Beginning A Change
The Mattachine Society
One of the first gay rights organizations was founded in 1950 in Los Angeles, California, called the Mattachine Society. This group consisted of gay men who wanted to educate its members on social justice and homosexuality issues. They were the first group to publish a magazine for homosexuals.
“Homosexuals Are Different…” , 1960, Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society meeting, 1951, Jim Gruber.
Stonewall Riots
The gay and lesbian community has faced oppression throughout the years. Police harassed the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community at bars and clubs and would arrest them just because of their sexual preference. This continual harassment caused the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
"Young LGBT people need to know their history, because they have to know that there was a price we paid to open up our mouths."
- Ruthie Berman, 2014
Crowds near the Stonewall Inn, June 29, 1969, Larry Morris
Crowds Crash with the Police Force, Joseph Ambrosini
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk filling in for Mayor Moscone, 1978, Daniel Nicoletta
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors elected Harvey Milk. He was the first openly gay official elected to office in California. Milk's theatrical campaigns with gay and straight people increased his popularity. Milk used his political platform to defeat propositions against LGBT people in California.
“We will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets.”
- Harvey Milk, 1977
Header photo credit: LGBT March on Washington, 14 Oct. 1979