Gay rights movement, civil rights movement that advot equal rights for LGBTQ persons—that is, for lbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenr persons, and queer persons—and lls for an end to discrimatn agast LGBTQ persons employment, cred, hog, public acmodatns, and other areas of life.
Contents:
- GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
- INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN
- THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Gay rights movement, also lled gay liberatn movement, civil rights movement that advot equal rights for LGBTQ persons (i. E., for lbians, gays [homosexual mal], bisexuals, transgenr persons, and queer persons); seeks to elimate sodomy laws; and lls for an end to discrimatn agast LGBTQ persons employment, cred, hog, public acmodatns, and other areas of life. (Although the term gay is monly ed reference to homosexual mal, is also ed more generally to refer to homosexual mal together wh some or all other orientatns wh the LGBTQ muny.
) Gay rights prr to the 20th century Relig admonns agast sexual relatns between dividuals of the same sex (particularly men) long stigmatized such behavur, but most legal s Europe were silent on the subject of homosexualy and bisexualy. The begng of the gay rights movement Before the end of the 19th century there were srcely any “movements” for gay rights.
Ined, his poem “Two Lov” (1894), Lord Aled (“Bosie”) Douglas, Osr Wil’s lover, clared “I [homosexualy] am the love that dare not speak s name. ” Homosexual and bisexual men and women were given voice 1897 wh the foundg of the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee (Wissenschaftlich-humanär Komee; WhK) Berl. Dpe Paragraph 175 and the failure of the WhK to w s repeal, homosexual and bisexual men and women experienced a certa amount of eedom Germany, particularly durg the Weimar perd, between the end of World War I and the Nazi seizure of power.
THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
In many larger German ci, gay nightlife beme tolerated, and the number of gay publitns creased. Ined, acrdg to some historians, the number of gay bars and perdils Berl the 1920s exceed that New York Cy six s later.
Dpe the formatn of such groups, polil activy by homosexuals and bisexuals was generally not very visible. Ined, gays were often harassed by the police wherever they ngregated.
INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN
The war brought many young people to ci and brought visibily to the gay muny. In the Uned Stat this greater visibily brought some backlash, particularly om the ernment and the police: the ernment often fired gay civil servants, the ary attempted to purge s ranks of gay soldiers (a policy enacted durg World War II), and police vice squads equently raid gay bars and arrted their patrons. However, there was also greater polil activy among gays, aimed large measure at crimalizg sodomy.
THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
The gay rights movement sce the mid-20th century Begng the mid-20th century, an creasg number of gay anizatns were formed. In the Uned Stat the first major male anizatn, found 1950–51 by Harry Hay Los Angel, was the Mattache Society (s name reputedly rived om a medieval French society of masked players, the Société Mattache, to reprent the public “maskg” of homosexualy), while the Dghters of Bilis (named after the Sapphic love poems of Pierre Louÿs, Chansons Bilis), found 1955 by Phyllis Lyon and Del Mart San Francis, was a leadg group for women. In addn, the Uned Stat saw the publitn of a natnal gay perdil, One, which 1958 won a U.
In Bra 1957 a missn chaired by Sir John Wolfenn issued a groundbreakg report (see Wolfenn Report) remendg that private homosexual liaisons between nsentg adults be removed om the doma of crimal law; a later the remendatn was implemented by Parliament the Sexual Offenc Act. The gay rights movement was begng to w victori for legal reform, particularly wtern Europe, but perhaps the sgle fg event of gay activism occurred the Uned Stat. In the early morng hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar New York Cy’s Greenwich Village, was raid by the police.