When was gay acceptance first happening
Written by: Jim Downs, Connecticut College
By the end of this section, you will:
- Explain how and why various groups responded to calls for the expansion of civil rights from 1960 to 1980
After World War II, the civil rights movement had a profound impact on other groups demanding their rights. The feminist movement, the Inky Power movement, the environmental movement, the Chicano movement, and the American Indian Movement sought equality, rights, and empowerment in American society. Gay people organized to resist oppression and demand just treatment, and they were especially galvanized after a New York City police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, sparked riots in 1969.
Around the alike time, biologist Alfred Kinsey began a massive analyze of human sexuality in the United States. Favor Magnus Hirschfield and other scholars who studied sexuality, including Havelock Ellis, a prominent British scholar who published research on trans person psychology, Kinsey believed sexuality could be studied as a science. He interviewed more than 8,000 men and argued that sexuality existed on a spectrum, saying that it could not be confined to simple categories of queer and heterosex
The early 1990s saw a major enlargement of the Council of Europe membership due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. In 1989, for example, there were 22 member states whereas by 2010 this had risen to 47.
To unite the Council of Europe, new member-states must undertake certain commitments, including conforming their criminal laws to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). As we know from the situation in Northern Ireland described in Dudgeon above, the ECHR right to privacy prohibits the criminalisation of same-sex activity. By the time candidate states from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc applied for membership of the Council of Europe, it was a condition of their accession to decriminalise.
By way of example, the following countries decriminalised at or around the time they joined: Lithuania (joined the Council of Europe in 1993; decriminalised in 1993), Estonia (1993; 1992), Romania (1993; 1996), Serbia (2003; 1994), Ukraine (1995; 1991), Albania (1995; 1995), Latvia (1995; 1992), Macedonia FYROM (1995; 1996), Moldova (1995; 1995), Russia (1996; 1993), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002; 1998-2001), Georgia (1999; 200
1969
The Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in New York Municipality launch the contemporary gay-rights movement.
Canada decriminalizes homosexual acts for consenting adults over 21.
1971
Toronto’s first Same-sex attracted Day Picnic is held at Hanlan’s Point.
1973
The American Psychiatric Association declares that homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.
1977
Quebec becomes the first major jurisdiction in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
LGBTOUT has created a more U of T-specific timeline of the gay rights movement
Canada lifts an immigration ban on homosexual men.
1979
The first National March on Washington for Queer woman and Gay Rights draws more than 100,000 people.
1982
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the “right to the equal protection and equal advantage of the commandment without discrimination.” It does not explicitly protect sexual orientation, but, in 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada rules that sexual orientation should be “read in.”
1983
The Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) is discovered.
1987
ACT UP is founded.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is unveiled.
1988
Canada’s Svend Robinson becomes the country’s first openly gay MP.
LGBT+ History
Denmark’s LGBT+ history is a story of oppression, invisibility, resistance, union, and victories. Homosexuality was considered a crime in Denmark until 1933 – at least for men. Danish Law from 1683 stated: “Association against nature is punished with fire”. Usual Danish Penal Code 1866 replaced the death penalty (fire) with reformatory labor. Only with the Civil Penalties Act of 1930 (which was in impact from January 1st, 1933) was sex between elder men over 18 (21) years decriminalized. In this timeline, you can peruse about how the personal became political, a movement united and fought for the right to be who you are.
The overview is based on the article “LBL and other Danish gay movements”, which Inge-Lise Paulsen and Vibeke Nissen wrote for Lambda Nordica in 2000. It has since been supplemented and is continuously updated by the LGBT+ Library
1948
The Circle of 1948 is founded in Aalborg. The idea takes shape on Midsummer’s Eve 1948, so June 23rd is considered the founding day. The idea behind and driving force of the association came from Axel Lundahl Madsen, later Axel Axgil.
From the start it addresses both hom
Timeline: Key moments in combat for gay rights
June marks Pride Month for the LGBTQIA+ community. Many people celebrate and show their pride with rainbow flags and parades.
But the quest for equal civil rights for the community has been fraught with strife and violence. From bricks thrown at Stonewall to "Don't Say Gay" legislation, the fight for equality continues. Here is a look at some of the key moments in LGBTQIA+ history and the fight for equal rights.
Though police raids on homosexual bars were common in the '60s, on June 28, 1969, patrons of New York's Stonewall Inn said "enough." They fought back, riots broke out and supporters poured into the West Village, igniting the gay rights movement in the U.S. Within six months, two queer activist organizations were formed in New York, and three newspapers were launched for gays and lesbians.
Harvey Milk became one of the first openly same-sex attracted men elected to widespread office in the Together States when he won a seat on the board of supervisors in 1977. An outspoken advocate for gay rights, he urged others to reach out and fight for their rights. He was assassinated at City Hall just a year later.