Among other things, October is LGBT History month. It is a month dedicated to raising awareness of the history of LGBT activism and the importance of the movement.
People have fought for MOGAI identifiers (marginalized orientation, gender alignments and intersex) to be treated fairly and equally for years. Throughout history, there has been a stigma attached to those who don’t fit gender or sexuality norms. It was only in the fifties organizing efforts were put into the movement – people began to fight for their right to love who they love. Modern activism didn’t come about until the seventies.
A frequently-asked question is, “Why does it matter?” Simply put, it matters because it is a part of our history. It matters because discrimination took place for years and years, and it continues to this day. We need to remember what was done in the past to build a better future for everyone. The contributions to the LGBT community should be recognized, and the heroes of the past should never be forgotten – people were often arrested, beaten and murdered for trying to live authentically.
While MOGAI people have been fighting for equal rights and recognition for a long time, the modern LGBT activist movement is generally thought to have started with the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations against a police raid at a gay bar in New York, which involved frequent arrests. The general feeling among the riots was that it had to stop. The riots continued for several days. Among those involved were Sylvia Rivera and Martha Johnson, two Transgender, bisexual women who are considered to be some of the greatest catalysts in modern activism. The Stonewall Riots are one of the better known events in LGBT history. Pride Parades are an annual commemoration of these riots; the first pride parade was held in 1970, the very next year.
In 1974, Kathy Kazachenko became the first openly gay person elected to public office. She was elected to the Ann Arbor, Michigan city council.
One of the most famous people in LGBT history is Harvey Milk. In 1977 he was elected to city-county supervisor in San Francisco, only to be assassinated along with the mayor, the next year. He was known as a visionary and passed a series of gay rights ordinances in the city. Among them was an ordinance to keep schools in small neighborhoods open to all students. He urged people to be more visible, as well as spearheading the opposition to a law that would have made firing gay teachers mandatory. That same year, the rainbow flag was first used as a pride flag. The next year, the first national march on Washington was held. The White Night Riots also occurred that year. A much larger march occurred in 1987.
The Democratic Party made history in 1980 for being the first national party to promote a homosexual rights platform. However, homosexuality was still listed as a mental disorder until 1992 when the world health organization renounced this claim. It took a few more years for individual nations to agree. The American Medical Association agreed with WHO in 1994, declaring homosexuality to be something that is part of people and neither an illness or mental disorder. “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” was put into effect in 1993 effectively banning MOGAI people from the military or forcing them to stay in the closet. The first Dyke march, a march of lesbian/bisexual women and their straight female allies, had over 20,000 participants. In 1996 DOMA was passed, restricting LGBT partnership rights. This made it even harder for MOGAI couples. In 1999, California became the first state in the USA to pass a civil union law.
In 2004, 15 states banned same-sex marriages and 10 banned civil unions. Over the next three years, 13 years followed suit. However, this was slightly countered by the fact that California and Connecticut passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage in 2008. Iowa and Vermont passed similar laws in 2009. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was finally repealed in 2010. And this year, over 30 states have finally legalized same-sex marriage.
Every single gain that the MOGAI community has made has been built on the foundation set by those who came before. Protests, demonstrations, petitions, pride parades, and awareness weeks and months have all been implemented since the 1970’s. The ultimate goal is for them to be able to live authentically and for all people – regardless of gender – to love the people they love without fear of violence.
LGBT History Month includes National Coming-Out Day, which also commemorates the 1987 march on Washington. Also known as the Great March, it lasted six days and had a large and diverse platform, including legalization and legal recognition of relationships between consenting adults, reproductive rights and an end to racism and discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.
The building blocks put in place by the Stonewall Rioters have been built on by every successive generation in working towards full equality for people. Equality has been the goal from the beginning and continues as the goal of all MOGAI activists today. LGBT History Month celebrates the history of the movement and those who have been part of it. From the 1970’s to the present day, activism has been making education, visibility and equality the focus of their work.
