LGBTQ+ history
an overview of moments in history pertinent to the LGBTQ+ community
photo attribution: HARVEY MILK ARCHIVES-SCOTT SMITH COLLECTION, HORMEL GAY & LESBIAN CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Donald Trump has initiated the erosion of all LGBTQ+ rights.
At the forefront of these are any transgender rights that have taken decades to evolve. His overreaching executive orders are intended to eliminate any transexual’s basic human rights in the areas of education, housing, employment and the military. (see this link)
But it’s not just the trans community. This new era of homophobia from the right is also reaching into the overall LGBTQ+ community. The day after Trump took office, all federal websites removed ANY mention of the term LGBTQ and gender references. (go to this page).
It is critical that the LGBTQ+ community be aware of what is yet to come. Many younger community members will suddenly realize that the rights they enjoy and take for granted can easily eliminated. By ever vigilant.
The T and Q removed from LGBTQ+
“Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement”.
The cops are now watching you- because you're LGBTQ
And now the cops can, once again, put you under surveillance simply for being Gay. It’s pre-stonewall days again. February 26, 2025
Same Sex Married couple? Not for long.
Resolutions to the Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage.
June 1969
News of the initial riots around the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969 spread across the country quickly. The need to fight back with a “we won’t take it anymore” attitude soon evolved into a nationwide movement of recognition by members of the Gay communities across the country.
The importance of Stonewall as the flashpoint for the fight against persecution and discrimination against the LGBTQ community cannot be over-emphasized. But it was what occurred a year later on the first anniversary of Stonewall that marked the beginnings of the Gay Liberation Movement with Gay Pride marches in New York and Chicago.
In 1971 Pride marches occurred in Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, London, Paris, West Berlin, and Stockholm. In 1972 the cities of Atlanta, Brighton, Buffalo, Detroit, Washington DC, Miami, San Francisco and Philadelphia joined in. By 1973 metro areas across the country were hosting Gay Pride Parades.
The “raided premises” sign just inside the door at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar on Christopher Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. A 1969 police raid here led to the Stonewall riots, the most important event in the history of LGBTQ rights. This picture was taken on Pride weekend in 2016, the day after President Obama announced the Stonewall National Monument, and less than two weeks after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando (the exterior of the Stonewall Inn is covered with tributes/decorations memorializing the shooting.
Courtesy of author Rhododendrites CC Comons Share License
A multitude of video and films are available covering the beginnings of the fight for Gay acceptance and equailty. StoneWall Uprising provides a well produced short on the “why”.
AND THEN THERE WAS 1982
The first week of June, over 40 years ago, the CDC published the first report of what would come to be known as the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In an article from May 1982, The New York Times referred to the disease as a “new homosexual disorder.” A month later, in NBC News’ first report on the mysterious illness, “Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw reported that a new study found “the lifestyles of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic of a rare form of cancer.” By September of that year, the CDC first coined the acronym AIDS- for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
However. the Reagan administration did nothing to address the growing crisis. They either ignored it or made fun of the “gay plague.” It was an appalling response. A response that ultimate
Dr. Eric Cervini
Dr Eric Cervini is highly recommended author and LGBTQ historian. Learn about LGBTQ history, personal perspectives on that history and informative podcasts.
You’re also invited to check out his latest book, now a New York Times best seller.