A Timeline of Major Events in Gay History in the United States

Events that Shaped Gay History in the United States

This timeline highlights pivotal moments that shaped gay life, visibility, safety, and civil rights in the United States.

While gay history is inseparable from broader LGBTQ+ history, these events reflect moments that fundamentally altered how gay people could live, organize, and exist openly in American society.

1924 — Society for Human Rights (Chicago)

The first known gay rights organization in the United States, founded by Henry Gerber. Though short-lived, it laid the groundwork for organized resistance and advocacy.
🔗 https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0007423/

1950 — Mattachine Society Founded (Los Angeles)

One of the earliest sustained gay rights organizations, focusing on education, legal reform, and community building during the height of McCarthyism.
🔗 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mattachine-Society

1953 — The Lavender Scare (Executive Order 10450)

President Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450, banning gay people from federal employment and fueling mass firings, fear, and secrecy nationwide.
🔗 https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-10450
🔗 https://www.nps.gov/articles/lavender-scare.htm

1955 — Daughters of Bilitis Founded (San Francisco)

The first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the U.S., providing social connection and early activism for women who loved women.
🔗 https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/daughters-of-bilitis/
🔗 https://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/daughters_bilitis_S.pdf

1966 — Compton’s Cafeteria Riot (San Francisco)

One of the first recorded uprisings against police harassment of queer and trans people, predating Stonewall by three years.
🔗 https://www.sftravel.com/article/comptons-cafeteria-riot
🔗 https://www.nps.gov/articles/comptons-cafeteria-riot.htm

June 28, 1969 — The Stonewall Uprising (New York City)

A police raid at the Stonewall Inn sparks days of resistance and ignites the modern gay liberation movement.
🔗 https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lgbtqheritage/stonewall.htm
🔗 https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/stonewall-riots

1969 — Gay Liberation Front (GLF) Formed

Founded in the immediate aftermath of Stonewall, the Gay Liberation Front marked a radical shift from quiet advocacy to open liberation. GLF rejected respectability politics and aligned gay rights with feminist, anti-war, and civil rights movements, redefining queerness as political, visible, and unapologetic.
🔗 https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/gay-liberation-front/
🔗 https://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/gay_liberation_front_S.pdf
🔗 https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/gay-liberation-front/

June 28, 1970 — First Pride March (NYC)

The Christopher Street Liberation Day March marks the first anniversary of Stonewall and becomes the blueprint for Pride celebrations worldwide.
🔗 https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/christopher-street-liberation-day-march/

1973 — Homosexuality Removed from the DSM

The American Psychiatric Association declassifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, dismantling decades of medicalized stigma used to justify discrimination.
🔗 https://www.apa.org/about/policy/removal-homosexuality
🔗 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4695779/

1973 — PFLAG Founded

Originally founded as Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, PFLAG became the first national organization focused on family acceptance, education, and advocacy. By centering parents and loved ones as allies, PFLAG helped shift public perception from fear to understanding and support.
🔗 https://pflag.org/about/history/
🔗 https://www.britannica.com/topic/PFLAG
🔗 https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/24/325254792/pflag-and-the-power-of-parents

1973 — Lambda Legal Founded

Now the oldest and largest national legal organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ civil rights through impact litigation.
🔗 https://www.lambdalegal.org/about-us/history

1981 — First CDC Report on AIDS

The CDC publishes a report on rare pneumonia cases among gay men, marking the beginning of the AIDS crisis in public awareness.
🔗 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/june_5.htm
🔗 https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline

1982 — Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) Founded

One of the first AIDS service organizations, created by the community amid federal silence and neglect.
🔗 https://www.gmhc.org/about/history/

1987 — ACT UP Founded (New York City)

A direct-action activist group that transformed AIDS research, drug access, and public accountability.
🔗 https://actupny.com
🔗 https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/act-up

1993–2011 — “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

A U.S. military policy barring gay, lesbian, and bi service members from serving openly. Fully repealed in 2011.
🔗 https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/Dont-Ask-Dont-Tell/
🔗 https://www.aclu.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/lgbtq-history/dont-ask-dont-tell

1996 — Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Defined marriage federally as between one man and one woman and allowed states to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages.
🔗 https://www.britannica.com/event/Defense-of-Marriage-Act
🔗 https://www.aclu.org/documents/defense-marriage-act-doma

1998 — Murder of Matthew Shepard

A brutal anti-gay hate crime that galvanized national advocacy around violence and hate crimes.
🔗 https://matthewshepard.org/our-story/
🔗 https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/hate-crime

2003 — Lawrence v. Texas

The Supreme Court strikes down sodomy laws, decriminalizing consensual same-sex intimacy nationwide.
🔗 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/02pdf/02-102.pdf
🔗 https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102

2009 — Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Expands federal hate-crime protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
🔗 https://www.justice.gov/crt/hate-crimes-prevention-act
🔗 https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/909

2015 — Obergefell v. Hodges

The Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage nationwide, affirming marriage equality as a constitutional right.
🔗 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf
🔗 https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556

2016 — Pulse Nightclub Shooting (Orlando)

The deadliest attack on an LGBTQ+ space in U.S. history, deeply impacting queer safety, particularly for Latinx communities.
🔗 https://www.pulsenightclub.org
🔗 https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/pulse-nightclub-shooting

2020 — Bostock v. Clayton County

The Supreme Court rules that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation violates federal law.
🔗 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf
🔗 https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/bostock-v-clayton-county

2022 — Respect for Marriage Act

Repeals DOMA and requires federal and state recognition of same-sex marriages nationwide.
🔗 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8404
🔗 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/12/13/