History of LGBT Rights Social Issues

Journal  How do name calling and harassment affect not only the specific people targeted, but more broadly an entire school or community?

What is LBGT?  LGBT is an acronym that signifies an alliance between people who consider themselves lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, or transgender.  “Gay” is a word that originated before the 1600s and one meaning meant of “loose and immoral life”.  The epithet “fag” or “faggot” originated in the 1300s.  It meant a bundle of sticks used for burning.  One theory on why it is used to refer to homosexual people is that homosexuals were often burned alive for their lifestyle.  The epithet “dike” derives from the word hermaphrodite.

History of Gay Rights  Homosexual relationships have been recorded throughout history, one of the earliest stretches back to around 4,000 years ago.  In 342, the first law against gay marriage was instituted by Constantius II.  Throughout recorded history homosexuals have been blamed for everything from earthquakes to famines.

History of Gay Rights (cont.)  1260: In France 1 st offending “Sodomites” lost their testicles, 2 nd offenders lost their penis, and the 3 rd offenders were executed. Lesbians were also subject to mutilation and death.  1483: The Spanish Inquisition, Sodomites were stoned, castrated, and burned. Between 1540 and 1700, more than 1,600 people were prosecuted for sodomy.  1533: King Henry VIII passes the Buggery Act 1533 making all male- male sexual activity punishable by death.  1791: Revolutionary France adopts a new penal code which no longer criminalizes sodomy. France thus becomes the first West European country to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults.

History of Gay Rights (cont.)  1897: George Cecil Ives organizes the first homosexual rights group in England, the Order of Chaeronea.  1933: The National Socialist German Workers Party bans homosexual groups. Homosexuals are sent to concentration camps. Nazis burn the library of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Research, and destroy the Institute.  1952: Christine Jorgensen becomes the first person to have sex reassignment surgery, in this case, male to female, creating a world-wide sensation.  Up until 1957, the American Psychiatric Association considered homosexuality a mental disorder.

History of Gay Rights  1969, the Stonewall Riots occur in NYC.Stonewall Riots  1978: San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White. The rainbow flag is first used as a symbol of homosexual pride.  1979: The first national homosexual rights march on Washington, DC is held.  1980: The Human Rights Campaign Fund is founded by Steve Endean; The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest LGBT civil rights organization working to achieve equality.

History of Gay Rights (cont.)  1998: Matthew Shepard is murdered.  1999 – Present: various U.S. states pass laws regarding same-sex marriages, unions, and partnerships.  2008: Proposition 8 passes in California, banning gay marriage.  2009: The Matthew Shepard Act was adopted as an amendment by a vote of on July 15,  2009: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Elected in Iceland; the first openly homosexual head of government in the world.

History of Gay Rights (cont.)  2012: President Obama officially supports the right for gay couples to marry.  2013: The United States Supreme Court agrees to hear two cases that have the possibility of overturning anti-gay marriage laws.