In 1969 homosexual acts were illegal throughout the United States.
Gays, who demand to be treated as equal citizens with the same rights, privileges, and treatment as heterosexuals do, make up the Gay Rights Movement.
Some homosexuals often compare themselves with other minority groups like the Jews or the African Americans; the gays were very inspired by the African American Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s dreams, concepts, and demands for equal protection were adopted by the gay community as well, and especially Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s success is the key element for the sudden rise of the Gay Rights Movement.
New York City June 28th 1969, the “Stonewall Riots” in a Greenwich Village, Gay bar “The Stonewall INN” was raided once again by the police. The police had been harassing the men and women in drag, and gays altogether had to act as if they were heterosexual when exposed to the public eye. The homosexuals fought back. The gay people decided to take a stand. Men in dresses and lesbians threw bricks and coins at the police. They wanted their freedom to be who they are and the freedom to choose their personal sexual preference.
Gay protesters were breaking windows and throwing bottles while the police were spraying them back with fire hoses. Many gays went to jail for this historic milestone in the gay rights movement. Many of the protesters are very proud of what had happened. They had finally stood up for themselves, after so much harassment. This uprising by the gays has paved the way for much more to come for the civil rights of the gay community.
Some may say that the stonewall riots are not so much a symbol about gay liberation as it is more of a symbol about oppression.
Schools are now teaching children that homosexuality is an amoral (not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral) and is an equally valid alternative lifestyle.
Tolerance of homosexuality within the United States has reached a record high. According to the American Gallup Poll, since 1977 public support of legalization of “homosexual relations between consenting adults” has risen from 43% to a record-breaking 59%. Also In the Gallup Poll, only 45% of people of over 55 years of age support “homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle”; whereas young people from ages 18-34 years old are 75% in favor. This must be a result of what they are teaching our children in school about homosexuality.
The history of allowing same-sex couples to marry in the U.S.
In 1996, the United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage solely as a union between a couple of the opposite sex for all federal purposes and allowing for the non-recognition amongst the states. Just recently, February of 2011 even though President Barack Obama is officially opposed to same-sex marriage, The President has instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of the DOMA Act because he believes that it is unconstitutionally written, given the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. (As applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.)
In the United States, although same-sex marriages are not recognized federally, same-sex couples can marry in five states and one district (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia) and receive state-level benefits. The states of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Rhode Island do not facilitate same-sex marriages, but do recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. Additionally, several states offer civil unions or domestic partnerships, granting all or part of the state-level rights and responsibilities of marriage. Thirty-one states have constitutional restrictions limiting marriage to one woman and one man.
A 2005 federal district court decision, Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning, holding that prohibiting recognition of same-sex relationships violated the Constitution was overturned on appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2006, which ruled that "laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples ... do not violate the Constitution of the United States."
In 2006, the Supreme Court of Washington concluded that encouraging procreation within the framework of marriage can be seen as a legitimate government interest furthered by limiting marriage between opposite-sex couples.
In 2010, United States District Court for the Northern District of California stated the evidence did not show any historical purpose for excluding same-sex couples from marriage, as states have never required spouses to have an ability or willingness to procreate in order to marry. Proponents of excluding same-sex couples from marriage were unable to reply how permitting same-sex marriage impairs or adversely affects the assumption that the state’s interest in marriage is procreative. When asked to identify the evidence at trial that supported the contention responsible procreation is really at the heart of society’s interest in regulating marriage, proponents’ counsel replied he did not have evidence of this point.
In July 2010, a federal court held key provisions of DOMA unconstitutional the Department of Justice entered an appeal on October 12, 2010. President Barack Obama is officially opposed to same-sex marriage, although he "supports full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples", a full repeal of DOMA, and called California's Proposition 8 "unnecessary”. In August 2010, Proposition 8 was declared unconstitutional under the United States Constitution in a federal court case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, but the ruling has been stayed pending appeal by a higher court; the judge found the ban unconstitutional, ruling that "Proposition 8 disadvantages gays and lesbians without any rational justification". Proponents of Proposition 8 appealed the District Court's ruling, and licensing of marriage ceremonies has been delayed by the 9th Circuit Court issuing a stay until the appeal process is completed; in addition, the 9th Circuit also assured a speedy trial.[
1924
The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization.
1948
Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, revealing to the public that homosexuality is far more widespread than was commonly believed.
1951
The Mattachine Society, the first national gay rights organization, is formed by Harry Hay, considered by many to be the founder of the gay rights movement.
1956
The Daughters of Bilitis, a pioneering national lesbian organization, is founded.
1962
Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private.
1969
The Stonewall riots transform the gay rights movement from one limited to a small number of activists into a widespread protest for equal rights and acceptance. Patrons of a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn, fight back during a police raid on June 27, sparking three days of riots resulting in closings of five gay bars with minor street disturbances. The Stonewall Inn, an unlicensed and Mafia-operated bar in Greenwich Village, was raided by nine policemen in the early mornings of June 28th 1969. As the policemen arrested and escorted five employees and customers, they faced an unexpectedly angry and violent mob outside the Stonewall Inn, yelling, throwing coins, rocks, beer bottles, and bricks at the policemen. During the following forty-five minutes, the nine policemen were involved in a violent struggle, in which the protesters were beaten by policemen, and in which the crowd tried to set the bar with the policemen inside on fire. As police reinforcement arrived, the crowd which had already rose to about 400 angry protesters, finally spread out, but re-gathered for two additional nights around the then-closed Stonewall Inn to protest against the police's discrimination of gay bars, shouting slogans like "Gay Power", "Legalize gay bars", and "Gay is good."
1973
The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders.
1982
Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
1993
The “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy is instituted for the U.S. military, permitting gays to serve in the military but banning homosexual activity. President Clinton's original intention to revoke the prohibition against gays in the military was met with stiff opposition; this compromise, which has led to the discharge of thousands of men and women in the armed forces, was the result.
1996
In Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court strikes down Colorado's Amendment 2, which denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, calling them “special rights.” According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, “We find nothing special in the protections Amendment 2 withholds. These protections . . . constitute ordinary civil life in a free society.”
2000
Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize civil unions between gay or lesbian couples. The law states that these “couples would be entitled to the same benefits, privileges, and responsibilities as spouses.” It stops short of referring to same-sex unions as marriage, which the state defines as heterosexual.
2003
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that sodomy laws in the U.S. are unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, “Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct.”
In November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that barring gays and lesbians from marrying violates the state constitution. The Massachusetts Chief Justice concluded that to “deny the protections, benefits, and obligations conferred by civil marriage” to gay couples was unconstitutional because it denied “the dignity and equality of all individuals” and made them “second-class citizens.” Strong opposition followed the ruling.
2004
On May 17, same-sex marriages become legal in Massachusetts.
2005
Civil unions become legal in Connecticut in October.
2006
Civil unions become legal in New Jersey in December.
2007
In November, the House of Representatives approves a bill ensuring equal rights in the workplace for gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals.
2008
In February, a New York State appeals court unanimously votes that valid same-sex marriages performed in other states must be recognized by employers in New York, granting same-sex couples the same rights as other couples.
In February, the state of Oregon passes a law that allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners allowing them some spousal rights of married couples.
On May 15, the California Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. By November 3rd, more than 18,000 same-sex couples have married. On November 4, California voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage called Proposition 8. The attorney general of California, Jerry Brown, asked the state's Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of Proposition 8. The ban throws into question the validity of the more than 18,000 marriages already performed, but Attorney General Brown reiterated in a news release that he believed the same-sex marriages performed in California before November 4 should remain valid, and the California Supreme Court, which upheld the ban in May 2009, agreed, allowing those couples married under the old law to remain that way.
November 4 voters in California, Arizona, and Florida approved the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage. Arkansas passed a measure intended to bar gay men and lesbians from adopting children.
On October 10 the Supreme Court of Connecticut rules that same-sex couples have the right to marry. This makes Connecticut the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize civil marriage for same-sex couples. The court rules that the state cannot deny gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry under Connecticut's constitution, and that the state's civil union law does not provide same-sex couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.
On November 12 same-sex marriages begin to be officially performed in Connecticut.
2009
On April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rejects the state law banning same-sex marriage. Twenty-one days later, county recorders are required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
On April 7, the Vermont Legislature votes to override Gov. Jim Douglas's veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry, legalizing same-sex marriage. It is the first state to legalize gay marriage through the legislature; the courts of the other states in which the marriage is legal—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa—gave approval.
On May 6, the governor of Maine legalized same-sex marriage in that state in Maine; however, citizens voted to overturn that law when they went to the polls in November, and Maine became the 31st state to ban the practice.
On June 3, New Hampshire governor John Lynch signs legislation allowing same-sex marriage. The law stipulates that religious organizations and their employees will not be required to participate in the ceremonies. New Hampshire is the sixth state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage.
On June 17, President Obama signs a referendum allowing the same-sex partners of federal employees to receive benefits. They will not be allowed full health coverage, however. This is Obama's first major initiative in his campaign promise to improve gay rights.
2010
March 3: Congress approves a law signed in December 2009 that legalizes same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.
August 4: Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8, the 2008 referendum that banned same-sex marriage in California, violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. "Proposition 8 singles out gays and lesbians and legitimates their unequal treatment," Vaughn wrote in his opinion. "Proposition 8 perpetuates the stereotype that gays and lesbians are incapable of forming long-term loving relationships and that gays and lesbians are not good parents."
December 18: the U.S. Senate voted 65 to 31 in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Clinton-era military policy that forbids openly gay men and women from serving in the military. Eight Republicans sided with the Democrats to strike down the ban. The ban will not be lifted officially until President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agree that the military is ready to enact the change and that it won't affect military readiness. On Dec. 18, President Obama officially repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2011 – The plan to end the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military is progressing quickly, said senior Defense Department officials in the first of a series of briefings that will chart the department’s progress in implementing the repeal of the law.”
