The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)history.
Pre-history
9660 to 5000 BCE
Mesolithicrock art in Sicily depicts phallic male figures in pairs that have been interpreted variously, including as hunters, acrobats, religious initiates and depictions of male homosexual intercourse.[1]
7000 to 1700 BCE
Among the sexual depictions in Neolithic and Bronze Age drawings and figurines from the Mediterranean are, as one author describes it, a "third sex" human figure having female breasts and male genitals or without distinguishing sex characteristics. In Neolithic Italy, female images are found in a domestic context, while images that combine sexual characteristics appear in burials or religious settings; in Neolithic Greece and Cyprus, figures are often dual-sexed or without identifying sexual characteristics.[2]
Antiquity
22nd century BCE
Between 2900 and 2500 BCE in a burial of a suburb of Prague, Czech Republic, a man is buried in the outfit usually reserved for women. Archaeologists speculate that the burial corresponds to a transsexual or someone of the third sex.[3]
ca. 630 BCE – Dorian aristocrats in Crete adopt formal relations between adult aristocrats and adolescent boys; an inscription from Crete is the oldest record of the social institution of paiderasteia among the Greeks[6] (see Cretan pederasty). Marriage between men in Greece was not legally recognized, but men might form life-long relationships originating in paiderasteia ("pederasty," without the pejorative connotations of the English word). These partnerships were not dissimilar to heterosexual marriages except that the older person served as educator or mentor.[7]
Sappho, a Greek lyric poet born on the island of Lesbos, was born between 630-612 BCE, and died around 570 BCE. The Alexandrians included her in the list of nine lyric poets. She was famous for her lesbian themes, giving her name and and that of her homeland to the very definition of lesbianism (and the lesser used term of "sapphism"). She was exiled c. 600 BCE.
6th century BCE
ca. 540–530 BCE – Wall paintings from the EtruscanTomb of the Bulls (Italian: Tomba dei Tori), found in 1892 in the Monterozzi necropolis, Tarquinia, depict homosexual intercourse. The tomb is named for the pair of bulls who watch human sex scenes, one between a man and a woman, and the other between two men; these may be apotropaic, or embody aspects of the cycle of regeneration and the afterlife. The three-chamber tomb was inscribed with the name of the deceased for whom it was originally built, Aranth Spurianas or Arath Spuriana, and also depicts Achilles killing the Trojan prince Troilus, along with indications of Apollo cult.[8]
4th century BCE
385 BCE – Plato publishes Symposium in which Phaedrus, Eryixmachus, Aristophanes and other Greek intellectuals argue that love between males is the highest form, while sex with women is lustful and utilitarian.[9] Socrates, however, differs.[10] He demonstrates extreme self-control when seduced by the beautiful Alcibiades.[11]
350 BCE – Plato publishes Laws in which the Athenian stranger and his companions criticize homosexuality as being lustful and wrong for society because it does not further the species and may lead to irresponsible citizenry.[12]
338 BCE – The Sacred Band of Thebes, an undefeated elite battalion made up of one hundred and fifty pederastic couples, is destroyed by the forces of Philip II of Macedon who bemoans their loss and praises their honour.[13]
149 BCE or earlier – During the Roman Republic, the Lex Scantinia imposed penalties on those who committed a sex crime (stuprum) against a freeborn youth; infrequently mentioned or enforced, it may also have been used to prosecute male citizens who willingly took the passive role in homosexual relations.[14] It is unclear whether the penalty was death or a fine. For an adult male citizen to desire and engage in same-sex relations was considered natural and socially acceptable, as long as his partner was a male prostitute, slave or infamis, a person excluded from the legal protections accorded a citizen. In the Imperial period, the Lex Scantinia was revived by Domitian as part of his program of judicial and moral reform.[15]
57 BCE – 54 BC – Catullus writes the Carmina, including love poems to Juventius, boasting of sexual prowess with youth and violent invectives against passive sodomites.
42 BCE – 39 BC – Virgil writes the Eclogues, with Eclogue 2 a notable example of homoerotic Latin literature.
26, 25 and 18 BCE – Tibullus writes his elegies, with references to homosexuality.
1st century AD
1st century AD - The Warren Cup is made - a Roman silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same-sex acts.
Wall painting of female couple from the Suburban Baths at Pompeii
98 – Trajan, one of the most beloved of Roman emperors, begins his reign. Trajan was well known for his homosexuality and fondness for young males. This was used to advantage by the king of Edessa, Abgar VII, who, after incurring the anger of Trajan for some misdeed, sent his handsome young son to make his apologies, thereby obtaining pardon.[18]
2nd century
130 -- Antinous, a 19-year-old boy who was the Roman Emperor Hadrian's favorite dies under mysterious circumstances in the Roman Province of Egypt (Aegyptus), and Hadrian creates a cult giving Antinous the status of a god, commissioning numerous sculptures of him throughout the Roman Empire.
165 – Christian martyr Giustino writes: "We have learned that is an evil thing to show newborns, since we see that almost everyone, not only the girls but boys too, are forced into prostitution".[19]
3rd century
218 – The emperor Elagabalus begins his reign. He marries a man named Zoticus, an athlete from Smyrna, in a lavish public ceremony at Rome amid the rejoicings of the public.[20]
305- 306 – Council of Elvira (now Granada, Spain). This council was representative of the Western European Church and among other things, it barred pederasts the right to Communion.
314 – Council of Ancyra (now Ankara, Turkey). This council was representative of the Eastern European Church and it excluded the Sacraments for 15 years to unmarried men under the age of 20 who were caught in homosexual acts, and excluded the man for life if he was married and over the age of 50.
342 – The first law against same-sex marriage was promulgated by the Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans.[21]
390 – In the year 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be burned alive in front of the public.[22]
390- 405 – Nonnus' Dionysiaca is the last known piece of literature for nearly 1,000 years to celebrate homosexual passion.[12]
5th century
498 – In spite of the laws against gay sex, the Christian emperors continued to collect taxes on male prostitutes until the reign of Anastasius I, who finally abolishes the tax in favor of sampling of the best men.[23]
589 – The Visigothic kingdom in Spain, is converted from Arianism to Catholicism. This conversion leads to a revision of the law to conform to those of Catholic countries. These revisions include provisions for the persecution of gays and Jews.[25]
7th century
693 – In Iberia, Visigothic ruler Egica of Hispania and Septimania, demanded that a Church council confront the occurrence of homosexuality in the Kingdom. The Sixteenth Council of Toledo issued a statement in response, which was adopted by Egica, stating that homosexual acts be punished by castration, exclusion from Communion, hair shearing, one hundred stripes of the lash, and banishment into exile.[12]
966 – Foundation of Poland, which never criminalized homosexuality throughout its history (see 1835 and 1932).[27][citation needed]
11th century
1007 – The Decretum of Burchard of Worms equates homosexual acts with other sexual transgressions such as adultery and argues, therefore, that it should have the same penance (generally fasting).[12]
1051 – Peter Damian writes the treatise Liber Gomorrhianus, in which he argues for stricter punishments for clerics failing their duty against "vices of nature."[28]
1100 – Ivo of Chartres tries to convince Pope Urban II about homosexuality risks. Ivo accused Rodolfo, archbishop of Tours, of convincing the King of France to appoint a certain Giovanni as bishop of Orléans. Giovanni was well known as Rodolfo's lover and had relations with the king himself, a fact of which the king openly boasted. Pope Urban, however, didn't consider this as a decisive fact: Giovanni ruled as bishop for almost forty years, and Rodolfo continued to be well known and respected.[29][dead link]
1140 – The Italian Monk Gratian compiles his work Concordia discordantium canonum in which he argues that sodomy is the worst of all the sexual sins because it involves using the member in an unnatural way.[12]
1164 – The English monk, Aelred of Rievaulx writes his De spiritali amicitia giving love between persons of the same gender a profound expression.
1232 – Pope Gregory IX starts the Inquisition in the Italian City-States. Some cities called for banishment and/or amputation as punishments for 1st- and 2nd-offending sodomites and burning for the 3rd or habitual offenders.[citation needed]
1260 – In France, first-offending sodomites lost their testicles, second offenders lost their member, and third offenders were burned. Women caught in same-sex acts could be mutilated and executed as well.[12]
1265 – Thomas Aquinas argues that sodomy is second only to murder in the ranking of sins.[12]
1283 – The French Civil Code dictated that convicted sodomites not only were burned but that their property was forfeited.
14th century
1308-14 – Philip IV of France orders the arrest of all Templars on charges of heresy, idolatry and sodomy, but these charges are only a pretext to seize the riches of the order. Order leaders are sentenced to death and burned at the stake on March 18, 1314 by Notre Dame.
1321 – Dante's Inferno places sodomites in the Seventh Circle.
1327 – The deposed King Edward II of England is killed, allegedly by forcing a red-hot poker through his rectum. Edward II had a history of conflict with the nobility, who repeatedly banished his former lover Piers Gaveston, the Earl of Cornwall.[citation needed]
1347 – Rolandino Roncaglia is tried for sodomy, an event that caused a sensation in Italy. He confessed he "had never had sexual intercourse, neither with his wife nor with any other woman, because he had never felt any carnal appetite, nor could he ever have an erection of his virile member". After his wife died of plague, Rolandino started to prostitute himself, wearing female dresses because "since he has female look, voice and movements – although he does not have a female orifice, but has a male member and testicles – many persons considered him to be a woman because of his appearance".[30]
1370s – Jan van Aersdone and Willem Case were two men executed in Antwerp in the 1370s. The charge against them was same gender intercourse which was illegal and strenuously vilified in medieval Europe.[citation needed] Aersdone and Case stand out because records of their names have survived. One other couple still known by name from the 14th century were Giovanni Braganza and Nicoleto Marmagna of Venice.[31]
1424 – Bernardino of Siena preached for three days in Florence, Italy against homosexuality and other forms of lust, culminating in a pyre in which burned cosmetics, wigs and all sorts of articles for the beautification. He calls for sodomites to be ostracized from society, and these sermons alongside measures by other clergy of the time strengthens opinion against homosexuals and encourages the authorities to increase the measures of persecution[32]
1432 – In Florence the first organization specifically intended to prosecute sodomy is established, the "Night Officials", which over the next 70 years arrest about 10,000 men and boys, succeeding in getting about 2,000 convicted, with most then paying fines.
1451 – Pope Nicholas V enables the papal Inquisition to persecute men who practice sodomy.
1475 – In Peru, a chronicle written under the Capac Yupanqui government describes the persecution of homosexuals wih public burnings and destruction of homes (a practice usually reserved for conquered tribes).
1476 – Florentine court records of 1476 show that Leonardo da Vinci and three other young men were charged with sodomy twice, and acquitted.[33]
1483 – The Spanish Inquisition begins. Sodomites were stoned, castrated, and burned. Between 1540 and 1700, more than 1,600 people were prosecuted for sodomy.[12]
1494 – Girolamo Savonarola criticizes the population of Florence for its "horrible sins" (mainly homosexuality and gambling) and exhorts them to give up their young and beardless lovers.
1497 – In Spain the Ferdinand and Isabella strengthen the sodomy laws hitherto applied only in the cities. An increase is made in the severity of the crime equating to treason or heresy, and the amount of evidence required for conviction is lowered, with torture permitted to extract confession. The property of the defendant is also confiscated.
16th century
1502 – A charge is brought against the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli on the grounds of sodomy.[35]
1523 – First of several charges of sodomy brought against the Florentine artist Benvenuto Cellini.[36]
1553 – Mary Tudor ascends the English throne and removes all of the laws that had been passed by Henry VIII during the English Reformation of the 1530s.
Between 1730 and 1811, a widespread panic in the Dutch Republic leads to a spectacular series of trials for sodomy, with persecutions at their most severe from 1730 to 1737, 1764, 1776, and from 1795 to 1798.[citation needed]
1785 – Jeremy Bentham is one of the first people to argue for the decriminalization of sodomy in England.[12]
1791 – RevolutionaryFrance (and Andorra) adopts a new penal code which no longer criminalizes sodomy. France thus becomes the first West European country to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults.[44]
1852 – Portugal decriminalizes homosexual acts.[46]
1856 – The first known reference to lesbians in Mormon history occurred in 1856, when a Salt Lake man noted in his diary that a Mormon woman was "trying to seduce a young girl.".[47]
1867 – On 29 August 1867, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs became the first self-proclaimed homosexual to speak out publicly for homosexual rights when he pleaded at the Congress of German Jurists in Munich for a resolution urging the repeal of anti-homosexual laws.
1880 – The Empire of Japan decrimiminalized homosexual acts (anal sodomy), having only made them illegal during the early years of the Meiji Restoration.
1892 – The words "bisexual" and "heterosexual" are first used in their current senses in Charles Gilbert Chaddock's translation of Kraft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis.
1894 – Biologist and pioneer of human sexuality Alfred Kinsey is born on 23 June.
1895 – The trial of Oscar Wilde results in his being prosecuted under the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 for "gross indecency" and sentenced to two years hard labor in prison. In Brazil Adolfo Caminha publishes his controversial novel Bom-Crioulo (in English:The Black Man and the Cabin Boy) with homosexuality at its center and with a black man as the story's hero.
1903 – In New York on 21 February 1903, New York police conducted the first United States recorded raid on a gay bathhouse, the Ariston Hotel Baths. 26 men were arrested and 12 brought to trial on sodomy charges; 7 men received sentences ranging from 4 to 20 years in prison.[49]
1906 – Potentially the first openly gay American novel with a happy ending, Imre, is published.[12]
1907 – Adolf Brand, the activist leader of the Gemeinschaft der Eigenen, working to overturn Paragraph 175, publishes a piece "outing" the imperial chancellor of Germany, Prince Bernhard von Bülow. The Prince sues Brand for libel and clears his name; Brand is sentenced to 18 months in prison.[50]
1910 – Emma Goldman first begins speaking publicly in favor of homosexual rights. Magnus Hirschfeld later wrote "she was the first and only woman, indeed the first and only American, to take up the defense of homosexual love before the general public."[52]14 May 1928 issue of German lesbian periodical Die Freundin (Friedrich Radszuweit)[53]
1912 – The first explicit reference to lesbianism in a Mormon magazine occurred when the "Young Woman's Journal" paid tribute to "Sappho of Lesbos[47] "; the Scientific Humanitarian Committee of the Netherlands (NWHK), the first Dutch organization to campaign against anti-homosexual discrimination, is established by Dr. Jacob Schorer.
1913 – The word faggot is first used in print in reference to gays in a vocabulary of criminal slang published in Portland, Oregon: "All the fagots [sic] (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight".
Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is published in France, marking the first time a modern Western author treats homosexuality openly in literature.
1917 – The October Revolution in Russia repeals the previous criminal code in its entirety—including Article 995.[54][55] Bolshevik leaders boast that "homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships are treated exactly the same by the law."
1919 – In Berlin, Germany, Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld co-founds the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sex Research), a pioneering private research institute and counseling office. Its library of thousands of books was destroyed by Nazis in May 1933.[56][57][58]
1921 – In England an attempt to make lesbianism illegal for the first time in Britain's history fails.[59]
1922 – A new criminal code comes into force in the USSR officially decriminalizing homosexual acts.
1923 – The word fag is first used in print in reference to gays in Nels Anderson's The Hobo: "Fairies or Fags are men or boys who exploit sex for profit."
1923 – Lesbian Elsa Gidlow, born in England, published the first volume of openly lesbian love poetry in the United States, titled "On A Grey Thread."[60]
1928 – The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall is published in the UK and later in the United States. This sparks great legal controversy and brings the topic of homosexuality to public conversation.
1931 - Mädchen in Uniform, one of the first explicitly lesbian films and the first pro-lesbian film, is released.
1932 – Poland codifies the homosexual and heterosexual age of consent equally at 15. Polish law had never criminalized homosexuality, although occupying powers had outlawed it in 1835.[27]
1933 – The National Socialist German Workers Party bans homosexual groups. Homosexuals are sent to concentration camps. Nazis burn the library of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Research, and destroy the Institute; Denmark and Philippines decriminalizes homosexuality. Homosexual acts are recriminalized in the USSR. (Certain persons, including Scott Lively (presently charged with Crimes against humanity[63]), assert that the Nazi opposition to homosexuality was 'selective'. In order to persecute other 'types' of people, the Nazi party used homosexual behavior as a convenient excuse. The faithful Nazis, who were themselves blatant homosexuals, were tolerated.[64]) Scholars and historians in general reject this allegation and Lively is named a holocaust revisionist both the Southern Poverty Law Center and by the ADL [65][66][67]
1934 – Uruguay decriminalizes homosexuality. The USSR once again criminalizes muzhelozhstvo (specific Russian definition of “male sexual intercourse with male”, literally “man lying with man”), punishable by up to 5 years in prison – more for the coercion or involvement of minors.[68]
1936 – Mona's 440 Club, the first lesbian bar in America, opened in San Francisco in 1936.[69][70] Mona's waitresses and female performers wore tuxedos and patrons dressed their roles.[70]
1938 – The word Gay is used for the first time in reference to homosexuality.[71]
1939 – Frances V. Rummell, an educator and a teacher of French at Stephens College, published an autobiography under the title Diana: A Strange Autobiography; it was the first explicitly lesbian autobiography in which two women end up happily together.[72] This autobiography was published with a note saying, "The publishers wish it expressly understood that this is a true story, the first of its kind ever offered to the general reading public".[72]
1940 – Iceland decriminalizes homosexuality; the NWHK is disbanded in the Netherlands in May due to the German invasion, and most of its archive is voluntarily destroyed, while the rest is confiscated by Nazi soldiers.
1941 – Transsexuality was first used in reference to homosexuality and bisexuality.
1942 – Switzerland decriminalizes homosexuality, with the age of consent set at 20.
1944 – Sweden decriminalizes homosexuality, with the age of consent set at 20 and Suriname legalizes homosexuality.
1945 – Upon the liberation of Nazi concentration camps by Allied forces, those interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out the full term of their sentences under Paragraph 175; Portugal decriminalises homosexuality for the second time in its history. Four honourably discharged gay veterans form the Veterans Benevolent Association, the first LGBT veterans' group.[73] Gay bar Yanagi opened in Japan.[74]
1946 – "COC" (Dutch acronym for "Center for Culture and Recreation"), one of the earliest homophile organizations, is founded in the Netherlands. It is the oldest surviving LGBT organization.
1947 – Vice Versa, the first North American lesbian publication, is written and self-published by Lisa Ben (real name Edith Eyde) in Los Angeles.
1948 – "Forbundet af 1948" ("League of 1948"), a homosexual group, is formed in Denmark.
1951 – Jordan In 1951, a revision of the Jordanian Criminal Code legalized private, adult, non-commercial, and consensual sodomy, with the age of consent set at 16.
1952 – "Spring Fire," the first lesbian paperback novel, and the beginning of the lesbian pulp fiction genre, was published in 1952 and sold 1.5 million copies.[75][76] It was written by lesbian Marijane Meaker under the false name Vin Packer.[75]
1952 – In the spring of 1952, Dale Jennings was arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly soliciting a police officer in a bathroom in Westlake Park, now known as MacArthur Park. His trial drew national attention to the Mattachine Society, and membership increased drastically after Jennings contested the charges, resulting in a hung jury.[77]
1952 – In Japan it was "Adonis" launched. Mishima Yukio was Contributed to this magazine.
1954 – 7 June–Mathematical and computer geniusAlan Turing commits suicide by cyanide poisoning, 18 months after being given a choice between two years in prison or libido-reducing hormone treatment for a year as a punishment for homosexuality.[78] A succession of well-known men, including Lord Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, were convicted of homosexual offences as British police pursued a McCarthy-like purge of Society homosexuals.[79] Arcadie, the first homosexual group in France, is formed.
1955 – The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) was founded in San Francisco in 1955 by four lesbian couples (including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon) and was the first national lesbian political and social organization in the United States.[80] The group's name came from "Songs of Bilitis," a lesbian-themed song cycle by French poet Pierre Louÿs, which described the fictional Bilitis as a resident of the Isle of Lesbos alongside Sappho.[80] DOB's activities included hosting public forums on homosexuality, offering support to isolated, married, and mothering lesbians, and participating in research activities.[80] Mattachine Society New York chapter founded.
1957 – The word "Transsexual" is coined by U.S. physician Harry Benjamin; The Wolfenden Committee's report recommends decriminalizing consensual homosexual behaviour between adults in the United Kingdom; Psychologist Evelyn Hooker publishes a study showing that homosexual men are as well adjusted as non-homosexual men, which becomes a major factor in the American Psychiatric Association removing homosexuality from its handbook of disorders in 1973.
1958 – The United States Supreme Court rules in favor of the First Amendment rights of a gay and lesbian magazine, marking the first time the United States Supreme Court had ruled on a case involving homosexuality.
1959 – ITV, at the time the UK's only national commercial broadcaster, broadcasts the first gay drama, South, starring Peter Wyngarde.[81]
1960 – Cpls. Fannie Mae Clackum and Grace Garner, U.S. Air Force reservists in the late 1940s and early 1950s, became the first people to successfully challenge their discharges from the U.S. military for being gay, although the ruling turned on the fact that there wasn’t enough evidence to show the women were lesbians — rather than that there was nothing wrong with it if they were.[82]
1961 – Illinois becomes first U.S. state to remove sodomy law from its criminal code (effective 1962).[84]
1963 – Israel de facto decriminalizes sodomy and sexual acts between men by judicial decision against the enforcement of the relevant section in the old British-mandate law from 1936 (which in fact was never enforced).[citation needed]
1964 – Canada sees its first gay-positive organization, ASK, and first gay magazines: ASK Newsletter (in Vancouver), and Gay (by Gay Publishing Company of Toronto). Gay was the first periodical to use the term 'Gay' in the title and expanded quickly, including outstripping the distribution of American publications under the name Gay International. These were quickly followed by Two (by Gayboy (later Kamp) Publishing Company of Toronto).[85][86]
1964 – Canada March 1964, ted northe founds the 'Imperial Court of Canada' a monarchist society compromised primarily of drag personalities and becomes a driving force in the effort to achieve equality in Canada. The Courts of Canada now have over 14 chapters across the country and is the oldest, continuously running, GLBT Organization in Canada.
1964 – The first photograph of lesbians on the cover of lesbian magazine The Ladder was done in September 1964, showing two women from the back, on a beach looking out to sea.
1965 – Everett George Klippert, the last person imprisoned in Canada for homosexuality, is arrested for private, consensual sex with men. After being assessed "incurably homosexual", he is sentenced to an indefinite "preventive detention" as a dangerous sexual offender. This was considered by many Canadians to be extremely homophobic, and prompted sympathetic articles in Maclean's and The Toronto Star, eventually leading to increased calls for legal reform in Canada which passed in 1969.[citation needed] Conservatively dressed gays and lesbians demonstrate outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia on 4 July 1965. This was the first in a series of Annual Reminders that took place through 1969.
1966 – The Mattachine Society stages a "Sip-In" at Julius Bar in New York City challenging a New York State Liquor Authority prohibiting serving alcohol to gays; the National Planning Conference of Homophile Organizations is established (to became NACHO—North American Conference of Homophile Organizations later that year); the Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 by transgender women and Vanguard members in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded transgender riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City by three years. Vanguard was founded to demonstrate for equal rights.
1966 – The first lesbian to appear on the cover of the lesbian magazine The Ladder with her face showing was Lilli Vincenz in January 1966.
1967 – The Black Cat Tavern in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles is raided on New Year's day by 12 plainclothes police officers who beat and arrested employees and patrons. The raid prompted a series of protests that began on 5 January 1967, organized by P.R.I.D.E. (Personal Rights in Defense and Education). It's the first use of the term "Pride" that came to be associated with LGBT rights.
1967 – The Advocate was first published in September as "The Los Angeles Advocate," a local newsletter alerting gay men to police raids in Los Angeles gay bars.
1967 – The Sexual Offences Act decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age in private in England and Wales.;[87] The act did not apply to Scotland, Northern Ireland nor the Channel Islands; The book Homosexual Behavior Among Males by Wainwright Churchill breaks ground as a scientific study approaching homosexuality as a fact of life and introduces the term "homoerotophobia", a possible precursor to "homophobia"; The Oscar Wilde Bookshop, the world's first homosexual-oriented bookstore, opens in New York City; "Our World" ("Nuestro Mundo"), the first Latino-American homosexual group, is created in Argentina; A raid on the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles, California promotes homosexual rights activity. The Student Homophile League at Columbia University is the first institutionally recognized gay student group in the United States.[citation needed]
1968 – Paragraph 175 is eased in East Germany decriminalizing homosexual acts over the age of 18; Bulgaria decriminalizes adult homosexual relations.
1969 – The Stonewall riots occur in New York; Paragraph 175 is eased in West Germany; Bill C-150 is passed, decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada. Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister is quoted as having said: "The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation."; Poland decriminalizes homosexual prostitution; An Australian arm of the Daughters of Bilitis forms in Melbourne and is considered Australia's first homosexual rights organisation.[citation needed]
1969 – On 31 December 1969, the Cockettes perform for the first time at the Palace Theatre on Union and Columbus in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.
1971 – Society Five (a homosexual rights organization) is formed in Melbourne, Australia; Homosexuality is decriminalized in Austria, Costa Rica and Finland; Colorado and Oregon repeal sodomy laws; Idaho repeals the sodomy law — Then re-instates the repealed sodomy law because of outrage among Mormons and Catholics.[92][93] The Netherlands changes the homosexual age of consent to 16, the same as the straight age of consent; The U.S. Libertarian Party calls for the repeal of all victimless crime laws, including the sodomy laws; Dr. Frank Kameny becomes the first openly gay candidate for the United States Congress; The University of Michigan establishes the first collegiate LGBT programs office, then known as the "Gay Advocate's Office." The UK Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was recognized as a political movement in the national press and was holding weekly meetings of 200 to 300 people.;[94]George Klippert, the last man jailed for homosexuality in Canada, is released from prison. Ken Togo ran for national election, in Japan.
1972 – Sweden becomes first country in the world to allow transsexuals to legally change their sex, and provides free hormone therapy;[95] Hawaii legalizes homosexuality; In South Australia, a consenting adults in private-type legal defence was introduced; Norway decriminalizes homosexuality; East Lansing, Michigan and Ann Arbor, Michigan and San Francisco, California become the first cities in United States to pass a homosexual rights ordinance. Jim Foster, San Francisco and Madeline Davis, Buffalo, New York, first gay and lesbian delegates to the Democratic Convention, Miami, McGovern; give the first speeches advocating a gay rights plank in the Democratic Party Platform. "Stonewall Nation" first gay anthem is written and recorded by Madeline Davis and is produced on 45 rpm record by the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier. Lesbianism 101, first lesbianism course in the U.S. taught at the University of Buffalo by Margaret Small and Madeline Davis.[citation needed]Jeanne Manford marched with her gay son in New York's Pride Day parade. This was the beginning of PFLAG - Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.[96] Nancy Wechsler became the first openly gay or lesbian person in political office in America; she was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in 1972 as a member of the Human Rights Party and came out as a lesbian during her first and only term there.[97] Also in 1972, Camille Mitchell became the first open lesbian to be awarded custody of her children in a divorce case, although the judge restricted the arrangement by precluding Ms. Mitchell's lover from moving in with her and the children.[98] Freda Smith became the first openly lesbian minister in the Metropolitan Community Church (she was also their first female minister).[99][100]Beth Chayim Chadashim was founded in 1972 as the world's first lesbian and gay synagogue recognized by the Reform Jewish community.[101] A Quaker group, the Committee of Friends on Bisexuality, issued the “Ithaca Statement on Bisexuality” supporting bisexuals.[102]
The Statement, which may have been "the first public declaration of the bisexual movement" and "was certainly the first statement on bisexuality issued by an American religious assembly," appeared in the Quaker Friends Journal and The Advocate in 1972.[103][104][105]
Today Quakers have varying opinions on LGBT people and rights, with some Quaker groups more accepting than others.[106]
1973 – The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II), based largely on the research and advocacy of Evelyn Hooker; Malta legalizes homosexuality; In West Germany, the age of consent is reduced for homosexuals to 18 (though it is 14 for heterosexuals).[citation needed]; Sally Miller Gearhart became the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the first women and gender study programs in the country.[107]
1975 – Homosexuality is legalized in California due to the Consenting Adult Sex Bill, authored by and successfully lobbied for in the state legislature by State Assemblyman from San Francisco Willie Brown; Leonard Matlovich, a Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force, becomes the first U.S. gay service member to purposely out himself to fight their ban; South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to make homosexuality legal between consenting adults in private. Panama is the second country in the world to allow transsexuals who have gone through gender reassignment surgery to get their personal documents reflecting their new sex; [citation needed] UK journal Gay Left begins publication.;[111]Minneapolis becomes the first city in the United States to pass trans-inclusive civil rights protection legislation.[112]
1976 – Robert Grant founds the Christian Voice to take his anti-homosexual-rights crusade national in United States; the Homosexual Law Reform Coalition and the Gay Teachers Group are started in Australia; the Australian Capital Territory decriminalizes homosexuality between consenting adults in private and equalizes the age of consent; Out Minnesota state legislator Allan Spear is reelected; and Denmark equalizes the age of consent.[citation needed] Association of homosexual liberation was founded in Japan.[113]
1977 – Harvey Milk is elected city-county supervisor in San Francisco, becoming the fifth out American elected to public office. Dade County, Florida enacts a Human Rights Ordinance; it is repealed the same year after a militant anti-homosexual-rights campaign led by Anita Bryant. Quebec becomes the first jurisdiction larger than a city or county in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the public and private sectors; Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Vojvodina; legalise homosexuality.[citation needed] Welsh author Jeffrey Weeks publishes Coming Out;[114]Original eight-color version of the LGBT pride flag Publication of the first issue of Gaysweek, NYC's first mainstream gay weekly. Police raided a house outside of Boston outraging the gay community. In response the Boston-Boise Committee was formed, which would lead to the founding of NAMBLA.[115]Anne Holmes became the first openly lesbian minister ordained by the United Church of Christ;[116]Ellen Barrett became the first openly lesbian priest ordained by the Episcopal Church of the United States (serving the Diocese of New York)[117][118].;The first lesbian mystery novel in America was published; it was Angel Dance, by Mary F. Beal.[119][120] The National Center for Lesbian Rights was founded. Shakuntala Devi published the first[121] study of homosexuality in India.[122][123] Platonica Club and Front Runners were founded in Japan.[113]
1978 – San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White; the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held, with 2000 people attending and 53 subsequently arrested and some seriously beaten by police. ; The rainbow flag is first used as a symbol of homosexual pride; Sweden establishes a uniform age of consent. Samois the earliest known lesbian-feminist BDSM organization is founded in San Francisco; well-known members of the group include Patrick Califia and Gayle Rubin; the group is among the very earliest advocates of what came to be known as sex-positive feminism[citation needed]; The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) is established.[124]Robin Tyler became the first out lesbian on U.S. national television, appearing on a Showtime comedy special hosted by Phyllis Diller. The same year she released her comedy album, Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom, the first comedy album by an out lesbian.[125]
1979 A number of people in Sweden called in sick with a case of being homosexual, in protest of homosexuality being classified as an illness. This was followed by an activist occupation of the main office of the National Board of Health and Welfare. Within a few months, Sweden became the first country in the world to remove homosexuality as an illness.[95] Japan Gay Center was established in Japan.[113]
1981 – The European Court of Human Rights in Dudgeon v. United Kingdom strikes down Northern Ireland's criminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults, leading to Northern Ireland decriminalising homosexual sex the following year; Victoria (Australia) and Colombia decriminalize homosexuality with a uniform age of consent; The Moral Majority starts its anti-homosexual crusade; Norway becomes the first country in the world to enact a law to prevent discrimination against homosexuals; Hong Kong's first sex-change operation is performed. The first official documentation of the condition to be known as AIDS was published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on 5 June 1981.[127] Tennis player Billie Jean King became the first prominent professional athlete to come out as a lesbian, when her relationship with her secretary Marilyn Barnett became public in a May 1981 "palimony" lawsuit filed by Barnett.[128] Due to this she lost all of her endorsements.[129]Mary C. Morgan became the first openly gay or lesbian judge in America when she was appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown to the San Francisco Municipal Court.[130]
1982 – Laguna Beach, CA elects the first openly gay mayor in United States history; France equalizes the age of consent; The first Gay Games is held in San Francisco, attracting 1,600 participants; Northern Ireland decriminalizes homosexuality; Wisconsin becomes the first US state to ban discrimination against homosexuals; New South Wales becomes the first Australian state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived homosexuality. The condition to be known as AIDS had acquired a number of names – GRID5 (gay-related immune deficiency), ‘gay cancer’, ‘community-acquired immune dysfunction’ and ‘gay compromise syndrome’[131] The CDC used the term AIDS for the first time in September 1982, when it reported that an average of one to two cases of AIDS were being diagnosed in America every day.[132]Ken Togo is founding the Deracine Party in Japan.
1983 – Massachusetts Representative Gerry Studds reveals he is gay on the floor of the House, becoming the first openly gay member of Congress; Guernsey (Including Alderney, Herm and Sark) decriminalizes homosexuality; Portugal decriminalizes homosexuality for the third time in its history; AIDS is described as a "gay plague" by Reverend Jerry Falwell.
1984 – The lesbian and gay association "Ten Percent Club" is formed in Hong Kong; Massachusetts voters reelect representative Gerry Studds, despite his revealing himself as homosexual the year before; New South Wales and the Northern Territory in Australia make homosexual acts legal; Chris Smith, newly elected to the UK parliament declares: "My name is Chris Smith. I'm the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, and I'm gay", making him the first openly out homosexual politician in the UK parliament. The Argentine Homosexual Community (Comunidad Homosexual Argentina, CHA) is formed uniting several different and preexisting groups. Berkeley, California becomes the first city in the U.S. to adopt a program of domestic partnership health benefits for city employees; West Hollywood, CA is founded and becomes the first known city to elect a city council where a majority of the members are openly gay or lesbian. Reconstructionist Judaism became the first Jewish denomination to allow openly lesbian rabbis and cantors.[133] ILGA Japan was founded in Japan.
1986 – Homosexual Law Reform Act passed in New Zealand, legalizing sex between males over 16; Haiti decriminalizes homosexuality, June in Bowers v. Hardwick case, U.S. Supreme Court upholds Georgia law forbidding oral or anal sex, ruling that the constitutional right to privacy does not extend to homosexual relations, but it does not state whether the law can be enforced against heterosexuals. Becky Smith and Annie Afleck became the first openly lesbian couple in America granted legal, joint adoption of a child.[138] From 1 till 3 May, the 1986, ILGA Asia Conference took place in Japan's capital Tokyo.[139]
1988 – Sweden is the first country to pass laws protecting homosexual regarding social services, taxes, and inheritances. The anti-gay Section 28 passes in England and Wales; Scotland enacts almost identical legislation; Canadian MPSvend Robinson comes out; Canada lowers the age of consent for sodomy to 18; Belize and Israel decriminalize (de jure) sodomy and sexual acts between men (the relevant section in the old British-mandate law from 1936 was never enforced in Israel). After losing an Irish High Court case (1980) and an Irish Supreme Court case (1983), David Norris takes his case (Norris v. Ireland) to the European Court of Human Rights. The European Court strikes down the Irish law criminalising male-to-male sex on the grounds of privacy. Stacy Offner became the first openly lesbian rabbi hired by a mainstream Jewish congregation, Shir Tikvah Congregation of Minneapolis (a Reform Jewish congregation).[143][144]
1989 – Western Australia decriminalizes male homosexuality (but the age of consent is set at 21); Liechtenstein legalizes homosexuality; Denmark is the first country in the world to enact registered partnership laws (like a civil union) for same-sex couples, with most of the same rights as marriage (excluding the right to adoption (until June 2010) and the right to marriage in a church).
Other: Justin Fashanu is the first professional footballer to come out in the press.
Reform Judaism decided to allow openly lesbian and gay rabbis and cantors.[145]
Dale McCormick became the first open lesbian elected to a state Senate (she was elected to the Maine Senate).[146]
In 1990, the Union for Reform Judaism announced a national policy declaring lesbian and gay Jews to be full and equal members of the religious community. Its principal body, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), officially endorsed a report of their committee on homosexuality and rabbis. They concluded that "all rabbis, regardless of sexual orientation, be accorded the opportunity to fulfill the sacred vocation that they have chosen" and that "all Jews are religiously equal regardless of their sexual orientation."
AIDS Related: The red ribbon is first used as a symbol of the campaign against HIV/AIDS.
Sherry Harris was elected to the City Council in Seattle, Washington, making her the first openly lesbian African-American elected official.[147]
The first lesbian kiss on television occurred; it was on "L.A. Law" between the fictional characters of C.J. Lamb (played by Amanda Donohoe) and Abby (Michele Greene).[148]
Recriminalisation of homosexuality: Nicaragua (until Mar 2008).
Althea Garrison was elected as the first transgender state legislator in America, and served one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives; however, it was not publicly known she was transgender when she was elected.[149]
Anti-discrimination legislation: US state of Minnesota (gender identity), New Zealand parliament passes the Human Rights Amendment Act which outlaws discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or HIV.
The Triangle Ball was held; it was the first inaugural ball in America to ever be held in honor of gays and lesbians.
The first Dyke March (a march for lesbians and their straight female allies, planned by the Lesbian Avengers) was held, with 20,000 women marching.[150][151]
Roberta Achtenberg became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate when she was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity by President Bill Clinton.[152]
1994
Unregistered Cohabitation recognition:
Passed and Came into effect: Israel (without adoption, without step-adoption until 2005)
Anti-discrimination legislation: South Africa (sexual orientation, interim constitution)
Other : Canada grants refugee status to homosexuals fearing for their well-being in their native country; Toonen v. Australia decided by UN Human Rights Committee; fear of persecution due to sexual orientation becomes grounds for asylum in the United States.[153]
Deborah Batts became the first openly gay or lesbian federal judge; she was appointed to the U.S. District Court in New York.[154][155]
Gay Parade was held in Japan. (8.1994)
Susan Stryker's essay "My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix" became the first article to be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal by an openly transgender author.[156]
1995
Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws:
Passed and Came into effect: Sweden (with adoption, replaced with same-sex marriage in Apr 2009)
AIDS Related: Triple combination therapy of drugs such as 3TC, AZT and ddC shown to be effective in treating HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS[157]
Other : The Human Rights Campaign drops the word "Fund" from their title and broadens their mission to promote "an America where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are ensured equality and embraced as full members of the American family at home, at work and in every community;"
LGBT Organizations founded: Gay Advice Darlington/Durham was founded by local gay and bisexual men, and has developed into a Charity that work with and for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community of County Durham and Darlington.
The first lesbian wedding on television occurred, held for fictional characters Carol (played by Jane Sibbett) and Susan (played by Jessica Hecht) on the TV show "Friends".[158]
1997
Anti-discrimination legislation: Fiji (sexual orientation, constitution) and South Africa (sexual orientation, constitution)
Other : Israeli President Ezer Weizman compares homosexuality to alcoholism in front of high school students.[159] The UK extends immigration rights to same-sex couples akin to marriage; Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian, one of the first celebrities to do so.[160] Furthermore, later that year her character Ellen Morgan came out as a lesbian on the TV show "Ellen", making Ellen DeGeneres the first openly lesbian actress to play an openly lesbian character on television.[161][162]
Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay or lesbian non-incumbent ever elected to Congress, and the first open lesbian ever elected to Congress, winning Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district seat over Josephine Musser.[166][167]
Other: Israel’s supreme court recognizes a lesbian partner as another legal mother of her partner’s biological son; South Africa grants spousal immigration benefits to same-sex partners.
Steven Greenberg publicly came out as gay in an article in the Israeli newspaper Maariv. As he has a rabbinic ordination from the Orthodox rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (RIETS), he is generally described as the first openly gay Orthodox Jewish rabbi.[171] However, some Orthodox Jews, including many rabbis, dispute his being an Orthodox rabbi.[172]
Other: In Germany the Bundestag officially apologizes to gays and lesbians persecuted under the Nazi regime, and for "harm done to homosexual citizens up to 1969"; Israel recognizes same-sex relations for immigration purposes for a foreign partner of an Israeli resident.
Restrictions of association with arrests or detention
1No imprisonment in the past three years or moratorium on law. 2Marriage not available locally. Some jurisdictions may perform other types of partnerships.
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays established its Transgender Network, also known as TNET, as its first official "Special Affiliate," recognized with the same privileges and responsibilities as its regular chapters.[174]
2003
Same-sex marriage laws:
Passed and Came into effect: Belgium (without joint adoption until Apr 2006) and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, British Columbia
Passed:: Australian state of Tasmania (step adoption only)
Limited Partnerships laws:
Came into effect: Austria (without joint adoption)(replaced with registered partnerships 2010), Croatia (without registration or adoption)
Anti-discrimination legislation:Bulgaria ( all sectors, sexual orientation), United Kingdom (excluding religious organisations, sexual orientation), US states of Arizona (public sector, sexual orientation), Kentucky (public sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Michigan (executive branch of the state government, sexual orientation), New Mexico (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Pennsylvania (public sector, gender identity)
Legal recognition of indeterminate gender: Alex MacFarlane became the first person reported to obtain a birth certificate and passport, in Australia, showing indeterminate gender.
Anti-discrimination legislation: Portugal, US States of Indiana (public sector, gender identity), Louisiana (public sector, sexual orientation) and Maine
The first all-transgender performance of the Vagina Monologues was held. The monologues were read by eighteen notable transgender women, and a new monologue revolving around the experiences and struggles of transgender women was included.[179]
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon became the first same-sex couple to be legally married in the United States,[180] when San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom allowed city hall to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.[181] However, all same-sex marriages done in 2004 in California were annulled.[182] After the California Supreme Court decision in 2008 that granted same-sex couples in California the right to marry, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon remarried, and were again the first same-sex couple in the state to marry.[183][184] Later in 2008 Prop 8 illegalized same-sex marriage in California,[185] but the marriages that occurred between the California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage and the approval of Prop 8 illegalizing it are still considered valid, including the marriage of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.[186] However, Del Martin died in 2008.[187]
James McGreevey, then governor of New Jersey, came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay state governor in United States history.[188] He resigned soon after.[188]
2005
Same-sex marriage laws:
Passed and Came into effect: Canada, Spain (with joint adoption)
Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws:
Passes and Came into effect: Andorra, United Kingdom (without joint adoption (England and Wales) until Dec 2005,[189] without joint adoption (Scotland) until Sep 2009, without joint adoption (Northern Ireland)), US state of Connecticut
Banning of Same-sex marriage and civil unions: US states of Kansas and Texas
Anti-discrimination legislation: US States of Illinois (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity) and Maine (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity)[citation needed]
Other: two gay male teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, are executed in Iran, André Boisclair is chosen leader of the Parti Québécois, becoming the first openly gay man elected as the leader of a major political party in North America. Bonnie Bleskachek became the first openly lesbian fire chief of a major metropolitan area in the United States (specifically, Minneapolis.) The Roman Catholic Church issues an instruction prohibiting any individuals who "present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'" from joining the priesthood.[190]
The Simpsons became the first cartoon series to dedicate an entire episode to the topic of same-sex marriage.[191]
2006
Same-sex marriage laws:
Passed and Came into effect: South Africa (with joint adoption)
Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws:
Passed and Came into effect: Czech Republic (without joint adoption)
Marches and Prides: the first homosexual pride march in Moscow ends with violence, the first regional Eastern European Pride is held in Zagreb, Croatia
Elliot Kukla, who came out as transgender six months before his ordination in 2006, was the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.[198]
State Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, became Alabama's first openly gay public official when she was elected in 2006.[199]
2007
Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws:
Passed and Came into effect: Mexian state of Coahuila
Anti-discrimination legislation: United Kingdom[200] (sexual orientation) and US states of Colorado (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Iowa (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Kansas (public sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Michigan (public sector, gender identity), Ohio (public sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Oregon (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity) and Vermont (private sector, gender identity)
Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Nepal and New Zealand territories of Niue and Tokelau
Marches and Prides: the first ever gay pride parade in a Muslim country is held in Istanbul, Turkey;[203]
Other: on 9 August 2007, the Logo cable channel hosts the first presidential forum in the United States focusing specifically on LGBT issues. Six Democratic Party candidates participate in the event. GOP candidates were asked to attend but turned it down. On 29 November, the first foreign gay wedding was held in Hanoi, Vietnam between a Japanese and an Irish national. The wedding raised much attention in the gay and lesbian community in Vietnam.[204]
From 2007 to 2008 actress Candis Cayne played Carmelita Rainer, a transgender woman having an affair with married New York Attorney General Patrick Darling (played by William Baldwin), on the ABC prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money.[205][206][207] The role made Cayne the first openly transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character in prime time.[205][206][207]
On 29 November, the first foreign gay wedding was held in Hanoi, Vietnam between a Japanese and an Irish national. The wedding raised much attention in the gay and lesbian community in Vietnam.[204]
Jalda Rebling, a German woman born in Holland and ordained in America, became the first openly lesbian cantor ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement.
Passed and Came into effect: The Australian Capital Territory, Ecuador (without joint adoption), US state of Washington (expansion of previous legislation)
Came into effect: US state of New Hampshire, Uruguay (without joint adoption until Sep 2008)
Limited Partnership laws:
Came into effect: Australian state of Victoria, US state of Oregon
Marches and Prides: the first ever gay pride parade in Bulgaria
Other: Kosovo declares itself to be an independent country with a new constitution that includes mention of "sexual orientation", the first of its kind in Eastern Europe,[citation needed] Portland voters elect Sam Adams (Oregon politician) mayor, making it the largest city in the US with an openly gay mayor (the next largest is Providence, Rhode Island), 3 June the first two same-sex civil marriages (two men and two women)take place in Greece on the island of Tilos, the supreme court prosecutor and the minister of Justice claim the marriages are null and void.
Silverton, Oregon elected Stu Rasmussen as the first openly transgender mayor in America.[212][213]
The first ever U.S. Congressional hearing on discrimination against transgender people in the workplace was held, by the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.[215]
Rachel Maddow became the first openly gay or lesbian anchor of a major prime-time news program in the United States when she began hosting The Rachel Maddow Show on U.S. cable network MSNBC.[216]
Annise Parker was elected as the first openly gay or lesbian mayor of Houston, Texas.[217]
Came into effect: Norway (with joint adoption) and same-sex marriage in the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast,[225] In 2009 Kitzen and Jeni Branting married in the Coquille Indian tribe's Coos Bay plankhouse, a 3-year-old meeting hall built in traditional Coquille style with cedar plank walls. They were the first same-sex couple to have their marriage recognized by the tribe, of which Kitzen was a member.[226][227]
Passed and Came into effect: Hungary (without joint adoption), Colombia (expansion of previous rights without joint adoption), US states of Nevada and Washington[230] (expansion of previous rights)
Other: Iceland elects the first openly gay head of government in the world, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir;[236] On 10 March 2009, in Tel Aviv, Uzi Even and his life partner was the first same-sex male couple in Israel whose right of adoption has been legally acknowledged.;[237] (26 May), the California Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in November 2008, with a 6–1 vote;[238] the Canadian province of Alberta becomes the last province to include the words "sexual orientation" in the Human Rights Act;[239] Washington state voters approve keeping same-sex relationship rights as Domestic Partnerships by 51 percent; (12 Dec), Annise Parker is elected mayor of Houston, Texas, which becomes the largest city in the United States with an openly gay mayor[240] Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas becomes the first known top-level professional male athlete in a team sport to come out while still active.[241]
Diego Sanchez became the first openly transgender person to work on Capitol Hill; he was hired as a legislative assistant for Barney Frank.[242] Sanchez was also the first transgender person on the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Platform Committee in 2008.[243][244]
Barbra “Babs” Siperstein was nominated and confirmed as an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee, becoming its first openly transgender member.[245]
2010s
(See individual year page for more info)
2010
Same-sex marriage laws:
Passed and Came into effect: Portugal (without joint adoption), Iceland (with joint adoption), Argentina (with adoption)[246]
Recognition: The Mexican Supreme Court rules that marriages contracted in Mexico City are valid throughout the country, although no other jurisdiction is required to perform them. Australian State of Tasmania recognises same-marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
Other: U.S. state of California, United States District Judge Vaughn Walker strikes down California's Proposition 8 as violative of the United States Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses.[247]
Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws:
Came into effect: Austria (without adoption and IVF access rights)
Marches and Prides: the first ever legal gay pride parade in Russia, held in St. Petersburg
Tyler Clementi committed suicide
Guinness World Records recognized transgender man Thomas Beatie as the world's "First Married Man to Give Birth."[249]
Amanda Simpson became the first openly transgender presidential appointee in America when she was appointed as senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.[250]
Chai Feldblum, who was openly lesbian, became the first openly LGBT person to serve on the EEOC.[257]
Donna Ryu became the first Asian-American woman, first Korean American, and first lesbian to be appointed as a judge of the United States District Court, Northern District of California.[258]
2011
Same-sex marriage laws:
Passed and Came into effect: New York, the Suquamish tribe of Washington; at least one member of a same-sex couple has to be an enrolled member of the Suquamish tribe to be able to marry in the jurisdiction.[259]
Tony Briffa, believed to be the world’s first intersex mayor, elected in the City of Hobsons Bay in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, at the end of November.[261]
Elio Di Rupo, first openly-gay male head of government, becomes Prime Minister of Belgium, 6 December.
Chaz Bono appeared on the 13th season of the US version of Dancing with the Stars in 2011. This was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.[262]
Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of California and Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles became the first same-sex couple chosen to share the first kiss upon a U.S. Navy ship's return.[266][267]
Brenda Sue Fulton was named to the West Point Board of Visitors, making her the first openly gay member of the board that advises the Academy.[268]
The first gay Israeli couple was granted a divorce by an Israeli family court. The divorce of Tel Aviv University Professor Avi Even, the first openly gay Knesset member, and Dr. Amit Kama was granted on Sunday by the Ramat Gan Family Court, according to Haaretz, which ordered the Interior Minister to register their status as divorced.[270]
Taiwan's first same-sex Buddhist wedding was held for Fish Huang and her partner You Ya-ting, with Buddhist master Shih Chao-hui presiding over the ritual.[274]
City Councilmember Marlene Pray joined the Doylestown, Pennsylvania council in 2012, though she resigned in 2013; she was the first openly bisexual office holder in Pennsylvania.[275][276]
Tammy Baldwin was elected as the first openly lesbian or gay U.S. Senator.[277]
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) became the first openly bisexual person elected to the US Congress.[278]
Stacie Laughton became the first openly transgender person elected to any American state legislature when she won a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.[279] However, she resigned from the New Hampshire state legislature before she took office, after it was revealed that she had served four months in Belknap County House of Corrections following a 2008 credit card fraud conviction.[280][281]
San Francisco voted to become the first U.S. city to provide and cover the cost of sex reassignment surgeries for uninsured transgender residents.[282]
Mark Pocan was elected in Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District, becoming the first openly gay candidate who will follow an openly gay member of the U.S. Congress (in this case Tammy Baldwin).[283]
Sean Patrick Maloney became the first openly gay candidate elected to represent New York in Congress.[284]
Mark Takano became the first openly gay person of color to win election to the U.S. House. He was elected to represent California’s 41st Congressional District.[283]
Josh Boschee was elected as North Dakota's first openly gay legislator.[285]
Stephen Skinner was elected as West Virginia's first openly gay state legislator.[286]
Jacob Candelaria was elected as New Mexico's first openly gay male state legislator.[287]
Brian Sims became Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator who was out when he was elected.[288]
After Brian Sims was elected but before he took office, Rep. Mike Fleck came out as gay, making him Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator.[289]
Colorado Democrats elected Mark Ferrandino as the first openly gay House speaker in state history.[291]
Tina Kotek is elected the first openly gay House speaker in the State of Oregon.[292]
Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote.[293] Maine was the very first state to do so, followed by Maryland.[294]
The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy was held for a young lieutenant and her partner (Ellen Schick and Shannon Simpson) at the Old Cadet Chapel in West Point’s cemetery.[295][296]
The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel at West Point (not to be confused with the Old Cadet Chapel) was held for Brenda Sue Fulton and Penelope Dara Gnesin.[295][297] Fulton was a veteran and the communications director of an organization called Outserve, which represents actively serving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender military personnel.[297]
The first same-sex couple became engaged in the White House (Ben Schock and Matthew Phelps).[298]
Air Force Col. Ginger Wallace became the first known out member of the U.S. military to have their same-sex partner participate in the pinning ceremony tradition that had been reserved for spouses and family members. Her partner of 10 years, Kathy Knopf, pinned colonel wings on Wallace days after the two attended President Obama's State of The Union address as a guest of the First Lady.[299]
At a ceremony in Arlington, Army Reserve officer Tammy Smith became the first openly gay, active duty general in American history. Smith was promoted to brigadier general at a private ceremony at the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.[300]
Navy Chief Elny McKinney and Anacelly McKinney became the first known same-sex couple to marry on a U.S. military base. They were wed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego.[301]
Kate McKinnon became Saturday Night Live's first openly lesbian cast member; Danitra Vance never disclosed her sexual orientation publicly, but was revealed to be a lesbian when she died.[302][303]
On 28 June 2012 Diana King declared "Yes I am a Lesbian" to her fans from her official facebook page, thus becoming the first Jamaican artist to ever publicly come out.[304][305]
California became the first state to sign a ban on therapy that claims to convert gay people into heterosexual. The California law, enacted in 2012, is as of 2013 held up in federal courts on first amendment grounds.[306][307]
Orlando Cruz became the world's first professional boxer to come out as gay.[308]
On September 18, 2012, Berkeley, California became what is thought to be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals.[309] The Berkeley City Council unanimously and without discussion declared Sept. 23 as Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day.[310]
Emily Aviva Kapor, who had been ordained privately by a Conservadox rabbi in 2005, began living as a woman in 2012, thus becoming the first openly transgender female rabbi.[311]
Recognition: The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Section 3 of Defense of Marriage Act uncostitutional, thus giving same-sex marriage federal recognition.,[318] Oregon
For sexual orientation and gender identity: Cyprus, Puerto Rico
For gender identity: Delaware
Anti-discrimination executive action: Virginia
Barack Obama mentioned the word "gay" and the issue of gay rights for the first time in a speech at the U.S. presidential swearing in; specifically, he did so in his inaugural address.[319]
Kathleen Wynne became the first openly LGBT premier of a Canadian province, namely Ontario, after defeating Sandra Pupatello in the third round of voting of the Ontario Liberal party's leadership race on January 26, 2013. Sworn in on February 11, 2013, she is the party's first openly LGBT leader and Ontario's first female premier.[citation needed]
Jason Collins on April 29, 2013, became the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay.
Rep. Mark Pocan's spouse Philip Frank became the first same-sex spouse of a federal lawmaker to officially receive a House Spouse ID.[320][321] In 2009, Marlon Reis, the spouse of Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), was issued a congressional spouse ID, but later card services told him that he had been given the designation accidentally.[321]
For the first time the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decided to allow the same-sex spouse of a military veteran to be buried in a U.S. national cemetery. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki gave permission for retired Air Force officer Linda Campbell, 66, to bury the ashes of her same-sex spouse Nancy Lynchild at Williamette National Cemetery in Oregon.[322]
Autumn Sandeen, a U.S. veteran and transgender woman, received a letter from a Navy official stating, “Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female effective April 12th, 2013.” Allyson Robinson of Outserve declared, "To our knowledge, this is the first time that the Department of Defense has recognized and affirmed a change of gender for anyone affiliated, in a uniformed capacity — in this case a military retiree."[323]
The first same-sex kiss ever on a Eurovision stage occurred at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest when Krista Siegfrids, who sang "Marry Me", ended her semi-final performance by kissing one of her female dancers.[324]
Dr. Saul Levin was named on May 15, 2013 as the new chief executive officer and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, making him the first known openly gay person to head the APA.[325]
Ukraine had its first gay pride march, which was held in Kiev.[326]
Jallen Messersmith of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., came out and is believed to be the first openly gay player in U.S. men's college basketball.[330]
Guy Erwin became the first openly gay bishop to be elected by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; he was elected to the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA.[331]
Major General Patricia “Trish” Rose became the first openly lesbian two-star general in the U.S. Air Force, and the highest ranking openly gay officer in the entire U.S. military at the time.[332]
The Bi Writers Association, which promotes bisexual writers, books, and writing, announced the winners of its first Bisexual Book Awards.[334] An awards ceremony was held at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City.[334]
The U.S. Senate confirmed Nitza Quiñones Alejandro to a federal judgeship, making her the first openly gay Latina to hold such a post.[335]
Cason Crane became the first openly gay man to summit the Seven Summits and the first the bring the rainbow flag to the summit of Mt. Everest.[336]
U.S. Air Force Under Secretary Eric Fanning took over as acting secretary of the U.S. Air Force, becoming the highest ranking openly LGBT official at the Department of Defense; he is openly gay.[337]
A married lesbian couple in Colorado became the first to receive a marriage-based green card, making Cathy Davis the first same-sex spouse to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States.[342]
Maureen Le Marinel became the first openly lesbian union president elected in Britain.[343] She was elected to the presidency of Unison, one of Britain's largest trade unions.[343]
Same Love, a hit single from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, became the first Top 40 song in the U.S. to promote and celebrate same-sex marriage.[344]
For the first time, the California Department of Education's list of recommended books for grades Pre-K-through-12 included a book with a transgender theme, I Am J by Cris Beam.[345]
Benjamin Medrano was elected as the first openly gay mayor in Mexico's history, being elected mayor of the township of Fresnillo.[346]
Although same-sex marriage is illegal in Pennsylvania as of July 2013, in that month Loreen Bloodgood married Alicia Terrizzi, making them the first same-sex couple to marry in Pennsylvania; the Montgomery County register of wills, D. Bruce Hanes, had said that his office would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.[348][349]
Although same-sex marriage is illegal in Pennsylvania as of August 2013, in that month Mayor John Fetterman officiated the first same-sex marriage in Allegheny County, between John Kandray and Bill Gray.[350]
California enacted America's first law protecting transgender students; the law, called the School Success and Opportunity Act, declares that every public school student in California from kindergarten to 12th grade must be “permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”[351]
New Jersey became the second state, after California, to sign a ban on therapy that claims to convert gay people into heterosexual. The California law, enacted in 2012, is as of 2013 held up in federal courts on first amendment grounds.[306][307]
Darren Young (real name: Fred Rosser) became the first active professional wrestler to come out as gay.[352]
Russia's government adopted a federal bill banning the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors. The law imposes heavy fines for using the media or internet to promote "non-traditional relations".
Master Sgt. Angela Shunk and her wife, Tech. Sgt. Stacey Shunk, became the first same-sex couple to receive an assignment together under the U.S. Air Force’s Join Spouse program.[353]
Jennifer Pritzker came out as transgender in 2013 and thus became the world's first openly transgender billionaire.[354]
On Celebrate Bisexuality Day, the White House held a closed-door meeting with almost 30 bisexual advocates so they could meet with government officials and discuss issues of specific importance to the bisexual community; this was the first bi-specific event ever hosted by any White House.[355][356]
Movie director Kim Jho Gwang-soo and his partner Kim Seung-hwan became the first South Korean gay couple to publicly wed, although it was not a legally recognized marriage.[357]
Harvey Milk was chosen as the first openly LGBT political official to be featured on an American postage stamp.[358]
Carol McCrory and Brenda Clark became the first same-sex couple to have their marriage application accepted by Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Resigner, which makes them the first same-sex couple to have their marriage application accepted in the South.[359]
Andy Herren became the first openly gay winner of the American version of the "Big Brother" reality show.[360]
The first gay pride week in Curacao was held.[362]
The first Indo-American lesbian wedding was held.[363] It was held in Los Angeles.[364]
The first televised Romanian same-sex wedding was held.[365] It was between two men, and was done on the reality show Four Weddings and a Challenge.[365]
Todd Hughes became the first openly gay U.S. circuit judge.[368]
The first United Nations ministerial meeting on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals was held.[369] Representatives from the US, France, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, New Zealand and the EU, along with executive directors of Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission reaffirmed their commitments to working together to end discrimination and violence towards the LGBT community.[369] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay delivered remarks [press release] commending the LGBT community and praising the fact that, "many countries have embarked on historic reforms—strengthening anti-discrimination laws, combating hate crime against LGBT people and sensitizing public opinion." [369]
New Jersey held its first legal same-sex marriages.[370]
Rabbi Deborah Waxman was elected as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.[371][372] As the President, she is believed to be the first woman and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first female rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; RRC is both a congregational union and a seminary.[371][373]
A six-year-old girl named Luana, who was born a boy, became the first transgender child in Argentina to have her new name officially changed on her identity documents.[374] She is believed to be the youngest to benefit from the country’s new Gender Identity Law, which was approved in May 2012.[374]
Q Radio, which went on the airwaves in September, claims to be India’s first radio station which caters to the country’s lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.[375]
On 31 October 2013 Paris Lees became the first openly transgender panellist to appear on the BBC's Question Time programme, drawing praise from commentators who included former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and the Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman.[377]
Stephen Alexander, of Rhode Island, became the first high school coach to come out publicly as transgender.[378]
^Margherita Mussi, Earliest Italy: An Overview of the Italian Paleolithic and Mesolithic (Kluwer Academic, 2002), pp. 340ff., especially pp. 343–344.
^Lauren E. Talalay, "The Gendered Sea: Iconography, Gender, and Mediterranean Prehistory," in The Archaeology of Mediterranean Prehistory (Blackwell, 2005), pp. 130–148, especially p. 136.
^ abGreenberg, David, The Construction of Homosexuality, 1988; Parkinson, R.B.,‘Homosexual’ Desire and Middle Kingdom Literature Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 81, 1995, p. 57-76; Montserrat, Dominic, Akhenaten: History, Fantasy, and Ancient Egypt, 2000. More details at [1] & [2]
^Lynn Meskell, when writing about homosexuality, calls it "Another well documented example" (Archaeologies of social life: age, sex, class et cetera in ancient Egypt, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999, p.95)
^Kenneth Dover, Greek Homosexuality (Harvard University Press, 1978, 1898), pp. 205-7
^Boswell, John (1994). Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe. New York: Vintage Books
^Stephan Steingräber, Abundance of Life: Etruscan Wall Painting (Getty Publications, 2006), pp. 67, 70, 91–92; Otto Brendel, Etruscan Art, translated by R. Serra Ridgway (Yale University Press, 1978, 1995), pp. 165–170; Fred S. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art (Wadsworth, 2007, 2010), p. xxxii.
^Thomas A.J. McGinn, Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome (Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 140–141; Amy Richlin, The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor (Oxford University Press, 1983, 1992), pp. 86, 224; John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century (University of Chicago Press, 1980), pp. 63, 67–68; Craig Williams, Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 116.
^James L. Butrica, "Some Myths and Anomalies in the Study of Roman Sexuality," in Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in the Classical Tradition (Haworth Press, 2005), p. 231.
^Eva Cantarella, Bisexuality in the Ancient World (Yale University Press, 1992, 2002, originally published 1988 in Italian), p. 120; Edward Courtney, The Fragmentary Latin Poets (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), p. 75.
^Ornamentis Augustarum:Suetonius, Life of Nero28–29, discussed by Craig A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. pp. 284, 400, 424.
^Dio Cassius, Epitome of Book 68.6.4; 68.21.2–6.21.3
^Apologia I, 27, UTA, RANKE-HEINEMANN, Eunuchi per il regno dei cieli, Rizzoli 1990, p. 66.
^Theodosian Code 9.8.3: "When a man marries and is about to offer himself to men in womanly fashion (quum vir nubit in feminam viris porrecturam), what does he wish, when sex has lost all its significance; when the crime is one which it is not profitable to know; when Venus is changed to another form; when love is sought and not found? We order the statutes to arise, the laws to be armed with an avenging sword, that those infamous persons who are now, or who hereafter may be, guilty may be subjected to exquisite punishment.
^(Theodosian Code 9.7.6): All persons who have the shameful custom of condemning a man's body, acting the part of a woman's to the sufferance of alien sex (for they appear not to be different from women), shall expiate a crime of this kind in avenging flames in the sight of the people.
^Visigothic Code 3.5.5, 3.5.6; "The doctrine of the orthodox faith requires us to place our censure upon vicious practices, and to restrain those who are addicted to carnal offences. For we counsel well for the benefit of our people and our country, when we take measures to utterly extirpate the crimes of wicked men, and put an end to the evil deeds of vice. For this reason we shall attempt to abolish the horrible crime of sodomy, which is as contrary to Divine precept as it is to chastity. And although the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and the censure of earthly laws, alike, prohibit offences of this kind, it is nevertheless necessary to condemn them by a new decree; lest if timely correction be deferred, still greater vices may arise. Therefore, we establish by this law, that if any man whosoever, of any age, or race, whether he belongs to the clergy, or to the laity, should be convicted, by competent evidence, of the commission of the crime of sodomy, he shall, by order of the king, or of any judge, not only suffer emasculation, but also the penalty prescribed by ecclesiastical decree for such offences, and promulgated in the third year of our reign."
^David Bromell. Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, London, 2000 (Ed. Wotherspoon and Aldrich)
^PETRI DAMIANI Liber gomorrhianus , ad Leonem IX Rom. Pon. in Patrologiae Cursus completus...accurante J.P., MIGNE, series secunda, tomus CXLV, col. 161; CANOSA, Romano, Storia di una grande paura La sodomia a Firenze e a Venezia nel quattrocento, Feltrinelli, Milano 1991, pp.13–14
^Crompton, Louis. Homosexuality and Civilization. Cambridge & London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003
^Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and civilisation, Harvard University, 2003
^della Chiesa, Angela Ottino (1967). The Complete Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. p. 83.
^Diarmaid MacCulloch (2003). Reformation: A History. pg. 95. MacCulloch says "he fell in love" and further adds in a footnote "There has been much modern embarrassment and obfuscation on Erasmus and Rogerus, but see the sensible comment in J.Huizinga, Erasmus of Rotterdam (London, 1952), pp. 11–12, and from Geoffrey Nutuall, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 26 (1975), 403
^Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male culture in Renaissance Florence, Oxford University Press, 1996
^I. Arnaldi, La vita violenta di Benvenuto Cellini, Bari, 1986
^R v Jacobs (1817) Russ & Ry 331 confirmed that buggery related only to intercourse per anum by a man with a man or woman or intercourse per anum or per vaginum by either a man or a woman with an animal. Other forms of "unnatural intercourse" may amount to indecent assault or gross indecency, but do not constitute buggery. See generally, Smith & Hogan, Criminal Law (10th ed), ISBN 0-406-94801-1
^Godbeer, Richard (2002). Sexual revolution in early America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN0-8018-6800-9. p.123
^Borris, Kenneth (2004). Same-sex desire in the English Renaissance: a sourcebook of texts, 1470–1650. New York: Routledge. ISBN0-8153-3626-8. p.113
^Foster, Thomas (2007). Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America. New York University Press.
^Marc Vargo. Scandal: infamous gay controversies of the twentieth century Routledge, 2003. pp 165–7.
^Steakley, James D. (revised 1989). "Iconography of a Scandal: Political Cartoons and the Eulenburg Affair in Wilhelmin Germany", Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past (1990), Duberman, et al., eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN 0-452-01067-5.
^Goldman, Emma (1923). "Offener Brief an den Herausgeber der Jahrbücher über Louise Michel" with a preface by Magnus Hirschfeld. Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen 23: 70. Translated from German by James Steakley. Goldman's original letter in English is not known to be extant.
^middlebury.edu Russian Gay History "It was not until 1832 that the criminal code included Article 995, which made muzhelozhstvo (men lying with men, which the courts interpreted as anal intercourse) a criminal act punishable by exile to Siberia.... The October Revolution of 1917 did away with the entire Criminal Code .... The new Russian Criminal Codes of 1922 and 1926 eliminated the offence of muzhelozhstvo from the law."
^Wayne R. Dynes, Stephen Donaldson. History of homosexuality in Europe and America. Taylor & Francis, 1992, pp. 174+
^West, Donald James (1997). Sociolegal control of homosexuality: a multi-nation comparison. Springer. p. 224. ISBN0-306-45532-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^Duberman, Martin (1989). Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past. New York: Meridian. ISBN0-452-01067-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^Vern L. Bullough, RN, PhD, ed. (2002) [2002]. Before Stonewall, Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context. New York: Harrington Park Press. p. 424. ISBN1-56023-192-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
^McLeod, Donald W. A Brief History of Gay: Canada's First Gay Tabloid, 1964–1966.
^"Our Silver Anniversary: Canadians have been organizing for twenty five years!". Newsletter of the Canadian Gay Archives. 7. National Archives for Lesbians and Gay Men. June 1989.
^Blasius, Mark (1997). We are everywhere: a historical sourcebook in gay and lesbian politics. Routledge. pp. 380-90. ISBN0-415-90859-0. {{cite book}}: C1 control character in |pages= at position 5 (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^Jennings, Rebecca (21 October 2008). "Lesbians". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^Willett, Graham (2000). Living out loud: a history of gay and lesbian activism in Australia. Allen & Unwin. p. 33.
^Donaldson, Stephen (1995). "The Bisexual Movement's Beginnings in the 70s: A Personal Retrospective". In Tucker, Naomi (ed.). Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, & Visions. New York: Harrington Park Press. pp. 31–45. ISBN1-56023-869-0.
^Coming Out: Homosexual Politics in Britain from the Nineteenth Century to the Present, Quartet Books 1977; 2nd revised edition, with new chapter and bibliography, 1990
Archer, Bert (2004). The End of Gay: And the Death of Heterosexuality. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-611-7.
Bullough, Vern L. (2002). Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context. New York, Harrington Park Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press. ISBN 1-56023-193-9.
Chauncey, George (1995). Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940 (Reprint ed.). Basic Books. ISBN0-465-02621-4.
Burleson, William E. (2005). Bi America: Myths, Truths, and Struggles of an Invisible Community. United Kingdom, Routledge. ISBN 978-1560234791
Gallo, Marcia M. (2007) Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement. California: Seal Press. ISBN 1580052525
Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson (1998). Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia. New York, Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-3629-6.
Miller, Neil (1995). Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present. New York, Vintage Books. ISBN 0-09-957691-0.