LGBT Timeline - Timeline

First gay rights organization The Society For Human Rights

The American Psychiatric Association dagnostic maual lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance

President bans homosexuals from working for the federal goverment, they are a security risk

The first known lesbian rights organization

Illinois become the first state to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws

First US televised documentary about homosexuality airs on a local station in California

Protests and demonstrations begin. Start of the gay civil rights movement in the US

"The advocate" was founded in 1969. Th oldest continuing LGBT publication, began a newsletter by the activist group Personal Rights in Defense and Education, (PRIDE)

First Gay Pride Parade

Lamba Legal becomes the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights for gays and lesbians

Maryland becomes the first state to statutorily ban Same-Sex marriage

"Parents and Friends of Gays" first meet.

Goes national as Parents, families and friends og Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from it's list of mental disorders

Vietnam war hero reveals his sexual orientation and get forcibly discharged from the Air Forces six month later. Although he was awarded both the purple heart and the Bronze Star, he had to give them back.

The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place. It draws an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals marching for LGBT rights.

Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."

Hawaii's Judge Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian on the cover of Time magazine, stating, "Yep, I'm Gay."

The first legal same-sex marriage in the United States takes place in Massachusetts.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed, ending a ban on gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.

Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the freedom for LGBT couples to marry.

The Democratic Party becomes the first major US political party in history to publicly support same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.

the designation of the first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

The Pentagon confirms that the first transgender person has signed a contract to join the US military.

LGBT TImeline