1967: Loving v. Virginia is argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. A Virginia law against interracial marriages would be struck down, with the Supreme Court declaring that marriage is a “fundamental civil right” and that decisions in this arena are not those with which the State can interfere unless they have good cause. 1972: The Missouri Supreme … Read More
1970: Midnight Cowboy wins the Oscar for Best Picture, becoming the first (and only) X-rated film to do so. It is also the first major Hollywood film to feature an onscreen sexual encounter between two men. The film’s director, John Schlesinger, also gay, wins for Best Director. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnFoaj8utio] 1976: Civil rights crusader and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara … Read More
1972: The U.S. Supreme Court effectively upholds a lower court ruling giving state governments the right to refuse employment to gay men and lesbians. The court had refused to review the case of an openly gay man turned down for a job at a Minnesota university library because of his homosexuality. 1975: New Mexico becomes … Read More
1973: The U.S. Supreme Court decides Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion in the United States. Norma Leah McCorvey (aka “Jane Roe”) wrote of her sexual orientation in her 1994 autobiography, I Am Roe. A few years later she claims that she has converted to Christianity and is no longer a lesbian.
1960: U.S. Court of Federal Claims overturns the Other Than Honorable discharge issued by the Air Force to Fannie Mae Clackum for her alleged homosexuality. This is the first known instance of a homosexuality-related discharge being successfully fought, although the case turned on due process issues and did not affect the military’s policy of excluding … Read More
1967: The Louisiana Supreme Court rules that the state’s statutory ban on “unnatural carnal copulation” applies to women engaged in oral sex with other women.
1958: In the landmark case One, Inc. v. Olesen, the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of the First Amendment rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) magazine “One: The Homosexual Magazine.” 1983: A lesbian couple, Zandra Rolon and Deborah Johnson, are refused service when they try to sit in the romantic … Read More
1980: The New York State Court of Appeals abolishes the state’s sodomy laws. 1982: The Quebec government overwhelmingly approves a measure that gives domestic partners of gays and lesbians legal protection and access to economic benefits previously restricted to straights. 1984: The Times of Harvey Milk wins the New York Critics’ Award for Best Documentary of … Read More
1983: A Federal judge concludes that the First National Bank of Louisville did not practice wrongful discrimination – or violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion – when it ordered one of its employees, Samuel Dorr, to either give up his position with gay Catholic group, Dignity, or resign from the bank.
1980: Two men are killed and six wounded when former transit cop Ronald Crumpley opens fire with submachine gun at NYC gay bar, the Ramrod. He is later found not guilty by reason of insanity. 1982: A California judge tosses Marilyn Barnett’s so-called “palimony” suit against tennis star Billie Jean King out of court.