LGBT Rights Flashcards
What kind of discrimination did gay people face?
Although they weren’t a visible minority group they still faced significant levels of discrimination with some shops refusing to serve them and some hotels refusing to give them rooms.
Why did discrimination against gay people worsen in the 1950s?
As fears regarding communism grew many began to argue that gay people were in fact communist sympathizers leading to the Lavender Scares?
What were the lavender scares?
Gay people and lesbians were accused of being communist sympathizers and therefore, had to be removed from any position in the federal government. Gay people were generally seen as more of a threat but lesbians still faced interrogation and in turn were fired. It normalized persecution of homosexuals through bureaucratic institutionalization of homophobia.
What was the first state to legalize homosexuality and what did people argue regarding the 1964 civil rights act?
Illinois was the first state to repeal it’s anti gay laws in 1962, after the 1964 civil rights act was signed many argued that it also applied to gay people.
Why did the Gay rights movement first develop?
On the 28th of June 1969 police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York on the basis that they were selling unlicensed alcohol however, it was obvious that it was actually on the basis of it being a gay bar.
How did the raid on the Stonewall Inn develop into a riot?
The customers were used to the raids and would usually just slip away however, the police were too rough with some of the customers. This led to about 400 people throwing things and shouting at the police which forced them to barricade themselves into the bar.
How long did the Stonewall Riots last?
They went on for several nights running with extensive clashes between the police and protesters in and around the bar. This led to the establishment of the Gay Liberation Front leading to protests breaking out across the country.
How did the Gay Liberation Front make the campaign for rights much more effective?
Prior to stonewall there had been various smaller marches by individuals or groups against discrimination however, it had now become possible to gather a large protest march. In the 28th of August 1970 gay pride marches were held across the US with the New York March alone having about 10’000 members.
Why was the gay rights movement able to expand so rapidly?
Many smaller groups were established across the US which began to cooperate with each other in a policy of mutual acceptance. The liberal values present in the 1960s and 1970s generated some public support.
Where did openly gay communities begin to develop?
They sprung up in some major cities across the US such as San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Chicago. They tended to form in areas of those cities with significant counter culture activity such as Greenwich village in New York.
How did these openly gay communities shape public opinion?
It was effective in reducing prejudice towards gay people as many people found out that people they knew and liked were actually gay which was effective in dismantling a number of harmful stereotypes. By 1977 polls suggested that over 50% of people were now in support of gay rights.
Why did hostility remain in place in some areas?
Many religious groups especially in the bible belt of the South were fundamentally opposed to gay rights based on their religious beliefs with the KKK being a particularly extreme example of this.
What political gains did Gay people make during the 1970s?
In 1974 Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay people to be elected to public office. She served in the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan.
In 1978 Harvey Milk was elected to office in San Francisco, not only was he openly gay but he supported other minority rights for example he set up non-white women’s groups to work for equality. He also took an open stand against Proposition 6 which was a move at state level to fire gay teachers and teachers who spoke in favor of gay rights. However, Milk and the pro gay mayor of San Francisco were assassinated on the 27th of November 1979.
How did Gay people begin to gain federal support?
Gay pressure in some states led to initiatives at local level designed to attack discrimination. Between 1979 and 1981 the Governor of California appointed 4 openly gay judges. In 1980 a teenage boy sued his school on Rhode Island for the right to bring a male date to the school prom which he won.
Why did LGBT rights face setbacks in Dade County Florida?
In 1977 a law was proposed which aimed to stop discrimination in housing, public facilities and employment. Anita Bryan set up Save Our Children and collected petitions on the basis that gay integration would corrupt children. The law was rejected with similar things happening in other counties.
