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1970s in LGBT rights

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This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1970s.

Background

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The Gay Pride Flag, symbol of the Rights Movement, was first flown in 1978 in San Francisco. This is the version flying over the Castro in June 2005

Private, consensual same-sex activity was decriminalized in England and Wales in 1967.[1] Most same-sex activity was legalized in Canada in 1969.[2] The Stonewall riots, which occurred in New York City in June 1969, are generally considered to have ignited the modern gay rights movement in the United States.

Themes

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Considering the profound stigma still attached to homosexuality at the dawn of the 1970s, the movement, although still nascent, saw tremendous gains over the course of the decade. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders in 1973.[3] Homosexual decriminalisation laws and ordinances were passed by several cities and states, including Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1972, South Australia in 1975,[4] the Australian Capital Territory in 1976,[5] and in 1977 Quebec became the first jurisdiction larger than a city or county in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the public and private sectors.[6]

Bisexuality also saw increased visibility. A Quaker group, the Committee of Friends on Bisexuality, issued the "Ithaca Statement on Bisexuality" supporting bisexuals.[7]

The Statement, which may have been "the first public declaration of the bisexual movement" and "was certainly the first statement on bisexuality issued by an American religious assembly," appeared in the Quaker Friends Journal and The Advocate in 1972.[8][9][10]

Today Quakers have varying opinions on LGBTQ people and rights, with some Quaker groups more accepting than others.[11]

For the first time, a few openly gay people were elected to political office in the United States. In 1977 Harvey Milk, a politically active gay man in the emerging gay neighborhood The Castro, was elected to the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco.[12] Milk and liberal San Francisco mayor George Moscone were assassinated the following year.[12] In 1979 their assassin, Dan White, received a sentence of voluntary manslaughter. The anger the gay community felt about the murders and about White's light sentence further galvanized the movement (see White Night Riots).[13]

The increasing visibility of gay people also generated a backlash during the 1970s. In perhaps the most discussed anti-gay rights campaign of the decade, singer Anita Bryant led a successful drive in 1977 to repeal a gay-rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida.[14] The new openness about homosexuality proved disconcerting to some heterosexuals who had been accustomed to gay and lesbian people remaining closeted and politically silent. Canadian author Robertson Davies wrote during the decade that "the love that dare not speak its name" (referencing the famous Lord Alfred Douglas quotation, also quoted by Oscar Wilde during his court case in 1895) "has become the love that won't shut up." On October 14, 1979, approximately 100,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., in the largest pro-gay rights demonstration up to that time.[15]

By year

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Gay rights protesters in New York City, protesting at the United States' 1976 Democratic National Convention
Original eight-color version of the LGBT pride flag

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sexual Offences Act 1967". legislation.cov.uk. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  2. ^ "LGBT Rights in Canada". Equaldex. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "The A.P.A. Ruling on Homosexuality". The New York Times. December 23, 1973. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  4. ^ a b York, Barry (August 27, 2015). "40th anniversary of decriminalisation of homosexuality". Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Bull, Melissa; Pinto, Susan; Wilson, Paul (January 1991). "Homosexual Law Reform in Australia". Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (29). Australian Institute of Criminology. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.495.432.
  6. ^ Smith, Miriam (January 10, 2019). "Homophobia and Homonationalism: LGBTQ Law Reform in Canada". Social & Legal Studies. 29 (1): 68–84. doi:10.1177/0964663918822150.
  7. ^ a b "June 1972: The Ithaca Statement - BiMedia". Archived from the original on 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  8. ^ Donaldson, Stephen (1995). "The Bisexual Movement's Beginnings in the 70s: A Personal Retrospective". In Tucker, Naomi (ed.). Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, & Visions. New York: Harrington Park Press. pp. 31–45. ISBN 1-56023-869-0.
  9. ^ Highleyman, Liz (2003-07-11). "PAST Out: What is the history of the bisexual movement?". LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth. Vol. 13, no. 8. Archived from the original on 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  10. ^ Martin, Robert (1972-08-02). "Quakers 'come out' at conference". The Advocate (91): 8.
  11. ^ "Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Religious Society of Friends(Quakers)". The Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d "Harvey Milk Becomes the First Openly Gay Person Elected to Public Office in California". History.com. August 28, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Stezano, Martin (June 7, 2017). "What Were the White Night Riots?". History.com. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Tanasychuk, John (June 4, 2007). "How Anita Bryant Fought--And Helped--Gay Rights". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights". Histories of the National Mall. October 14, 1979. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  16. ^ Wittman, Carl (1970). "A Gay Manifesto (1970)". Gay Homeland Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  17. ^ Blasius, Mark; Shane Phelan (1997). We are everywhere: a historical sourcebook in gay and lesbian politics. Routledge. pp. 380–90. ISBN 0-415-90859-0.
  18. ^ Jennings, Rebecca (2008-10-21). "Lesbians". Dictionary of Sydney. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  19. ^ Willett, Graham (2000). Living out loud: a history of gay and lesbian activism in Australia. Allen & Unwin. p. 33.
  20. ^ Getting Rid of Sodomy Laws: History and Strategy that Led to the Lawrence Decision
  21. ^ "Sodomy Laws, Idaho". Archived from the original on 2002-10-14. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  22. ^ Brittain, Victoria (28 August 1971). "An Alternative to Sexual Shame: Impact of the new militancy among homosexual groups". The Times. p. 12.
  23. ^ a b Bergh, Frederick Quist (2001). "Jag känner mig lite homosexuell idag" [I feel a bit gay today] (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  24. ^ Iovannone, Jeffry J. (2018-06-14). "Madeline Davis: Lesbian Delegate". Queer History For the People. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  25. ^ Jones, Stanton L.; Mark A. Yarhouse (20 August 2009). Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate. InterVarsity Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8308-7554-2.
  26. ^ Bain, Carolyn (2007). Malta & Gozo. Lonely Planet. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-74104-540-6.
  27. ^ McCrea, Ronan (7 October 2010). Religion and the Public Order of the European Union. Oxford University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-19-959535-8.
  28. ^ Kennedy, Hubert (15 April 2013). "The Ideal Gay Man: The Story of Der Kreis". Journal of Homosexuality. 38 (1–2). Routledge: 73. doi:10.1300/J082v38n03_01. ISBN 978-1-135-78636-6. PMID 10546958.
  29. ^ Scott Barclay; Mary Bernstein; Anna-Maria Marshall (2009). Queer Mobilizations: LGBT Activists Confront the Law. NYU Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8147-9130-1.
  30. ^ Tamagne, Florence (2006). A History of Homosexuality in Europe, Vol. I & II: Berlin, London, Paris, 1919-1939. Algora Publishing. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-87586-355-9.
  31. ^ Warner, Tom. Never Going Back: A History of Queer Activism in Canada, 2002 University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0-8020-8460-5 p41
  32. ^ "Finding Aid to the National Socialist League Collection, 1928-2011 Coll2013.024". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  33. ^ Ottosson, Daniel (November 2006). "World legal wrap up survey" (PDF). Accept Romania. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  34. ^ Melbourne Gay Teachers and Students Group, ed. (1976). A gay bibliography: a select, partially-annotated bibliography. Melbourne: Melbourne Gay Teachers' Group. ISBN 978-0-9596260-0-1.
  35. ^ "LGBT Rights in Croatia". Equaldex. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  36. ^ "LGBT Rights in Montenegro". Equaldex. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  37. ^ "LGBT Rights in Slovenia". Equaldex. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  38. ^ Patel, Samir S (May 1, 2017). "How the Leatherdykes Helped Change Feminism". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  39. ^ "ILGA Homepage". ILGA. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  40. ^ "About Radical Faeries". Folleterre. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  41. ^ "LGBT Rights in Spain". Equaldex. Retrieved March 4, 2021.