America: Gay Rights Movement Flashcards
What was the difference between gay Americans and other minorities? How did this impact peoples opinions
- they were not a visible racial group
- people were frightened by their ‘invisibility’ similar to how communism had been seen as an ‘invisible disease’
When did congress declare homosexuality a mental illness?
In the 1950s
When was homosexuality decriminalised in the whole of the US?
2003
There was a ‘red scare’ at the height of communist fears, what was the equal at the time for gay Americans and what did it aim to do?
The ‘lavender scare’ aimed to root out homosexuals in the same way the red scare did for communists
What piece of legislation did gay rights campaigners use and why?
- the 1964 Civil Rights Act
-this declared it was illegal to discriminate on the grounds of race or gender - used this to prove it applied to gay Americans
When was the Gay Rights Movement formed?
1969
After what event was the Gay Rights Movement formed?
After police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York
Why did police raid the stonewall Inn so frequently?
Supposedly for breaking liquor licensing laws but it was really because it was a gay bar
How did people who used the Stonewall Inn react to the frequent police raids?
- they were used to them
- they had a routine for slipping away and escaping
Summarise the event at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 that was differently to the frequent police raids, and how it led to the formation of the Gay Rights Movement?
- one of the raids in June 1969, police were rough with one of the customers and something snapped in people
- around 400 people began fighting and yelling at police
- police were force to barricade themselves in the bar for safety
- several nights afterward there was protest and clashes with police around the bar
- the movement took off over the next few weeks
What was set up as a result of the raid of the Stonewall Inn in June 1969?
The Gay Liberation Front
There was then a serious of large and peaceful protests that followed
How were gay Americans treated before Stonewall?
There had been many stories of groups and individuals targeting discrimination against gay Americans
How did the movement grow after 1969?
-in 1970 there were gay pride marches in several cities
-smaller groups and the GLF worked individually and together to make changes
- highly visible gay communities sprang up in San Franciso, New York and Chicago
How many people were at the Gay Right March in New York in 1970?
10’000
How did the growth in gay rights support change peoples opinions for personal reasons?
People discovered people they liked and knew well were gay so the prejudices reduced some
Contextually, why did the late 1960s and early 70s mean the gay rights movement expanded rapidly?
There was a liberal climate
In 1977 there was a poll, how many people did it suggest were in support for equal rights of gay Americans?
50%
There was still hostility towards gay Americans, name 2 specific groups of people that were hostile still
- the KKK
- from some who live in certain parts of the country, e.g the rural Bible Belt, where there was increased hostility because of religious fundamentalism
When was the first Supreme Court ruling in favour of Gay Americans?
13th January 1958
What was the first Supreme Court ruling that favoured gay Americans?
The Supreme Court refused to let the postal service ban a gay magazine that they had deemed as ‘obscene”
When was the first Reminder day protest?
4th July 1965
What was the Reminder Day protest?
An anti-discrimination protest outside Independence Hall, Philadelphia carried out by 40 gay and lesbian activists
- it became an annual event
When was the “sip-in” at a New York bar that wouldnt serve gays?
21st April 1966
What event led to the NYC commission on human rights ruling that gays must be served?
When there was a “sip-in” at a New York Bar that refused to serve gays in April 1966
What did the North American Conference of Homophile Organisation do in August 1968?
They issued a homosexual bill of rights calling for equality
who issued a homosexual bill of rights in August 1968?
The North American Conference of Homophile Organisations
How many days of riots followed stonewall on the 28th of June 1969?
3
The date of the Stonewall raid
28th June 1969
What was the different between the riots following Stonewall and black American riots?
Stonewall riots got very little media coverage compared to black American riots
What was seen as the first ever Gay Pride?
The marches on the anniversary of Stonewall
When was the first ever gay pride?
28th June 1970
What happened on the 28th June 1970?
There were marches in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and LA on the anniversary of stonewall that were seen as the first ever gay pride
When did the American Psychiatric Association remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses?
15th December 1973
What did the American Psychiatric Association remove from the list of mental illnesses in December 1973?
Homosexuality
Who was the first openly gay American to be elected and where?
- Kathy Kozachenko joined the city council of Ann Arbor in Michigan
When was Kathy Kozachenko elected to a city council in Michigan?
January 1974
When were there campaigns against Proposition 6?
The 8th of November 1977
When was Harvey Milk elected and where?
8th November 1977 in San Francisco
What was Harvey Milk’s first ruling?
To stop people being fired because they were gay
When was Harvey Milk assassinated?
27th November 1978
Who assasinated Harvey Milk?
Dan white
How many years in prison was Dan white given for assassinating Harvey Milk?
7
Why did people believe Dan white got such a lenient sentence?
Because Harvey Milk was Gay
What was a major gay rights protest that happened on the 21st May 1979?
-Harvey Milk’s assasin was given a 7 year sentence
-people believed the leniency was because Milk had been gay
-5000+ protestors marched on San Francisco city hall and riots broke out
-120 people were injured
When was the March on Washington for lesbian and gay rights?
14th October 1979
What major gay rights event happened on the 14th October 1979?
There was a national march on Washington for gay and lesbian rights that urged for equal rights and protective legislation
How many people were at the march on Washington for gay and lesbian rights?
At least 100,000
What did the Democratic Party state in August 1980?
That it wont discriminate against gays and will campaign for their rights
What was Proposition 6?
A law proposed in california in 1978 to ban gay and lesbian Americans and their supporters from working in state funded schools in the state
What were the successes of the Gay Rights Movement?
-Openly gay officials like Kathy Kozachenko and Harvey Milk were elected for the first time
-Gay support at a federal level was increasing
-between 1979-81, 4 openly gay state judges were appointed in the government of california
-a gay teenage boy in Rhode Island successfully sued his high school for the right to bring a male date to prom
Who strongly opposed proposition 6?
Harvey Milk
What were the limitations of the Gay rights movement?
-Milk and the gay mayor of San Francisco were both assasinated in 1979
-In the 1970s there was growing conservative backlash, they started campaigning against gay rights
-Although proposition 6 was defeated by Californian voters, it inspired similar laws to be proposed in other states
-the outspoken conservative right became more prominent and attracted support from republicans e.g president Reagan
Give an example of a conservative backlash campaign
1977 Save our Children Campaign
It was successful in stopping a Florida law that proposed banning discrimination in housing, public facilities and employment
