual psychopath” laws.
1998: In the U.S. state of Texas, John Lawrence and Tyrone Garner are fined US$125 each after being arrested for having sex in their home. They refuse to pay the fine, resulting in a challenge of the Texas sodomy law which would eventually lead to the 2003 nationwide repeal of sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas.
1979: San Francisco swears in its first openly gay police officers. Within a year, 1 out of every 7 new recruits is LGBT.
2008: Same-sex marriages begin to be officially performed in Connecticut.
2008: Strauss v. Horton, a legal challenge to Proposition 8, is filed.
2008: California voters ban same-sex marriage with Proposition 8, becoming the first U.S. state to do so after marriages had been legalized for same-sex couples. The amendment to California’s constitution passed by a margin of 52% to 47% and overturned the state supreme court’s ruling in May in favor of same-sex marriage.
1987: 2,000 gay and lesbian couples exchange vows in a mass wedding held on the steps of the I.R.S. building in Washington, DC.
1983: New York State sues a West 12th Street co-op for trying to evict Dr. Joseph Sonnabend for treating AIDS patients. He later receives $10,000 and a new lease. 1985: A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a 2—1 opinion written by Anthony Kennedy, affirms in the case of…
1983: The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rules that federal immigration authorities cannot prevent lesbians and gay men from entering the country purely on the basis of their sexuality. 2008: Rachel Maddow becomes the first openly gay anchor of a major prime-time news program in the United States as host of The Rachel…
1970: Huey Newton, leader of the Black Panthers, expresses his support of the Gay Liberation movement. 1983: La Cage aux Folles opens on Broadway to rave reviews and $4 million in advance ticket sales. 2008: The Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon legalizes same-sex marriage. The state of Oregon does not recognize same-sex marriage but, as…
