1

Shayne Fucal

Mr.Adam

ELA

01 March 2021

LGBTQ+ History

LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer which title

people’s gender identity and sexuality. Lesbian is a girl attracted in the direction of another

woman, whilst gay is acknowledged as a man attracted in the direction of another man. Bisexual

is any one attracted towards both sex. Transgender is used to for people whos gender

identification or gender expression differs from the sex that they have been assigned at birth. Till

this day people are fighting for LGBTQ rights. These people are judged and mistreated because

of their sexual orientation. They become victims of discrimination and suffer rejction by their

families.

LGBTQ people are not completly accepted in our society. However they have gotten

rights and awareness. In 1924, Henry Gerber established the society for Human Rights. This is

the first documented homosexual rights organizations. The Society focuses on social acceptance

and other guides for homosexuals. In January of 1958, the U.S publish workplace refused to

suply America’s first extensively dispensed pro-gay publication. The case went to the U.S.

Supreme Court and the court ruled in favor of gay rights for the first time.

On June 28 of 1969, the Stonewall riots sparked the beginning of LGBT movement.

Early in the morning, police had raided a gay bar in New York City. People did not let this slide
 2

and they took a stand. The event turned into a violent protest and ended up lasting for days.

Those “Stonewall riots” are thought of as the start of the LGBTQ civil rights movement in the

United States. In 1973, homosexuality was no longer declared a mental illness. After years of

investigation and examination, the American Psychiatric Association’s board of directors

removed the homosexuality from the official list of mental illnesses.

In April 2000, Vermont had taken a big step toward same-sex marriage legalization.

Vermont was the first state in America to give same-sex couples rights. The legal partnership

granted those couples the same rights and benefits as those legal marriages. In October 2009,

Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act became a law. President Obama

signed 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 law elevated preceding hate crime legislation to

officially categorize crimes motivated by actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender

identity, or disability as a hate crime.

In June 2013, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which became a law in 1996,

announced that marriages between gay or lesbian couples were not aknowledged with aid of the

federal government. This means those couples could not obtain legal benefits like social security

and health insurance that straight married couples could. These cases were taken to the Supreme

and have declared that legally married same-sex are authorized to the same federal benefits as

married opposite sex couples. In April 2015, Obama called for end to conversion therapy. A

tragic suicide of a transgender teenager who was subjected to Christian conversion therapy had

sparked up a conversation itself. However, before her death she called out the negative affects of
 3

discrimination and lack of support for transgender people. President Obama publicly called for

an end to the dangerous practice meant to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identities.

As you can see, the LGBTQ community has been through a lot and there are still many

more fights to come. They challenged the norm of having a male and female together. Rather,

they were male and male, or female and female which was something society was not ready to

see or tolerate. This movement won’t stop till they are treated equally. They are still humans and

people aren’t ready to accept that.