1966: Members of the Mattachine Society stage a “sip-in” at the Julius Bar in Greenwich Village, where the New York Liquor Authority prohibits serving gay patrons in bars on the basis that homosexuals are “disorderly.” Society president Dick Leitsch and other members announce their homosexuality and are immediately refused service.  Following the sip-in, the Mattachine Society … Read More

1948: Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior In The Human Male 1962: Illinois becomes first state in The US to discriminalize homosexual acts between to two consenting adults in the privacy of their homes. 1977: The Nevada State Senate – meeting a mere twenty miles from the nearest legalized brothel and just across the street from the nearest … Read More

1978: 1,500 gays and supporters rally on the steps of the state capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, in support of the gay rights provision in the city’s human rights ordinance. 1989: In one of the Navy’s worst peacetime tragedies, a gun turret explosion aboard the U.S. battleship Iowa kills forty-seven sailors while the ship is … Read More

1965: Ten gay and lesbian demonstrators picket the White House in Washington, D.C., the first in a series of demonstrations staged this year by the East Coast Homophile Organization (ECHO) 1976: The Lavender World’s Fair – the first all-gay world’s fair, featuring a “Spectacular Grandstand Concert,” “Special Lesbian Guest Stars,” “The World’s Largest Outdoor Disco” … Read More

1977: A New York judge rules that transsexual tennis player Renee Richards is eligible to play in the women’s division of the U.S. Open tennis championships and does not have to undergo a chromosome test. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDu7mvm8CvE] 2001: Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg steps down from an advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America, citing … Read More