Tag: 2008

July 9 in LGBTQ History

1969: The Mattachine Society of New York invites activists to gather in Greenwich Village for the first “gay power” meeting. 1986: New Zealand repeals its laws prohibiting homosexual acts between consenting adults. 2008: The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Thomas Cook v. Robert Gates upholds the constitutionality of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, … Read More

May 15 in LGBTQ History

1981: In the midst of Lesbian/Gay Awareness Week, at the University of Florida, a fraternity-circulated petition asserting, “Homosexuals need bullets-not acceptance” draws the signatures of almost fifty people. “We don’t have anything else to do,” says one of the petition’s organizers. “We’re just out here having a good time. I don’t believe in queers.” 1988: … Read More

May 6 in LGBTQ History

1868: In a letter to an early sex-law reformer, Karl Maria Kertbeny is first known to have privately used the new terms “Homosexual” and “Heterosexual”, the words aren’t in print publicly until the following year. 1933: In Berlin, young Nazis attack and destroy the Institute of Sexual Research. A few days later, the institute’s priceless … Read More

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