Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Month

Milestones in the Gay Rights Movement

The Society for Human Rights in Chicago 1924, the country's earliest known gay rights organization Sexual Behavior in the Human Male 1948, Alfred Kinsey publishes revealing to the public that homosexuality is far more widespread than was commonly believed.

Mattachine Society Formed by Harry Hay and Chuck Rowland during November of 1950 in Los Angeles as a political organization against the harassment of gays. Information for Milestones in the Gay Rights Movement is found at:

The Stonewall Riots June 27, 1969 The New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. The patrons fought back and three nights of rioting led to the appearance of “Gay Power” slogans on buildings. Almost immediately a massive grassroots gay liberation movement was formed.

1982, Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. By 1973, there was almost 800 gay and lesbian organizations in the United States, it increased in 1990 to several thousand

2000, Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize civil unions between gay or lesbian couples. It stops short of referring to same-sex unions as marriage, which the state defines as heterosexual. 2004, On May 17, same-sex marriages become legal in Massachusetts.

Myth Busters Winfeld, L and Spielman, S. Straight talk about gays in the workplace, 2 nd Edition. Harrigton Park Press, 2001.

Myth: I don’t work in fashion, entertainment, or the arts, so I don’t work with any gays. Fact: There are no “gay jobs.” Sexual orientation has nothing to do with a person’s interest, capabilities, strengths, or talents. Gay people do no choose their professions based on their sexual orientation any more than straight people do.

Myth: Gays should not work with children under any circumstances. Fact: There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that gay people should not work with, advise, counsel, or parent children. Gays do not “recruit” and they do not have a secret, pervasive desire to molest children. The first concept is nothing short of silly since you cannot recruit into a sexual orientation. More than 90 percent of sexual abuse and child molestation is perpetrated against children (typically girls) by heterosexual adult males who are usually members of their own families or who are known to hem. People’s fear of gays working with children is the result of tabloid sensationalism spewed by those with the nerve to stand on pulpits of morality.

Myth: I can always tell if a person is gay. Fact: There are NO distinguishing characteristics of gay people that set them apart physically, emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually from straight people. You cannot tell whether a person is gay just by looking at her or him. The only way to know for sure is to ask. Similarly, you cannot accurately judge a person’s potential behavior or abilities by his or her sexual orientation once known. Sexual orientation has nothing at all to do with a person’s ability to teach, to police, to soldier, to construct, to mop up, to play football, to dance, to write, or to do anything else.

The reality of hate crimes Violence motivated by hate tears at the fabric of our society by sending a message to entire groups of people: You do not have the right to exist free of fear and violence, simply because of who you are. As reported by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The Facts of Hate Crimes based on sexual orientation Since the FBI has tracked these types of hate crimes, it has consistently ranked anti-gay violence as the third most frequent form of bias- motivated crime In 2002, 17% of the total 7,462 reported hate crime incidents were motivated by bias towards sexual orientation As reported by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The debate of hate crimes laws Many argue that hate crimes laws go against free speech and thought laws, however the laws were developed to punish actions not speech or thought. In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court rule unanimously that hate crimes laws and enhanced sentences based upon intent are constitutional. As reported by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The Laws of Hate Crimes In the United States, 29 States and the District of Columbia have hate crimes statutes that are specific towards crimes based on real/perceived sexual orientation of victim As reported by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

More than 80,000 people attended the 2004 PRIDE Holiday March in Columbus

"Tools for Change: Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places close to home... Where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Some claim that protecting Americans from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would be extending 'special rights' to gay people. Ironically, this same language was used as far back as to oppose civil rights for former slaves. Civil rights are not 'special rights', but basic rights that belong to all people." - Coretta Scott King, Fellowship, Nov 1995

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." ~Sen Robert F. Kennedy