1623
Francis Bacon, a gay man, introduces the term, “masculine love.” He releases The Advancement of Learning, advocating for empirical research and critiquing superstition. His deductive approach to empirical inquiry earns him the moniker, “the Father of Modern Science.”
1624
Richard Cornish of the Virginia Colony is brought to trial and subsequently executed for the crime of sodomy.
1649
The earliest documented case of conviction for lesbian activity in North America transpires as Sarah White Norman and Mary Vincent Hammon are charged with “lewd behavior” in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1779
Thomas Jefferson revises Virginia law to impose mutilation as punishment for sodomy, applicable to both men and women. It replaces the previous penalty of death.
1860
Walt Whitman, often regarded by scholars as either gay or bisexual, releases a collection of homoerotic poems titled Calamus.
1869
The first cross-dressing ball is held at the Hamilton Lodge in Harlem.
1869
first cross-dressing ball
1886
We’wha, a Zuni Native American from New Mexico, is received by US President, Grover Cleveland, as a “Zuni Princess.” They are an accomplished weaver, potter, and the most famous Ihamana; a traditional Zuni gender role described as “mixed-gender” or “Two-Spirit.”
1886
We’wha & president Cleveland
1888
William Dorsey Swann, an African American and the first individual to self-identify as the “queen of drag,” is detained on his birthday along with twelve other men in what marks the earliest-recorded arrests for female impersonation in the United States.
1888
First “queen of drag”
1889
British writer and critic, Alan Dale, publishes A Marriage Below Zero in the US. It is considered the first American novel that explicitly depicts a homosexual relationship and starts the trend of writers including tragic endings (many times by suicide) for 2SLGBTQIA+ characters.
1903
The first-recorded police raid against a 2SLGBTQIA+ venue in US history takes place in New York City’s Ariston Bathhouse. As a result of the incursion, twenty-six men are arrested and twelve of them are prosecuted on sodomy charges.
1906
American author, Edward Prime-Stevenson, publishes Imre: A Memorandum in Italy; considered the first American gay novel in which a same-sex couple gets a happy ending.
1924
The Society for Human Rights, established in Chicago, is the first-recognized gay rights organization in the United States. It receives a charter from the state of Illinois and produces the first American publication for homosexuals; Friendship and Freedom. A few months after being chartered, the group ceases to exist in the wake of the arrest of several of the society’s members. Despite its short existence and small size, the society has been recognized as a precursor to the modern gay liberation movement.
1924
first recognized gay rights organization
1925
Blues singer, Ma Rainey, is arrested in her home in Harlem for having a lesbian soireé. Her protégé, Bessie Smith, bails her out of jail the following morning. Rainey and Smith are part of an extensive circle of lesbian and bisexual African American women in Harlem.
1926
Police raid Eve’s Hangout, a lesbian bar in New York City. Its owner, Polish feminist Eva Kotchever, is arrested and deported, and Eve’s Hangout never opens again.
1925
Ma Rainey arrested
1929
1929 “The Surprise of a Knight” becomes the first American pornographic film to depict homosexual intercourse.
1934
The Motion Picture Association starts enforcing the Hays Code, banning the representation of overt 2SLGBTQIA+ characters onscreen. They make an exception for those depicted as villains or criminals.
1947
First lesbian periodical published
1947
A woman under the pseudonym “Lisa Ben” (anagram of “lesbian”) starts self-publishing a small lesbian magazine called Vice Versa in Los Angeles. It is the oldest-recorded lesbian periodical in the United States.
1948
Alfred Kinsey, a bisexual American sexologist, publishes his seminal work, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. This helps the homosexual male community gain more visibility and states, among other things, that 37% of the male subjects surveyed had at least one homosexual experience. 10% of those surveyed were “more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five.”
1948
Alfred Kinsey’s book on male sexual behavior
1950
As part of the Lavender scare, a moral panic about homosexuals working in US federal agencies, the Senate launches an investigation into the government’s employment of homosexuals. The results are not released until December, but in the meantime, federal job losses due to allegations of homosexuality increase greatly, rising from approximately five to sixty per month. To address this supposed threat, Joseph McCarthy hires Roy Cohn (who later dies of AIDS and who, like McCarthy himself, is believed to have been a closeted gay man) as chief counsel of his Congressional subcommittee. Together, McCarthy and Cohn are responsible for the firing of scores of gay men and women from government employment. They strong-arm many opponents into silence using rumors of their homosexuality.
1950
Mattachine Society is founded
1950
The first lasting gay organization, the Mattachine Society, is formed in Los Angeles. They refer to themselves as a “homophile” group. The group exists for about a decade before splitting into smaller entities.
1951
One of the earliest victories of the homophile movement occurs in San Francisco’s Black Cat Bar when the California Supreme Court affirms the right of gay people to assemble in a case brought by the heterosexual owner of the bar.
1951
Black Cat Bar lawsuit
1952
The American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance.
1952
Christine Jorgensen is the first American to publicly come forward about being transgender, speaking openly about her experiences with gender confirmation surgery and hormone replacement therapy. Her transition causes an international sensation. For many, she is the first visible transgender person in the media.
1952
American author, Patricia Highsmith, publishes The Price of Salt (later republished as Carol) under the pseudonym “Claire Morgan.” This novel becomes a classic in lesbian literature.
1953
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order banning homosexuals from working for the federal government, saying they are a security risk.
1955
The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), considered to be the first lesbian rights organization, is formed by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon in San Francisco, California. The group is conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which are considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment.
1955
Daughters of Bilitis forms
1956
The Daughters of Bilitis start the publication of The Ladder, considered the first nationally- distributed lesbian magazine.
1956
James Baldwin, an African American novelist and intellectual, publishes his first novel, Giovanni’s Room. This critically acclaimed work explores bisexuality and intimate relationships between men.
1958
Gold Coast: first gay leather bar
1958
One, Inc., v. Olesen is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision for American 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. It is the first US Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality and the first to address free speech rights with respect to homosexuality. The ruling holds that pro-homosexual writing is not per se obscene.
1958
The first gay leather bar, the Gold Coast, opens in Chicago.
1959
The Cooper Do-nuts Riot begins when police arrest two drag queens and two male sex workers, along with a noteable journalist and gay man, John Rechy, at Los Angeles’s Cooper Do-nuts. Patrons, including lesbians, gay men, transgender people, and drag queens who are often harassed by the LAPD, fight back. They pelt the police with donuts and coffee cups. The LAPD calls for backup, arresting a number of rioters. Rechy and two other detainees escape.
1961
Illinois becomes the first state to legalize same-sex consensual sexual activity. The law comes into effect the following January.
1961
“The Rejected” is the first documentary on homosexuality to be broadcast on national American television.
1961
José Sarria runs for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States.
1962
The Janus Society is founded. This early homophile organization based in Philadelphia is notable as the publisher of Drum magazine; one of the earliest gay publications in the United States.
1962
The Furtive Fraternity, the first article published in the US that recognizes a city’s gay community and political scene, is published about Philadelphia. It is written by Gaeton Fonzi.
1963
Bayard Rustin, noted civil rights activist and gay man, is the chief organizer behind the first historic March on Washington.
1964
150 gender non-conforming people gather at Dewey’s Coffee Shop in Philadelphia to protest the shop’s refusal to serve young people in “non-conformist clothing.” When three minors refuse to leave after being denied service, they and Clark Polak (founder and President of the Janus Society) are arrested. The black 2SLGBTQIA+ population organizes another sit-in and Dewey’s agrees to end their discriminatory policies.
1966
Compton cafeteria riot
1964
The first public demonstration for gay rights in the US takes place outside the US Army Building in Lower Manhattan.
1964
“The Best Man,” the first American film to use the word “homosexual,” is released. It is directed by Franklin J. Schaffner.
1966
The Compton Cafeteria Riot breaks out at a San Francisco eatery when trans women are denied service and arrested for breaking gendered clothing laws.
1964
First public gay rights demonstration
1967
New York City decides that it can no longer forbid bars from serving gay men and lesbians.
1967
The first issue of the magazine, The Los Angeles Advocate, is published. Two years later, its name changes to The Advocate and begins national distribution. Today, it is considered the oldest 2SLGBTQIA+ magazine still in publication in the country.
June 28. 1969
Stonewall riots: black trans women and men lead the fight for queer rights at the stonewall inn in NYC.
1967
The first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors, the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, is founded by Craig Rodwell on November 24 in New York City.
1967
The Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles faces a police raid just after midnight as many of its gay patrons share a New Year’s kiss. This leads to a protest attended by hundreds of supporters.
1968
The president of Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania cancels a lecture by Richard Leitsch, who is president of the Mattachine Society of New York. One of the biggest pre-Stonewall gay rights demonstrations follows with about 200 students protesting against the decision.
1969
Police raid New York City’s Stonewall Inn Bar in the early hours of June 28. This leads to four days of struggle between police and queer people. Transgender people, 2SLGBTQIA+ people of color, and youth are a major part of these riots that mark the birth of the modern 2SLGBTQIA+ movement.
1969
Sixty members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) protest outside the San Francisco Examiner offices in response to a series of articles targeting 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in the city’s gay venues. Initially peaceful, the protest turns chaotic, earning the monikers “Friday of the Purple Hand” and “Bloody Friday of the Purple Hand.” Examiner employees pour purple ink from the third- story window, or possibly a barrel from the roof, onto the crowd below. Protesters use the ink to inscribe “Gay Power” and other messages on the building’s walls, leaving purple handprints throughout downtown San Francisco. According to Larry LittleJohn, the then president of SIR, the police response is disproportionate, focusing on arresting demonstrators rather than addressing the ink incident. Reports emerge of police brutality, including instances of women being forcibly thrown to the ground and police knocking out protesters’ teeth.
1970
The film, “The Boys in the Band,” directed by William Friedkin, is released. One of the first American movies to focus on gay characters, it is now considered a milestone of queer cinema.
1970
The first Christopher Street Liberation Day parade, named for the street that houses the Stonewall Inn, takes place in New York City. It celebrates the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots and is considered one of the first 2SGBTQIA+ Pride parades.
1970
Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are co-founders of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR).
1971
After discovering that Blue Earth County, Minnesota has no laws prohibiting same- sex marriage, Jack Baker and Michael McConnell are granted a marriage license and become the first legally married same-sex couple in the United States.
1970
The first Christopher Street Liberation Day parade
1973
The UpStairs Lounge arson attack occurs on June 24 at a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Thirty-two people die as a result of fire or smoke inhalation. The most likely suspect, a man named Roger Nunez, who had been ejected from the bar earlier in the day, is never charged and took his own life the following year. At this point, the UpStairs Lounge arson attack is the deadliest known attack on a gay club in US history.
1973
Lambda Legal becomes the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. Lambda also becomes their own first client after being denied non-profit status. The New York Supreme Court eventually rules that Lambda Legal can exist as a non-profit.
1973
The Kentucky Court of Appeals rules in Jones v. Hallahan that two women are properly denied a marriage license based on dictionary definitions of marriage, despite the fact that state statutes do not restrict marriage to a female-male couple.
1973
Maryland becomes the first state to statutorily ban same-sex marriage.
1973
“Parents and Friends of Gays” is formed, which later goes national as “Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays” (PFLAG) in 1982.
1973
The board of the American Psychiatric Association votes 13-0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders; the DSM-II. The resolution also urges an end to private and public discrimination and repeal of laws discriminating against homosexuals.
1974
Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly 2SLGBTQIA+ American elected to any public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.
1975
Federal gay rights bill
1974
After being refused a request for a marriage license at the King County Administration Building in Seattle, Washington, John F. Singer and Paul Barwick file a lawsuit (Singer v. Hara). It ends with a unanimous rejection by the Washington State Court of Appeals.
1975
The first federal gay rights bill is introduced to address discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill goes on to the Judiciary Committee but is never brought forward for consideration.
1975
In Colorado, Boulder County Clerk Clela Rorex issues marriage licenses to six same-sex couples after receiving a favorable opinion from an assistant district attorney. When one of those married in Boulder tries to use it to sponsor his husband for immigration purposes, he loses his case, Adams v. Howerton, in federal court.
1975
Gay American Indians (GAI) is the first gay rights organization for Indigenous Americans. It is founded in San Francisco by Barbara May Cameron of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe and Randy Burns of the Northern Paiute peoples. Although initially a social group, GAI becomes involved in AIDS activism and the promotion of the Two-Spirit concept and community.
1975
Elaine Noble is the first openly gay candidate elected to a state office when she is elected to the Massachusetts State legislature.
1975
Technical Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich is a Vietnam War veteran awarded with both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. After he reveals his sexual orientation to his commanding officer, he is forcibly discharged from the Air Force six months later. In 1980, the Court of Appeals rules that the dismissal is improper. Matlovich is awarded his back pay and a retroactive promotion.
1976
First gay publication by an African American
1976
Gaysweek is founded as the first mainstream gay publication published by an African- American; Alan Bell.
1976
The Lincoln Legion of Lesbians is established in Nebraska; an early example of a lesbian organization in a rural state.
1976
After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 1975, ophthalmologist and professional tennis player Renee Richards is banned from competing in the women’s US Open because of a “women-born- women” rule. Richards challenges the decision and in 1977, the New York Supreme Court rules in her favor. Richards competes in the 1977 US Open but is defeated in the first round by Virginia Wade.
1977
Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay person elected to public office in California
1976
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin appears in the San Francisco Chronicle. It is among the first fiction works to address a disease that initially affected gay men. It is later identified as AIDS.
1977
Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California when he wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
1978
Harvey Milk is assassinated by disgruntled former San Francisco city supervisor, Dan White.
1978
Inspired by Harvey Milk to develop a symbol of Pride and hope for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Gilbert Baker designs and stitches together the first rainbow flag.
1979
The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place. It draws an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals.
1979
The White Night riots are a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of the lenient sentencing of Dan White for the assassinations of Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.
1980
Democrats are the first political party to add “gay rights” to their platform during the Democratic National Convention.
1980
Transgender people are officially classified by the American Psychiatric Association as having “gender identity disorder.”
1982
Wisconsin becomes the first state in the nation to make it unlawful for private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation in employment and housing. Gay activist Leon Rouse is a leader in getting the legislation passed.
1982
800 people infected with G.R.I.D., Gay Related Immune Deficiency — later called HIV & AIDS.
1982
Nearly 800 people are infected with GRID (Gay- Related Immunodeficiency Disorder). The name is changed to AIDS by the year’s end.
1983
Gerry Studds becomes the first openly gay member of Congress.
1983
The first National Coming Out Day is observed.
1983
Neighbors of Dr. Joseph Sonnabend attempt to evict him because he had been treating HIV-positive patients. Lambda Legal stops his eviction in People v. West 12 Tenants Corp., the first HIV/AIDS discrimination lawsuit.
1983
First National Coming Out Day
1984
Virginia Uribe begins Project 10; a program to support 2SLGBTQIA+ students in a Los Angeles high school. The project is eventually adopted by the entire Los Angeles School District.
1984
The Berkeley City Council passes a domestic partnership policy to offer insurance benefits to city employees in same-sex relationships, making Berkeley the first city in the US to do so.
1985
Memorial to gay victims of nazis
1985
The first memorial to the Nazis gay victims is unveiled at the Neuengamme concentration camp. A pink granite stone monument is inscribed with the words, “Dedicated to the Homosexual victims of National Socialism.”
1985
West Hollywood becomes the first US city to enact a domestic partnership registry open to all its citizens.
1987
ACT UP, a direct-action activist group, is founded in the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Center in New York City. It brings attention to AIDS-related issues using civil disobedience.
1987
Barney Frank becomes the first member of Congress to voluntarily identify himself as gay.
1989
Billy Tipton, a famous male jazz musician, dies. As a result, it becomes publicly known that Tipton was assigned female at birth but lived and identified as male for most of his adult life.
1989
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passes a domestic partnership registry ordinance which is closely defeated by San Francisco voters as Proposition S on November 7.
1989
The rainbow flag comes to nationwide attention in the United States after John Stout wins a lawsuit against his landlords when they attempt to prohibit him from displaying the flag from his West Hollywood, California apartment balcony.
1989
Denmark first country to legalize same-sex marriage
1989
Denmark becomes the first country in the world to legally recognize same-sex unions after passing a bill legalizing “registered partnerships” in a 71–47 vote.
1990
A modified domestic partnership registry ordinance is passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The ordinance is ratified by voters as Proposition K on November 6.
1990
Berkeley becomes the third city in California to create a domestic partnership registry for same- and opposite-sex couples.
1991
Audre Lorde is named State Poet of New York. A critically acclaimed novelist, poet and essayist, she is also politically active in the social justice movements, a cofounder of The Kitchen Table Women of Color Press, and an editor of the lesbian journal, Chrysalis.
1991
The Minnesota Court of Appeals issues a ruling in the case In re Guardianship of Kowalski, in which it gives the legal guardianship of an incapacitated woman to her lesbian partner.
1993
President Bill Clinton signs a military policy directive that prohibits openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the military, but also prohibits the harassment of “closeted” homosexuals. The policy is known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
1993
Transgender man, Brandon Teena, is raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska. His story would later be the subject of the documentary film, “The Brandon Teena Story,” and the Academy Award willing film, “Boys Don’t Cry.”
1993
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell enacted
1994
Pedro Pablo Zamora, a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality, is one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be portrayed in popular media. Zamora brings international attention to HIV/AIDS and 2SLGBTQIA+ issues and prejudices through his appearance on MTV’s reality television series, “The Real World: San Francisco.”
1994
“Philadelphia,” a film about a gay man who is dying of complications related to AIDS, wins two Oscars at the 66th Academy Awards.
1994
Governor Pete Wilson from California vetoes a bill that would have legalized domestic partnerships in the state.
1995
Hate Crimes Sentencing Act goes into effect
1995
The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act goes into effect as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law allows a judge to impose harsher sentences if there is evidence showing that a victim was selected because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.
1996
Romer v. Evans is a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with sexual orientation and state laws. The Court rules in a 6–3 decision that a state constitutional amendment in Colorado preventing protected status based upon homosexuality or bisexuality does not satisfy the Equal Protection Clause.
1996
Kelli Peterson founds the Gay/ Straight Alliance at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. The city school board bans all “non- curricular” student clubs in order to keep the group from meeting.
1996
“Rent,” a musical written by Jonathan Larson about a group of friends during the AIDS crisis, is performed for the first time.
1996
President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”
1996
Hawaii’s Judge Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same- sex couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.
1997
Ellen DeGeneres and her television character, Ellen Morgan, come out. Ellen becomes the first television show to feature a lesbian or gay lead character. The show is cancelled the following year.
1998
Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay person elected to the House of Representatives, and the first open lesbian elected to Congress.
1998
Rita Hester, a transgender African American woman, is murdered in Allston, Massachusetts. In response to her murder, an outpouring of grief and anger leads to a candlelight vigil in which approximately 250 people participate. Rita’s life and identity is not covered with reverence or respect by local papers, including the Boston Herald and Bay Windows. This media coverage is chronicled by Nancy Nangeroni, founder of “GenderTalk Radio.” Rita’s death later inspires the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
1998
Matthew Shepard is murdered in Wyoming
1998
Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student, is brutally beaten by two young men, tied to a fence, and left overnight. He dies six days later.
1998
Coretta Scott King asks civil rights leaders to help extinguish homophobia
1998
Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, Coretta Scott King, asks the civil rights community to help in the effort to extinguish homophobia.
1998
Hawaii and Alaska become the first US states to pass constitutional amendments against same- sex marriage. As a result, the ruling in Baehr v. Miike is reversed. Other US states follow suit and pass similar amendments in the following years, reaching a peak of thirty-one in 2012.
1999
Transgender Day of Remembrance is founded by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender woman, to memorialize the murder of transgender woman, Rita Hester. TDoR is held annually on November 20 and slowly evolves from the web-based project started by Smith into an international day of action. It memorializes all who have been murdered as a result of transphobia and draws attention to the continued violence endured by the transgender community.
1999
GLSEN conducts its first National School Climate Survey to assess the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth with regards to their experiences of school-based harassment and victimization, the frequency with which they hear homophobic language in their schools, and their overall comfort in school. The survey is the first of its kind to examine the specific experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ -identifiying youth in schools nationally.
1999
The Transgender Pride Flag is first shown at a Pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona.
1999
Monica Helms creates the first transgender pride flag
1999
Governor Gray Davis from California signs a domestic partnerships bill into law that provides limited rights for same-sex couples, making California the first state to have a statewide domestic partnership scheme and the second to provide a registry for same-sex couples after Hawaii.
1999
NYC expands the definition of “gender” to include protections for transgender and gender non- conforming people in employment, housing, and public accommodations in the NYC Human Rights Law.
1999
The Vermont Supreme Court holds in Baker v. Vermont that excluding same-sex couples from marriage violates the Vermont Constitution. The legislature is ordered to establish same-sex marriage or an equivalent status.
2000
The Transgender Pride Flag is first shown at a Pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona.
2000
Vermont Governor Howard Dean signs a civil unions bill in response to the ruling of Baker v. Vermont, making Vermont the first American state to give civil union rights to same-sex couples. It becomes law on July 1.
2002
Gwen Araujo, an American transgender teenager, is murdered in Newark, California. She is beaten and strangled by four men after they discover that she is transgender. She had been sexually intimate with two of them. In at least one of the trials, a “trans panic defense”—an extension of the gay panic defense—is employed. Some contemporary news reports refer to her by her birth name.
2002
Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund
2002
Same-sex marriage is legal in MA
2002
Horizon Foundation creates the Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund for Transgender Education. The fund’s purpose is to support school-based programs in the nine-county Bay Area that promote understanding of transgender people and issue annual grants.
2003
U.S. supreme court overturns sodomy laws
2003
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts rules in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that same-sex couples have the right to marry. The ruling takes effect the following May to allow the legislature six months to modify state law if it chooses to.
2003
The US Supreme Court overturns sodomy laws, proclaiming rights to privacy and decriminalizing “homosexual” behavior.
2004
Registered partnerships are legalized in New Jersey (January) and Maine (April).
2004
Massachusetts becomes the first US state to legally recognize same-sex marriage.
2004
Voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah approve state constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
2005
The California legislature becomes the first to pass a bill allowing marriage between same-sex couples. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes the bill.
2006
The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.
2006
“Brokeback Mountain,” a 2SLGBTQIA+ drama film directed by Ang Lee, wins three Oscars at the 78th Academy Awards. Although it is the favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, it is beaten by “Crash.” This decision is now considered infamous.
2006
First trans person elected to a state level office
2006
Soulforce launches its first Equality Ride bus tour, visiting thirty-three colleges and universities that ban enrollment of openly 2SLGBTQIA+ students.
2006
Attorney and transgender activist Kim Coco Iwamoto is elected to the state-level Board of Education in Hawaii. She is the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state level office in the US.
2007
Domestic partnerships are legalized in Washington (21 April) and Oregon (9 May).
2007
New Hampshire’s governor, John Lynch, signs a civil unions bill into law. It comes into effect the following January.
2008
Domestic partnerships are legalized in Maryland in January.
2008
Twenty-two-year-old Lateisha Green, a trans woman, is shot and killed by Dwight DeLee. Local news media reports the incident with her dead name. DeLee is convicted of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and receives the maximum sentence of twenty-five years in state prison. This is only the second time in the nation’s history that a person is prosecuted for a hate crime against a transgender person and the first hate crime conviction in New York.
2008
The California Supreme Court rules in In re Marriage Cases that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.
2008
Voters approve Proposition 8 in California, making same-sex marriage illegal. The proposition is later found to be unconstitutional by a federal judge.
2008
Eighteen-year-old Angie Zapata, an American transgender woman, is beaten to death in Greeley, Colorado. Her killer, Allen Andrade, is convicted of first-degree murder and committing a hate crime because he murders her after learning that she is transgender. The case is the first in the nation to get a conviction for a hate crime involving a transgender victim.
2009
Harvey Milk is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
2009
The Iowa Supreme Court, ruling in Varnum v. Brien, holds that the state’s restriction of marriage to different-sex couples violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. All three of the states that had legalized same-sex marriage at this point—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa—had done so by court ruling.
2009
Vermont legalizes same-sex marriage after overriding Governor Jim Douglas, who had vetoed the law a day earlier. Thus, Vermont becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through statute. The bill comes into effect on September 1.
2009
Governor Jim Doyle from Wisconsin signs a bill legalizing registered partnerships into law. It comes into effect on August 3.
2009
The David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act, or David’s Law, is a bill first introduced in the US House of Representatives by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas. It is designed to enhance federal enforcement of laws regarding hate crimes, and to specifically make sexual orientation, race, and gender a protected class.
2009
Governor John Baldacci from Maine signs a same- sex marriage bill into law. However, opponents organize a referendum that overturns it in November.
2009
Governor Chris Gregoire from Washington signs a so-called “everything-but-marriage” registered partnerships bill into law. Opponents organize a referendum that fails to overturn it in November.
2009
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signs a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. The law takes effect the following January.
2009
District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty signs a same-sex marriage bill into law. It comes into effect the following March.
2009
The Assembly of Nevada legalizes domestic partnerships by overriding a veto from Governor Jim Gibbons.
2010
First trans judge in U.S.
2009
President Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes and Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, into law. This law becomes the first federal law to include legal protections for transgender people.
2010
Phyllis Frye becomes the first openly transgender judge appointed in the United States.
2010
US District Judge Vaughn R. Walker rules in Perry v. Schwarzenegger that California’s Proposition 8 is an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection clauses.
2011
Washington state’s Native American Suquamish tribe legalizes same- sex marriages.
2011
When We Were Outlaws: a Memoir of Love and Revolution by Jeanne Cordova, lesbian activist and pioneer in the fight for LGBTQ rights, is published.
2011
United States Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan issues a statement clarifying that students have the right to form gay-straight alliances (GSAs) under the Equal Access Act of 1984 in any public school that allows noncurricular student groups to form. Schools must also provide GSAs with the same opportunities as other groups to convene and access resources.
2011
Civil unions are legalized in Illinois (January 31), Hawaii (February 23), Delaware (May 11) and Rhode Island (July 1).
2011
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ends
2011
Governor Andrew Cuomo from New York signs the state’s Marriage Equality Act into law. It comes into effect on July 24.
2011
The US military policy, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” officially ends. This allows lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to serve openly in the military. The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” does not lift regulations barring many transgender people from serving.
2012
The Democratic Party becomes the first major US political party in history to publicly support same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.
2012
New York District Judge Barbara Jones finds section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional in Windsor v. United States. The decision is appealed.
2012
Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts becomes the first member of Congress to enter into a same-sex marriage.
2012
The Food and Drug Administration approves Truvada to be taken as a daily preventative for those at risk of acquiring HIV as PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). The Center for Disease Control notes that this is the first time a drug has been approved to prevent acquisition of sexual and intravenous transmission of HIV.
2012
In an ABC interview, President Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the freedom for 2SLGBTQIA+ couples to marry.
2012
Kyrsten Sinema becomes the first openly bisexual person to be elected to Congress.
2012
Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay person elected to the House of Representatives and the first open lesbian elected to Congress.
2012
Voters in Maine, Maryland, and Washington legalize same-sex marriage laws in referendums, becoming the first jurisdictions in the world to legalize same- sex marriage by popular vote. Voters in Minnesota become the first to reject a constitutional amendment seeking to ban same-sex marriage in their state.
2012
Governor Martin O’Malley from Maryland signs a same-sex marriage bill into law. However, opponents organize a referendum that takes place on November 6.
2013
The Supreme Court issues a ruling in United States v. Windsor that restricting federal interpretation of “marriage” and “spouse” to apply only to opposite-sex unions, by Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy writes: “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.”
2013
The US federally recognizes same-sex marriages, extending federal benefits to couples in states that allow same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 that prohibited same- sex couples from receiving federal marriage benefits. On this same day, the Supreme Court also rules that California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, allowing California to become the 13th state where same-sex couples can marry.
2013
Same-sex marriage laws are approved by the State Legislatures of Rhode Island (May 2), Delaware (May 7), Minnesota (May 14), Hawaii (November 13) and Illinois (November 20). Additionally, Colorado approves a civil unions law on March 21.
2013
Same-sex marriages begin in several New Mexico counties after a series of judicial and county clerk decisions.
2013
The Supreme Court of New Jersey issues a ruling in Garden State Equality v. Dow that legalizes same-sex marriage in the state. Marriages start in October.
2013
DSM-5 is published by the American Psychiatric Association. Among other things, it eliminates the term “gender identity disorder,” which is considered stigmatizing. Instead, it refers to “gender dysphoria,” which focuses attention only on those who feel distressed by their gender identity.
2013
The Supreme Court issues a ruling in Hollingsworth v. Perry that supporters of Proposition 8 lack standing to appeal a court’s 2010 decision that deemed the ban unconstitutional. Thus, same-sex marriage in California is legalized and marriages resume two days later.
2014
Gender-neutral bathrooms in Austin, TX
2014
As a direct result of United States v. Windsor, courts around the country strike down same-sex marriage bans in Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Idaho, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Indiana and Wisconsin. Most rulings are stayed pending appeal, but the ones in Oregon and Pennsylvania come into effect.
2014
Laverne Cox is the first transgender woman to win an Emmy as an Executive Producer for “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” a documentary. It airs on MTV.
2014
The United States Supreme Court denies review in five different marriage cases, allowing lower court rulings to stand. Therefore, same-sex couples are allowed to marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The decision opens the door for the right to marry in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
2014
Austin City Council approves ordinance for single-stall bathrooms to be recognized as gender-neutral.
2014
The Department of Education issues official guidance to clarify that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of sex/gender in federally funded education programs and activities.
2015
President Obama dedicates the new Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, as the first US National Monument to honor the 2SLGBTQIA+ rights movement.
2015
Cincinnati votes to ban conversion therapy for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
2015
Cincinnati bans conversion therapy
2015
The Supreme Court of the United States issues a landmark civil rights ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges in which the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same- sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ruling legalizes same- sex marriage in all fifty states on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities.
2015
Boy Scouts of America President Robert Gates announces that the National Executive Board ratified a resolution removing the national restriction on openly gay leaders and employees.
2015
Philadelphia becomes the first county government in the U.S. to raise the transgender pride flag. It is raised at City Hall in honor of Philadelphia’s 14th Annual Trans Health Conference, and remains next to the US and City of Philadelphia flags for the entirety of the conference. Mayor Michael Nutter gives a speech in honor of the trans community in Philadelphia.
2015
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announces that the Military Equal Opportunity policy has been adjusted to include gay and lesbian military members.
2016
A record number of “out” athletes compete in the summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Human Rights Campaign estimates that there are at least forty-one openly lesbian, gay and bisexual Olympians – up from twenty- three that participated in London 2012.
2016
For the first time, the Justice Department uses the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to bring criminal charges against a person for selecting a victim because of their gender identity. In this case, Joshua Brandon Vallum pleads guilty to murdering Mercedes Williamson the prior year because she is transgender.
2016
Secretary of Defense Carter announces that the Pentagon is lifting the ban on transgender people serving openly in the US military.
2016
41 out athletes at summer olympics
2016
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against 2SLGBTQIA+ employees after Kimberly Hively sues Ivy Tech Community College for violating Title VII by denying her employment.
2016
Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, kills forty- nine people and wounds fifty-three others in a terrorist attack inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Pulse had been hosting a Latin Night and thus, most of the victims are Latinos. Orlando Police Department (OPD) officers shoot and kill him after a three-hour standoff. This, known as the Orlando nightclub shooting, is the deadliest incident of violence against 2SLGBTQIA+ people in US history, and is considered the deadliest terrorist attack in the US since the September 11 attacks in 2001. In 2018, evidence suggests that Mateen may not have known that Pulse is a gay nightclub, having asked the security guard where all the women were.
2016
The Senate confirms Eric Fanning as secretary of the Army, making him the first openly gay secretary of a US military branch.
2017
The US Department of Defense announces a six-month delay in allowing transgendered individuals to enlist in the United States military. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis writes that they “will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality.” Approximately a month later, President Donald Trump announces via Twitter that the “United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military...”
2017
“Moonlight,” directed by Barry Jenkins, becomes the first 2SLGBTQIA+ film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
2017
Washington DC residents become the first people in the United States to be able to choose “X” as their gender marker (instead of “M” or “F”) on driver’s licenses and identification cards.
2017
Virginia voters elect the state’s first openly transgender candidate, Danica Roem, to the Virginia House of Delegates. This makes her the first transgender candidate elected to a state legislature in American history.
2018
The Trump administration announces a new policy that bans most transgender people from serving in military. After several court battles, the Supreme Court allows the ban to go into effect the following January.
2018
Daniela Vega, the star of Oscar-winning foreign film “A Fantastic Woman,” becomes the first openly transgender presenter in Academy Awards history. She introduces a performance by Sufjan Stevens whose song, “Mystery of Love” from the “Call Me By Your Name” soundtrack, is nominated for best original song.
2018
Democratic US Representative Jared Polis wins the Colorado governor’s race, becoming the nation’s first openly gay man to be elected governor.
2018
The first citywide Bi Pride event in the US is held in West Hollywood.
2018
Sharice Davids is elected as one of the first two Native American women in Congress, as well as the first lesbian congresswoman from Kansas.
2018
transgender people can serve in military
2018
Phillipe Cunningham is sworn in to represent the 4th ward in the Minneapolis City Council. He is the first openly trans African American man elected to public office in the US.
2018
Openly transgender individuals are allowed to join the US military.
2018
First us bi pride held
2018
Patricio Manuel becomes the first openly transgender male to box professionally (and the first openly transgender male to win a pro boxing fight) in the US.
2018
Andrea Jenkins is sworn in to represent the vice-presidency and the 8th ward in the Minneapolis City Council. She is the first openly trans African American woman elected to public office in the United States.
2019
Billy Porter becomes the first openly gay black man to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series.
2020
The Supreme Court rules that federal law protects 2SLGBTQIA+ workers from discrimination.
2020
The general election results in three legislative firsts. Sarah McBride wins the Senate race for Delaware District 1 and will become the nation’s first person who identifies as transgender to serve as a state senator. Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, elected to serve New York’s 15th and 17th districts, will become the first black men elected to Congress who identify as gay. Mauree Turner wins the race for Oklahoma state House for District 88, and will become the first nonbinary state legislator in US history, as well as the first Muslim lawmaker in Oklahoma.
2020
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a ruling that the state of Idaho must provide gender confirmation surgery for Adree Edmo, an inmate in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction.
2020
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of former student, Gavin Grimm, in a four-plus-year fight over restroom policies for transgender students.
2020
An estimated 15,000 people march in Brooklyn, New York in opposition to violence against black trans people. This was one of many Pride 2020 demonstrations that overlapped with the George Floyd protests.
2020
In the Bostock v. Clayton County case, the Supreme Court rules 6-3 that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination against 2SLGBTQIA+ on the grounds that to do so would involve discrimination of one’s sex, which is expressly prohibited by the statute.
2020
On an episode of NPR’s “Fresh Air,” RuPaul Charles reveals that they are leasing mineral rights to oil companies. It is later discovered that these mineral rights are for fracking.
2020
Four unsolved murders of transgender people occur in Puerto Rico in two months.
2020
Virginia becomes the state in the American South to offer legal protections in employment, housing and public accommodations to 2SLGBTQIA+ citizens.
2020
Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay non-acting member of the US Cabinet.
2021
Dr. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services, becomes the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.
2021
Ohio’s birth certificate law, struck down in December 2020 and judged discriminatory against transgender individuals, means that Ohio-born citizens will now be able to modify their gender marker.
2021
Washington state bill SB-5313 makes it illegal for health insurers to deny or limit coverage for gender affirming treatment when that care is prescribed to an individual on the basis of a protected gender expression or identity, is medically necessary, and is prescribed in accordance with accepted standards of care.
2021
The State Department announces that the US has issued the first passport with an X gender marker.
2021
The State Department announces that it will be updating its procedures to allow applicants to self-select their sex marker for passports and that it will no longer require medical certification if an applicant’s self-selected sex marker doesn’t match the sex listed on other official identity documents.
2021
Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman with the Las Vegas Raiders, becomes the first active NFL player in league history to announce that he is gay.
2021
President Joe Biden signs an executive order repealing the 2019 Trump-era ban on most transgender Americans joining the military.
2021
The TSA overhauls protocols to implement gender-neutral screening checkpoints.
2022
President Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act which officially voids the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The new law includes new federal protections for same-sex and interracial couples and mandates that states honor the validity of out-of-state marriage licenses, including same-sex and interracial unions.
2020
Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay non- acting member of the US Cabinet
2022
On April 11, the US begins to allow people to have an X gender on their passports at a national level. Other IDs are still dependent on state laws.
2022
The Social Security Administration announces that people can now choose their sex marker in their Social Security records.
2023
SUS, a nonprofit from Bend, OR, launches SUS Magazine, Central Oregon’s first 2SLGBTQIA+ print publication and the only publication for the queer community printed in Oregon as of June 2023.
2023
sus, central oregon’s first 2slgbtqia+ publication, launches
2023
The FDA finalizes new risk-based recommendations paving the way for more gay and bisexual men to donate blood. The policy changes eliminate deferrals and screening questions specific to men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with MSM. This brings the US in line with other countries’ risk-based rules, such as the UK and Canada.
2023
Laphonza Butler becomes the first black lesbian US Senator.
2023
Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee become the first nonbinary Tony Award winners.
2023
Kim Petras becomes the first transgender person to win a Grammy.
2023
US Representative Robert Garcia, representing California’s 42nd Congressional District, notably becomes the first openly gay immigrant to serve in Congress.
2023
Hope Giselle and Peppermint are the first black trans women to speak at the anniversary of MLK’s March on Washington.
2024
Gender-affirming care becomes legal with no restrictions in Maryland, Ohio, and Oregon.
2023
first black lesbian senator
2023
The first nonbinary tony and grammy winners
2024
On July 1, Idaho school districts are required to remove any mandates for teachers to use transgender students’ preferred pronouns due to the passing of House Bill 538.
2024
Florida passes a bill on January 30 that makes it illegal for one’s sex on their ID to be different than the one assigned at birth.
2024
Tennessee passes statutes permitting discrimination against same-sex couples and marriages across various contexts. These laws extend to transgender individuals as well, despite federal regulations prohibiting 2SLGBTQIA+ discrimination in the United States.