Stonewall Heritage
Recommended Media
SELECTED MILESTONES IN AMERICAN LGBT HISTORY AND CULTURE
Adapted from PBS: The American Experience
© https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-milestones-american-gay-rights-movement/
1924The Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. The Society is the first gay rights organization as well as the oldest documented in America. After receiving a charter from the state of Illinois, the society publishes the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom. Soon after its founding, the Society disbands due to political pressure.
1948Biologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. From his research Kinsey concludes that homosexual behavior is not restricted to people who identify themselves as homosexual and that 37% of men have enjoyed homosexual activities at least once. While psychologists and psychiatrists in the 1940s consider homosexuality a form of illness, the findings surprise many conservative notions about sexuality.
1950In Los Angeles, gay rights activist Harry Hay founds America’s first sustained national gay rights organization. In an attempt to change public perception of homosexuality, the Mattachine Society aims to "eliminate discrimination, derision, prejudice and bigotry," to assimilate homosexuals into mainstream society, and to cultivate the notion of an "ethical homosexual culture."
1950A Senate report titled "Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government" is distributed to members of Congress after the federal government had covertly investigated employees' sexual orientation at the beginning of the Cold War. The report states since homosexuality is a mental illness, homosexuals "constitute security risks" to the nation because "those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons."Over the previous few years, more than 4,380 gay men and women had been discharged from the military and around 500 fired from their jobs with the government. The purging will become known as the "lavender scare."
1952The American Psychiatric Association lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance in its first publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Immediately following the manual's release, many professionals in medicine, mental health and social sciences criticize the categorization due to lack of empirical and scientific data.
1953President Dwight Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450, banning homosexuals from working for the federal government or any of its private contractors. The Order lists homosexuals as security risks, along with alcoholics and neurotics.
1955In San Francisco, the Daughters of Bilitis becomes the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. The organization hosts social functions, providing alternatives to lesbian bars and clubs, which are frequently raided by police.
1956American psychologist Evelyn Hooker shares her paper "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" at the American Psychological Association Convention in Chicago. After administering psychological tests, such as the Rorschach, to groups of homosexual and heterosexual males, Hooker's research concludes homosexuality is not a clinical entity and that heterosexuals and homosexuals do not differ significantly. Hooker's experiment becomes very influential, changing clinical perceptions of homosexuality.
1958In 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." The suit was filed after the U.S. Postal Service and FBI declared the magazine obscene material, and it marks the first time the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexuals.
1962Illinois repeals its sodomy laws, becoming the first U.S. state to decriminalize homosexuality.
1965At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, picketers begin staging the first Reminder Day to call public attention to the lack of civil rights for LGBT people. The gatherings will continue annually for five years.
1966Members 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 will sue the New York Liquor Authority. Although no laws are overturned, the New York City Commission on Human Rights declares that homosexuals have the right to be served.
1966After transgender customers become raucous in a 24-hour San Francisco cafeteria, management calls police. When a police officer manhandles one of the patrons, she throws coffee in his face and a riot ensues, eventually spilling out onto the street, destroying police and public property.Following the riot, activists established the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, the first peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.
1969Patrons of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village riot when police officers attempt to raid the popular gay bar around 1am. Since its establishment in 1967, the bar had been frequently raided by police officers trying to clean up the neighborhood of "sexual deviants."Angry gay youth clash with aggressive police officers in the streets, leading to a three-day riot during which thousands of protestors receive only minimal local news coverage. Nonetheless, the event will be credited with reigniting the fire behind America's modern LGBT rights movement.
1970Christopher St. Liberation Day commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Following the event, thousands of members of the LGBT community march through New York into Central Park, in what will be considered America's first gay pride parade.In the coming decades, the annual gay pride parade will spread to dozens of countries around the world.
1973The board of the American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
1974Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly gay American elected to public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.
1977Singer and conservative Southern Baptist Anita Bryant leads a successful campaign with the "Save Our Children" Crusade to repeal a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida. Bryant faces severe backlash from gay rights supporters across the U.S. The gay rights ordinance will not be reinstated in Dade County until December 1, 1998, more than 20 years later.
1977Harvey Milk wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and is responsible for introducing a gay rights ordinance protecting gays and lesbians from being fired from their jobs. Milk also leads a successful campaign against Proposition 6, an initiative forbidding homosexual teachers.
1978 Former city supervisor Dan White assassinates Milk. White's actions are motivated by jealousy and depression, rather than homophobia.
1979Dan White is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and is sentenced to seven years in prison. Outraged by what they believed to be a lenient sentence, more than 5,000 protesters ransack San Francisco's City Hall, doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property damage in the surrounding area.The following night, approximately 10,000 people gather on San Francisco's Castro and Market streets for a peaceful demonstration to commemorate what would have been Milk's 49th birthday.
October 14, 1979An estimated 75,000 people participate in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. LGBT people and straight allies demand equal civil rights and urge for the passage of protective civil rights legislature.
1980The Democratic Rules Committee states that it will not discriminate against homosexuals. At their National Convention on August 11-14, the Democrats become the first major political party to endorse a homosexual rights platform.
1981The New York Times prints the first story of a rare pneumonia and skin cancer found in 41 gay men in New York and California. The CDC initially refers to the disease as GRID, Gay Related Immune Deficiency Disorder.When the symptoms are found outside the gay community, Bruce Voeller, biologist and founder of the National Gay Task Force, successfully lobbies to change the name of the disease to AIDS.
1982Wisconsin becomes the first U.S. state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
1987AIDS advocacy group ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is formed in response to the devastating affects the disease has had on the gay and lesbian community in New York. The group holds demonstrations against pharmaceutical companies profiteering from AIDS-related drugs as well as the lack of AIDS policies protecting patients from outrageous prescription prices.
1987Hundreds of thousands of activists take part in the National March on Washington to demand that President Ronald Reagan address the AIDS crisis.
Although AIDS had been reported first in 1981, it is not until the end of his presidency that Reagan speaks publicly about the epidemic.
1988The CDC mails a brochure, Understanding AIDS, to every household in the U.S. Approximately 107 million brochures are mailed.
December 1, 1988The World Health Organization organizes the first World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the spreading pandemic.
1990President George H. W. Bush signs the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with AIDS. Ryan White, an Indiana teenager, contracted AIDS in 1984 through a tainted hemophilia treatment. After being barred from attending school because of his HIV-positive status, Ryan White becomes a well-known activist for AIDS research and anti-discrimination.
1991Created by the New York-based Visual AIDS, the red ribbon is adopted as a symbol of awareness and compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS.
1993The Department of Defense issues a directive prohibiting the U.S. Military from barring applicants from service based on their sexual orientation. "Applicants... shall not be asked or required to reveal whether they are homosexual, " states the new policy, which still forbids applicants from engaging in homosexual acts or making a statement that he or she is homosexual. This policy is known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
1996In the case of Romer v. Evans, the United States Supreme Court decides that Colorado's 2nd amendment, denying gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, is unconstitutional, calling them "special rights."
1996President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act into law. The law defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman and that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from out of state.
1998Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., calls on the civil rights community to join the struggle against homophobia. She receives criticism from members of the black civil rights movement for comparing civil rights to gay rights.
2000Vermont becomes the first state in the U.S. to legalize civil unions and registered partnerships between same-sex couples.
2003In Lawrence v. Texas the U.S. Supreme Court rules that sodomy laws in the U.S. are unconstitutional.
2004Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize gay marriage. The court finds the prohibition of gay marriage unconstitutional because it denies dignity and equality of all individuals.In the following six years, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa and Washington D.C. will follow suit.
2007Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the Logo cable channel hosts the first American presidential forum focusing specifically on LGBT issues, inviting each presidential candidate. Six Democrats participate in the forum, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, while all Republican candidates decline.
2008California voters approve Proposition 8, making same-sex marriage in California illegal. The passing of the ballot garners national attention from gay-rights supporters across the U.S. Prop 8 inspires the NOH8 campaign, a photo project that uses celebrities to promote marriage equality.
2009President Obama signs a Presidential Memorandum allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive certain benefits. The memorandum does not cover full health coverage.
2009The Matthew Shepard Act is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on October 28th. The measure expands the 1969 U.S. Federal Hate Crime Law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.Matthew Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming on October 7, 1998 because of his sexual orientation.
2010A federal judge in San Francisco decides that gays and lesbians have the constitutional right to marry and that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Lawyers will challenge the finding.
2010The U.S. Senate votes 65-31 to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military.
2011President Obama states his administration will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans the recognition of same-sex marriage.
2011New York State passes the Marriage Equity Act, becoming the largest state thus far to legalize gay marriage.
2015With a 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
2022President Joe Biden signs The Respect for Marriage Act, which gives federal protection to all marriages regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation.
2023-2024The "Rainbow Wave" continued with increased LGBTQ representation in state and federal offices, including the election of the first transgender member of Congress, Sarah McBride.
2025-2026 Significant legal shifts occurred at the state level, including restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors in some states and bans on intersex surgeries in others. 2026 forward ???
1948Biologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. From his research Kinsey concludes that homosexual behavior is not restricted to people who identify themselves as homosexual and that 37% of men have enjoyed homosexual activities at least once. While psychologists and psychiatrists in the 1940s consider homosexuality a form of illness, the findings surprise many conservative notions about sexuality.
1950In Los Angeles, gay rights activist Harry Hay founds America’s first sustained national gay rights organization. In an attempt to change public perception of homosexuality, the Mattachine Society aims to "eliminate discrimination, derision, prejudice and bigotry," to assimilate homosexuals into mainstream society, and to cultivate the notion of an "ethical homosexual culture."
1950A Senate report titled "Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government" is distributed to members of Congress after the federal government had covertly investigated employees' sexual orientation at the beginning of the Cold War. The report states since homosexuality is a mental illness, homosexuals "constitute security risks" to the nation because "those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons."Over the previous few years, more than 4,380 gay men and women had been discharged from the military and around 500 fired from their jobs with the government. The purging will become known as the "lavender scare."
1952The American Psychiatric Association lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance in its first publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Immediately following the manual's release, many professionals in medicine, mental health and social sciences criticize the categorization due to lack of empirical and scientific data.
1953President Dwight Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450, banning homosexuals from working for the federal government or any of its private contractors. The Order lists homosexuals as security risks, along with alcoholics and neurotics.
1955In San Francisco, the Daughters of Bilitis becomes the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. The organization hosts social functions, providing alternatives to lesbian bars and clubs, which are frequently raided by police.
1956American psychologist Evelyn Hooker shares her paper "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" at the American Psychological Association Convention in Chicago. After administering psychological tests, such as the Rorschach, to groups of homosexual and heterosexual males, Hooker's research concludes homosexuality is not a clinical entity and that heterosexuals and homosexuals do not differ significantly. Hooker's experiment becomes very influential, changing clinical perceptions of homosexuality.
1958In 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." The suit was filed after the U.S. Postal Service and FBI declared the magazine obscene material, and it marks the first time the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexuals.
1962Illinois repeals its sodomy laws, becoming the first U.S. state to decriminalize homosexuality.
1965At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, picketers begin staging the first Reminder Day to call public attention to the lack of civil rights for LGBT people. The gatherings will continue annually for five years.
1966Members 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 will sue the New York Liquor Authority. Although no laws are overturned, the New York City Commission on Human Rights declares that homosexuals have the right to be served.
1966After transgender customers become raucous in a 24-hour San Francisco cafeteria, management calls police. When a police officer manhandles one of the patrons, she throws coffee in his face and a riot ensues, eventually spilling out onto the street, destroying police and public property.Following the riot, activists established the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, the first peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.
1969Patrons of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village riot when police officers attempt to raid the popular gay bar around 1am. Since its establishment in 1967, the bar had been frequently raided by police officers trying to clean up the neighborhood of "sexual deviants."Angry gay youth clash with aggressive police officers in the streets, leading to a three-day riot during which thousands of protestors receive only minimal local news coverage. Nonetheless, the event will be credited with reigniting the fire behind America's modern LGBT rights movement.
1970Christopher St. Liberation Day commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Following the event, thousands of members of the LGBT community march through New York into Central Park, in what will be considered America's first gay pride parade.In the coming decades, the annual gay pride parade will spread to dozens of countries around the world.
1973The board of the American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
1974Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly gay American elected to public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.
1977Singer and conservative Southern Baptist Anita Bryant leads a successful campaign with the "Save Our Children" Crusade to repeal a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida. Bryant faces severe backlash from gay rights supporters across the U.S. The gay rights ordinance will not be reinstated in Dade County until December 1, 1998, more than 20 years later.
1977Harvey Milk wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and is responsible for introducing a gay rights ordinance protecting gays and lesbians from being fired from their jobs. Milk also leads a successful campaign against Proposition 6, an initiative forbidding homosexual teachers.
1978 Former city supervisor Dan White assassinates Milk. White's actions are motivated by jealousy and depression, rather than homophobia.
1979Dan White is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and is sentenced to seven years in prison. Outraged by what they believed to be a lenient sentence, more than 5,000 protesters ransack San Francisco's City Hall, doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property damage in the surrounding area.The following night, approximately 10,000 people gather on San Francisco's Castro and Market streets for a peaceful demonstration to commemorate what would have been Milk's 49th birthday.
October 14, 1979An estimated 75,000 people participate in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. LGBT people and straight allies demand equal civil rights and urge for the passage of protective civil rights legislature.
1980The Democratic Rules Committee states that it will not discriminate against homosexuals. At their National Convention on August 11-14, the Democrats become the first major political party to endorse a homosexual rights platform.
1981The New York Times prints the first story of a rare pneumonia and skin cancer found in 41 gay men in New York and California. The CDC initially refers to the disease as GRID, Gay Related Immune Deficiency Disorder.When the symptoms are found outside the gay community, Bruce Voeller, biologist and founder of the National Gay Task Force, successfully lobbies to change the name of the disease to AIDS.
1982Wisconsin becomes the first U.S. state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
1987AIDS advocacy group ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is formed in response to the devastating affects the disease has had on the gay and lesbian community in New York. The group holds demonstrations against pharmaceutical companies profiteering from AIDS-related drugs as well as the lack of AIDS policies protecting patients from outrageous prescription prices.
1987Hundreds of thousands of activists take part in the National March on Washington to demand that President Ronald Reagan address the AIDS crisis.
Although AIDS had been reported first in 1981, it is not until the end of his presidency that Reagan speaks publicly about the epidemic.
1988The CDC mails a brochure, Understanding AIDS, to every household in the U.S. Approximately 107 million brochures are mailed.
December 1, 1988The World Health Organization organizes the first World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the spreading pandemic.
1990President George H. W. Bush signs the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with AIDS. Ryan White, an Indiana teenager, contracted AIDS in 1984 through a tainted hemophilia treatment. After being barred from attending school because of his HIV-positive status, Ryan White becomes a well-known activist for AIDS research and anti-discrimination.
1991Created by the New York-based Visual AIDS, the red ribbon is adopted as a symbol of awareness and compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS.
1993The Department of Defense issues a directive prohibiting the U.S. Military from barring applicants from service based on their sexual orientation. "Applicants... shall not be asked or required to reveal whether they are homosexual, " states the new policy, which still forbids applicants from engaging in homosexual acts or making a statement that he or she is homosexual. This policy is known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
1996In the case of Romer v. Evans, the United States Supreme Court decides that Colorado's 2nd amendment, denying gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, is unconstitutional, calling them "special rights."
1996President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act into law. The law defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman and that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from out of state.
1998Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., calls on the civil rights community to join the struggle against homophobia. She receives criticism from members of the black civil rights movement for comparing civil rights to gay rights.
2000Vermont becomes the first state in the U.S. to legalize civil unions and registered partnerships between same-sex couples.
2003In Lawrence v. Texas the U.S. Supreme Court rules that sodomy laws in the U.S. are unconstitutional.
2004Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize gay marriage. The court finds the prohibition of gay marriage unconstitutional because it denies dignity and equality of all individuals.In the following six years, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa and Washington D.C. will follow suit.
2007Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the Logo cable channel hosts the first American presidential forum focusing specifically on LGBT issues, inviting each presidential candidate. Six Democrats participate in the forum, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, while all Republican candidates decline.
2008California voters approve Proposition 8, making same-sex marriage in California illegal. The passing of the ballot garners national attention from gay-rights supporters across the U.S. Prop 8 inspires the NOH8 campaign, a photo project that uses celebrities to promote marriage equality.
2009President Obama signs a Presidential Memorandum allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive certain benefits. The memorandum does not cover full health coverage.
2009The Matthew Shepard Act is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on October 28th. The measure expands the 1969 U.S. Federal Hate Crime Law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.Matthew Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming on October 7, 1998 because of his sexual orientation.
2010A federal judge in San Francisco decides that gays and lesbians have the constitutional right to marry and that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Lawyers will challenge the finding.
2010The U.S. Senate votes 65-31 to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military.
2011President Obama states his administration will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans the recognition of same-sex marriage.
2011New York State passes the Marriage Equity Act, becoming the largest state thus far to legalize gay marriage.
2015With a 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
2022President Joe Biden signs The Respect for Marriage Act, which gives federal protection to all marriages regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation.
2023-2024The "Rainbow Wave" continued with increased LGBTQ representation in state and federal offices, including the election of the first transgender member of Congress, Sarah McBride.
2025-2026 Significant legal shifts occurred at the state level, including restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors in some states and bans on intersex surgeries in others. 2026 forward ???
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Web Resources: Print
TIMELINE: https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/lgbt-rights-milestones-fast-facts/index.html
TIMELINE: https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/LGBTQ-History-Timeline-References.pdf
TIMELINE: https://www.lgbtqhistory.org/lgbt-rights-timeline-in-american-history/
TIMELINE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_LGBT_history
TIMELINE: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-milestones-american-gay-rights-movement/
AMERICAN LGBT HISTORY: https://www.lgbtqhistory.org/lgbt-rights-timeline-in-american-history/
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS OVERVIEW: https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
OVERVIEW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots
EBSCO OVERVIEW: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/stonewall-rebellion-ignites-modern-lesbian-and-gay-rights-movement
Web Resources: Video
STONEWALL RIOTS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCqcvqkWQhc50th ANNIVERSARY (2019 CBS NEWS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJviA-bQaL0BBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iBuJ4hQ9FAOVERVIEW (AARP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1D65SxzojIHow Black Queer Culture Shaped History (TED TALK): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YT3feUhR44BILLY PORTER ON QUEER HISTORY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoXH-Yqwyb0The (Gay) Harlem Renaissance (TIME MAG VIDEO): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71fKS2SF-0U
Web Resources: General
DEFINITIONS: https://www.sdstate.edu/office-multicultural-affairs-accessibility/lgbtqia-basic-terms-and-definitions
LGBT HISTORY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history
HISTORY OF GAY LITERATURE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_literature
INFLUENTIAL LGBTQ+ PERSONS: https://inmagazine.ca/2018/03/11-lgbt-people-changed-world/
INFLUENTIAL LGBTQ+ PERSONS (CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/26/us/most-influential-lgbtq-activists/index.html
STONEWALL NATIONAL MONUMENT (VISITORS CENTER): https://stonewallvisitorcenter.org/
STONEWALL NATIONAL MONUMENT (NATIONAL PARK SERVICE): https://www.nps.gov/ston/index.htm
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The Drag Queens of Stonewall
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The drag queens, particularly those of color, who played a foundational role in the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Because cross-dressing laws were used to heavily target and harass queer individuals, drag queens and trans women were acutely vulnerable, giving them little to lose when fighting back against police brutality. During routine raids, police often targeted drag performers for particularly humiliating treatment (like forcing them to wash their faces in mop buckets). When the riots broke out, drag queens were among the very first to resist and fight back against the police.
Iconic figures like Black activist Marsha P. Johnson and Latina activist Sylvia Rivera were on the front lines, helping sustain the six-day demonstrations. Following the Uprising, these same leaders went on to form the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), which provided shelter and support for homeless LGBTQ+ youth and sex workers. Despite their essential contributions to igniting the modern gay rights movement, their narratives were frequently marginalized later as the broader gay rights movement sought mainstream respectability.
The Pink Triangle
The Nazis used a system of color-coded, downward-pointing triangles sewn onto the uniforms of concentration camp prisoners. The pink triangle was specifically used to identify gay men and trans women, and to subject them to severe abuse and dehumanization. Pink triangle prisoners were often treated as the "lowest of the low" in the camp hierarchy, routinely subjected to the harshest punishments, forced labor, and medical experiments. By the 1980s, many LGBTQ+ activist groups like ACT-UP reclaimed the pink triangle, intentionally flipping it to point upwards. This reversal transformed a symbol of hatred and dehumanization into a badge of pride, remembrance, and active resistance.
State of the LGBTQ+ Union: 2026
See: ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2026# See: HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN: https://reports.hrc.org/corporate-equality-index-2026
As of 2026, the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the United States is marked by extreme volatility and high-volume legislative attacks, with over 760 anti-transgender bills under consideration and 34 already passed early in the year, according to Trans Legislation Tracker. While advocacy groups report a high volume of restrictive proposals, they note that historically, around 90% of these bills do not become law. However, they contribute to a "nationwide state of emergency" for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Key Trends and 2026 Landscape:• Targeted Restrictions: The primary focus is on transgender healthcare, with over 100 federal bills in Congress and hundreds more in statehouses aiming to limit access to gender-affirming care and restrict the use of public restrooms.• Federal Action: The federal government has moved to block gender-affirming care via the Affordable Care Act's Section 1557 and restricted coverage for federal employees, say KFF and the Washington Blade.• Public Opinion: While PRRI found that broad majorities still support general nondiscrimination, 56% of Americans support restrictions on bathroom usage for transgender people as of March 2026.• State-Level Battles: States like Kansas and Missouri are heavily active in passing restrictions on identification documents and school-related restrictions, according to GLAAD and Prism Reports.• International Scene: Conversely, international developments show mixed trends, with Thailand and Liechtenstein advancing marriage equality, while Ghana, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia have moved to restrict or criminalize LGBTQ+ behavior, notes eco-business.
Key Issues to Monitor in 2026:• Bathroom and Facility Bans: Expanding from schools to broader public spaces, as tracked by Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights.• "Forced Outing" in Schools: Legislation requiring educators to inform parents of a student's gender identity changes, according to Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights.• Legal Personhood: Bills that attempt to redefine "sex" to exclude transgender people from existing legal protections, notes Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights.• School Curriculum: Further bans on discussing LGBTQ+ topics in educational settings, as described by Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights.