The first gay rights group is established.

1924

World War I veteran Henry Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights in Chicago. The group was the first gay rights group in America, and its newsletter, “Friendship and Freedom,” was the United States’ first recorded gay rights publication.

After the U.S. Post Office refused to deliver America’s first widely distributed pro-gay publication, ONE: The Homosexual Magazine, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court — and the court ruled in favor of gay rights for the first time, making it a major landmark case in LGBTQ history.

1958

The Supreme Court rules in favor of gay rights

The Mattachine Society organizes a gay rights “Sip-In.”

1966

During a time when most bars refused to serve gay people, the Mattachine Society, one of the country’s first gay rights organizations, staged a “Sip-In,” during which activists entered a New York City bar, announced they were gay, ordered drinks, and waited to be served.

In the early morning hours on June 28, 1969, police performed a raid of the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar — and the customers and their supporters took a stand. The event turned into a violent protest and led to a days-long series of riots. Those “Stonewall riots” are largely considered the start of the LGBTQ civil rights movement in the United States.

1969

The Stonewall riots spark the beginning of the LGBT movement.

Homosexuality is no longer declared a mental illness.

1973

After years of studies, analysis, and changing cultural attitudes, the American Psychiatric Association’s board of directors removed homosexuality from the official list of mental illnesses, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a move that was upheld with a vote by the association’s membership.

Vermont became the first state in the country to give same-sex couples the right to enter into civil unions — legal partnerships which would grant those couples the same rights and benefits as those in legal marriages.

2000

Vermont takes a huge step toward same-sex marriage legalization.

The Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act becomes a law.

2009

President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The act was named for two men who were murdered in hate crimes — Matthew Shepard because he was gay, and James Byrd, Jr. because he was black. The new law expanded previous hate crime legislation to officially categorize crimes motivated by actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability as hate crimes.

For the first time in U.S. history, the words “lesbian,” “bisexual,” and “transgender,” were used in the president’s State of the Union address, when President Obama mentioned that, as Americans, we “respect human dignity” and condemn the persecution of minority groups.

2015

President Obama acknowledges the LGTBQ community in the State of the Union address.

Obama calls for end to conversion therapy.

2015

After the tragic suicide of a transgender teenager who was subjected to Christian conversion therapy, President Obama publicly called for an end to the dangerous practice meant to change people's sexual orientation or gender identities.

The Supreme Court finally and officially declared same-sex marriage a Constitutional right nationwide, meaning all states must allow Americans to get married, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

2015

Love wins.

The Stonewall Inn will become a national monument.

2016

The Obama administration announced that they are preparing to designate New York’s Stonewall Inn, the site of those historic riots in 1969, the first-ever national monument dedicated to gay rights.

Just ahead of Pride 2019, New York City announced it will erect a monument in Greenwich village dedicated to Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, activists who played critical roles in both the Stonewall riots and the NYC queer scene in general. The two started Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.) in 1970, an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQ people experiencing homelessness. The monument will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, according to the New York Times.

2019

New York City will honor LGBTQ activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with monuments