Reflecting on LGBTQ Milestones in American History

Throughout American history, members of the LGBTQ+ community have fought tirelessly for rights, recognition and equality. From early struggles against criminalization of homosexuality to social stigma in the workplace, members of this ever-expanding community have secured landmark victories including marriage equality and carefully enshrined anti-discrimination protections. Each milestone achieved along the way has been a testament to resilience and powerful activism. These moments have not only shaped the lives of LGBTQ individuals but have also influenced broader societal attitudes, leading to increased acceptance and representation in media. Having just celebrated another International Transgender Day of Visibility on Mar. 31, now seems like as good a time as any to look back on the key LGBTQ milestones in American history, and shed some light on the moments that have defined the struggle for equality for generations of Americans.

What Does LGBTQQIP2SAA Mean?

LGBTQ US Milestones pictured: Pride parade sign — (Heather Mount/Unsplash)

Before we can dive directly into the timeline of LGBTQ milestones, let’s first take a moment to unpack the full acronym for the queer community. LGBTQ may be the most common and popular way to describe this group, but it doesn’t paint the full picture. A more inclusive option is LGBTQQIP2SAA, encompassing a vast array of non-cis and non-heteronormative groups. Whether your terminology is a bit out of date, or you’re just curious to learn more about the most modern and current descriptors, be sure to check the list below.

L = Lesbian
G = Gay
B = Bisexual
T = Transgender
Q = Queer
Q = Questioning
I = Intersex
P = Pansexual
2S = Two-Spirit
A = Androgynous
A = Asexual

Needless to say, this community is expanding all the time, with key civil rights leaders and group organizers remaining vigilant to include emerging identities and modern language. One of the lesser known terms listed above, two-spirit, is specific to certain indigenous cultures, and refers to those who take on a third gender or other nonbinary role in order to fulfill a ceremonial or social duty. Two-spirit identities are unique to the many indigenous tribes, so this term has been adopted as something of a catch-all.

LGBTQ Milestones: From the First Gay Rights Organization to Remembering Stonewall

1924 – Though homosexuality and transgender identities have existed for centuries, the first documented gay rights organization in the United States didn’t launch until 1924. The group, known as the Society for Human Rights, was founded in Chicago, Illinois by Henry Gerber, a German immigrant. Unfortunately, the Society didn’t last long, as Gerber was persecuted for his sexuality just a year later. Police broke into the founder’s home, seized his belongings and dragged him through a years-long legal battle citing alleged degenerate behavior. Local newspapers referred to the Society for Human Rights as a “strange sex cult,” and Gerber was ultimately unable to maintain the group nor hold down a job for years after his arrest.

April, 1953 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower banned homosexuals from working for the federal government. In doing so, Eisenhower labeled gays as a security risk, and cited a 1952 ruling from the American Psychiatric Association which maligned homosexuals as having a sociopathic personality disturbance.

July, 1961 – Illinois becomes the first state in the nation to decriminalize homosexuality, paving the way for more acceptance, representation and eventual equality. Many other states wouldn’t follow suit until after the turn of the century.

June, 1969 – New York City police raid the Stonewall Inn in Lower Manhattan, sparking a days-long riot that resulted in a new wave of social change. The inn was one of very few establishments in the country that would allow openly homosexual individuals, drag queens and other marginalized groups to come together, making it a hotbed of police activity and harassment. While the June 28 raid was not the first instance of police intervention at the bar, it caused a domino effect for local gay communities, who came together to support those harmed or arrested during the initial riot. This movement is commonly known as the Stonewall uprising, and is largely credited as the birth of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

June, 1970 – New York City’s homosexual community bands together and marches in the streets in recognition of the one year anniversary of Stonewall. In doing so, the group effectively launched the first gay pride parade, and established June as pride month. This tradition still persists to this very day, and has expanded to include a wide array of marginalized communities, as well as heterosexual allies.

The Fight for Queer Civil Rights Began in the ’70s

LGBTQ US Milestones pictured: Harvey Milk — (Getty Images)

1973 – A team of skilled attorneys commune to form Lambda Legal, the very first firm established to fight for the civil rights of homosexuals. In creating this firm, Lambda began a battle with the New York Supreme Court, who initially denied their non-profit status. After a longstanding legal fight, Lambda was eventually given non-profit status by the state of New York, and now operates all over the country to advocate for members of the LGBTQ community and those who suffer from HIV/AIDS. This same year saw the American Psychiatric Association removing homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, after a blowout vote taken by nearly 10,000 doctors across the nation.

1974 – In 1974, the United States saw its first ever openly gay candidates elected to public office. The very first out and proud public servant was Kathy Kozachenko, who served on the City Council of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Elaine Noble followed suit just a few months later, when she was elected to the Massachusetts State legislature. As the years carried on, more and more openly LGBTQ politicians would come to take office, and legislation protecting gay rights would eventually follow. The first ever federal gay rights bill was introduced in 1975, though that particular legislation was never officially signed into law.

1975 – 1975 was a major year for LGBTQ visibility in the public eye. For starters, decorated Vietnam War veteran Leonard P. Matlovich was forcibly discharged from the Air Force after revealing his sexual orientation to his commanding officer. A recipient of both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, Matlovich was eventually exonerated and given back-pay for his time outside the armed forces. In the sporting world, 1975 saw ophthalmologist and professional tennis player Renee Richards attempting to compete in the U.S. Open after undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Though the higher-ups at the Open pushed back on Richards’ participation, the Supreme Court of New York ruled in her favor, allowing her to become the very first openly transgender woman to compete in the tournament.

1978 – California elects its first openly gay politician. The San Francisco city supervisor, Harvey Milk, took office in January, but was tragically murdered in a double homicide the following November. The city of San Francisco mourned Milk and his associate, Mayor George Moscone by coating city hall with flowers, candles and symbols of hope. Local artist Gilbert Baker was so moved by Milk’s passing that he stitched together the very first rainbow pride flag, which would go on to become the symbol of the LGBTQ movement for decades to come.

1979 – The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights took place on Oct. 14, drawing over 100,000 participants. The event, which was partially planned by Harvey Milk before his untimely passing, sought to pass comprehensive civil rights legislation for the gay community, ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in federal spaces and shield children from discriminatory laws in schools and other social environments. While the march was largely successful at bringing visibility to the LGBTQ community, statewide legislation outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation wouldn’t come to pass until 1982, when Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus signed Assembly Bill 70.

In the Following Decades, the AIDS Crisis and Controversial Government Policies Plagued the Community

1983 – As the AIDS crisis terrorizes the gay community, associates from Lambda Legal work tirelessly to advocate for those with HIV/AIDS diagnosis. 1983 saw the non-profit winning a landmark case against a group called West 12 Tenants Corp, which attempted to evict a doctor from a New York residence in retaliation for treating HIV-positive patients.

October, 1988 – On the first anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, LGBTQ activists Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg organized the first ever National Coming Out Day. The event was designed to encourage those who were still “in the closet” to come out to their families, friends and loved ones.

1993 – President Bill Clinton signs off on a controversial policy titled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which prohibits openly homosexual individuals from serving in the U.S. armed forces. While some political pundits attempted to paint the policy as being progressive due to its language regarding the fair treatment of closeted homosexuals, the guidelines have since been universally viewed as an aggressive step backwards. Though it was panned by human rights groups for years, the ban wouldn’t be repealed until the Barack Obama administration took action in 2011.

1995 – The Clinton administration signs new protections for the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act into law, adding sexual orientation as a protected class against acts of violence. In doing so, judges are given an imperative to impose harsher sentences on those who intentionally commit violent crimes against homosexual individuals. The law also offers protections for victims of a “perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender” or disability.

1996 – In another crippling blow to the LGBTQ community, President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned same-sex marriage at a federal level. The document legally defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife,” and offers stringent language for those attempting to wed in homosexual unions. Several judges across the nation, including Hawaii’s Judge Kevin Chang, quickly take issue with this ruling and argue that the state doesn’t have the right to refuse same-sex marriages.

1997 – Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian with a groundbreaking Time magazine cover story, further normalizing LGBTQ identities in the homes of millions of television viewers. Her television character, Ellen Morgan, who served as a fictionalized version of the real comedian, came out as a homosexual within the TV narrative shortly thereafter, making her the first openly homosexual leading character on a prime-time TV series.

The Turn of the Century Marked a Change in a Positive Direction for LGBTQ+ People

LGBTQ US Milestones pictured: Obama pride parade — (David McNew/Getty Images)

2003 – After the turn of the century, the tides began to change for same sex couples, as legislature all over the nation began eroding at the legitimacy of the Defense of Marriage Act. In June of 2003, the United States Supreme Court decriminalized same-sex sexual conduct at a federal level, striking down all active sodomy laws in the nation.

2004-2008 – Over the following several years, many states established their own individual laws regarding gay marriage, in an affront to the Defense of Marriage Act. In 2004, Massachusetts became the very first state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages, following a landmark ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court in Goodridge vs. the Department of Public Health. The New Jersey Supreme Court followed suit in 2006, with demands that state lawmakers offer the same rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. While this ruling did not allow LGBTQ couples to wed in New Jersey, it opened up the possibility of forming a civil union. The California Supreme Court ruled that preventing same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, though legislature to legalize gay marriage was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. A 2008 Proposition vote also upheld the ban on same-sex marriage in California, reflecting the regressive views shared by millions of voters.

2012 – While seeking reelection, Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president in history to publicly support gay marriage. Several months after Obama announced his feelings on the subject in an ABC interview, the Democratic Party at large followed suit, and adopted the federal legalization of same-sex marriage into their national platform. This served as a significant heel-turn for many Democrats, who previously took a laissez faire attitude toward LGBTQ issues in spite of other largely progressive platforms.

2014-2015 – In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied federal guidelines in Clinton’s Defense of Marriage Act, allowing Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin to legalize gay marriage at the state level. The following year, the Supreme Court heard arguments to add Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan to that list as well. Luckily, the debate about whether these states should join didn’t last long, as the Supreme Court ultimately legalized homosexual marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015. This ruling, known as Obergefell vs. Hodges, was made nearly 46 years to the day from the start of the Stonewall riots. The ruling outlines a fundamental right to marry for all American citizens, regardless of sexual orientation.

2015-2016 – Throughout the following several years, many federal and private institutions began stripping away any and all exclusions based on sexual orientation. In June 2015 the Military Equal Opportunity policy was adjusted to include LGBTQ members. The Boy Scouts of America, the Olympic Games and the Pentagon also lifted restrictions on openly gay and transgender members.

2017 – With the federal right to marry guaranteed to all citizens, new language and accommodations began to emerge for identities outside of the mainstream cisgender and heteronormative gender roles. In June, 2017, residents of Washington D.C. were given the option to choose a gender neutral marker of X on their state-issued ID for the very first time. Some months later, the state of Virginia elected its first openly transgender candidate to the House of Delegates, unseating an incumbent who had previously won over a dozen elections in the district. Unfortunately, during the very same month, newly inaugurated president Donald Trump announced plans to fully ban transgender individuals from serving their country in the nation’s armed forces.

Recent Years Have Seen More Steps Forward (And Backwards)

March, 2018 – Trump’s transgender military ban is launched, barring anyone who is not openly cis from signing a contract with the military. Though many activists and lawmakers went to bat for the transgender community on this issue, the Supreme Court ultimately allows the ban to move forward the following January.

November, 2018 – The United States elects its first ever openly gay governor, when Jared Polis took office in Colorado. Polis took home 53.4 percent of the vote, and went on to win reelection in 2022, while running on a libertarian platform.

2020 – The transgender bathroom debate plagues politics and LGBTQ circles, fueling the largely nonsensical argument that men will pose as trans women in order to invade female spaces. Luckily, in August 2020, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that policies segregating transgender students is unconstitutional. While this ruling did not put an end to the bathroom debate, it did establish the right to use your preferred restroom as a protected constitutional right, within reason. This decision was ultimately supported by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Later in 2020, transgender individuals took home key seats in multiple elections, likely galvanized by the vitriolic rhetoric surrounding this issue. Specifically, Sarah McBride won a seat on Delaware’s Senate District 1, making her the first openly transgender person to serve as a state senator. Mauree Turner also won a seat in Oklahoma’s state House, making them the first nonbinary state legislator in United States history.

January, 2021 – Within days of taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order reversing Trump’s 2019 ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. Throughout his term, Biden would also strengthen protections for the LGBTQ community against discrimination, hate crimes and exclusion from medical care. He also enshrined federal health protections for members of the LGBTQ community that were previously gutted by the Trump admin. In 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which officially voided Clinton’s Defense of Marriage Act at the federal level for the first time.

2021-2022 – Throughout the Biden era, the State Department and Social Security Administration began rolling out added identity markers for those who don’t fit within the rigid gender binary. In October 2021, the very first U.S. passport with an X gender marker was issued. The following year, Social Security records across the country were updated to reflect X as an optional gender marker for those that identify as non-binary, intersex, or gender non-conforming.

2025 – Unfortunately, progress has not been wholly linear for the LGBTQ community. January 2025 saw Donald Trump returning to the White House with a slew of new anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy mandates. Trump signed a day-one executive order in January which reversed efforts from the Biden administration to broaden gender identity markers on federal paperwork, suspending all applications with the X gender marker from rolling out. Within a week of taking office, Trump also reinstated his transgender military ban, and ended federal support for institutions offering gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 18. In February, 2025, Trump also signed an executive order labelled “Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports,” which bans transgender youth from participating in gender segregated sporting events alongside athletes of their chosen identity. Critics maligned this executive order as being particularly hateful, since it applies to an extremely minute fraction of students across the entire country.

Present Day and Beyond – As the Trump administration continues slashing rights for LGBTQ peoples, activists have continued to speak up, fight for their rights and demand more. Though at times it may seem as though the federal government is taking one step forward and two steps back, these emerging gender identities and sexual orientations are here to stay. It’s also important to note that LGBTQ identities are not simply springing up overnight – these individuals have existed since the dawn of humankind, and our modern terminology is only evolving to offer simplified language of acceptance for the general public.