Transcript Gay Rights Movement - Ms. Belur's World & US History

Gay Rights Movement
A History of Discrimination
• Same-sex relationships were illegal in most states
• 1950s and 1960s - FBI kept lists of known
homosexuals
• Some gay people were placed in mental institutions
• Local governments – shut down gay bars
Effects
• After raids, thousands jailed
• Newspapers accounts
– Faced harassment and being
fired
Stonewall
• In 1969, police raided
Stonewall Inn in NYC
• Police brutality sparked a
riot – hundreds of
bystanders began to fight
back
Michael Fader’s Account of Stonewall
We all had a collective feeling like we'd had enough of this....
Everyone in the crowd felt that we were never going to go back. It
was like the last straw. It was time to reclaim something that had
always been taken from us....
All kinds of people, all different reasons, but mostly it was total
outrage, anger, sorrow, everything
combined, and everything just kind of ran its course. It was the
police who were doing most of the destruction. We were really
trying to get back in and break free.
And we felt that we had freedom at last, or freedom to at least show
that we demanded freedom. We weren't going to be walking meekly
in the night and
letting them shove us around—it's like standing your ground for the
first time and in a really strong way, and that's what caught the
police by surprise. There was something in the air, freedom a long
time overdue, and we're going to fight for it.
After Stonewall
• The Gay Rights
Movement began to
organize
• The Gay Liberation
Front (GLF) and the
Gay Activists' Alliance
(GAA) were formed
The Movement Organizes Goals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
An end to persecution by police
Equal rights in employment
Make homosexual relationships legal
An end to the stigma about
homosexuality
Demanding Change
• Marches & writing
• 1974 - American Psychiatric Association
removed homosexuality from the list of
mental disorders
San Francisco
• 1977 - Harvey Milk became the first openly
gay elected official (city supervisor)
• Less than a year later, assassinated
• Riots after shooter, Dan White, got only 7
years due to “temporary insanity” plea.
Setbacks
• During 1970s - Supreme Court upheld laws
banning homosexual relationships
• Firings of gay teachers were also upheld
1980s
• The movement shifted focus in response
to the AIDS crisis
• “Act Up” organized to address silence
around this issue
Major Goals of the Modern
Gay Rights Movement
– Protection against discrimination in
employment, housing, services and
immigration
– Adoption laws
– Gay marriage
Modern Gay Rights Movement
• Lawrence v. Texas
– 2003 Supreme Court case
– Ruled all laws banning homosexual sex were
unconstitutional
Laws Against Homosexual
Relationships
Light Yellow: Laws repealed or struck down before 1970.
Dark Yellow: Laws repealed or struck down from 1970-1989.
Orange: Laws repealed or struck down from 1989-2002.
Red: Laws struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2003.
• Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
– People who were openly homosexual couldn’t
serve in military
– Repealed in 2011
Gay Marriage
• 1st state – 2003
Massachusetts
• Currently – 37 states
• http://graphics.latimes.com/usmap-gaymarriage-chronology/
LGBTQ Employment Discrimination
Laws
Obama
• May 9, 2012 – Obama announced his
support for gay marriage
DOMA
• Defense of Marriage Act
– 1996 – Fed. Law - Marriage defined as a
union of one man and one woman
– Supreme Court overturned it in 2013
Public Opinion on Gay Marriage
http://www.pewforum.org/2014/09/24/graphics-slideshow-changing-attitudes-on-gay-marriage/
Current Gay Marriage Case
1. What’s at stake in this case? (2 issues)
2. What’s the case background?
3. What are the arguments for/against?
For:
Against:
The
Justices
Blue = Expected to
vote for same-sex
marriage
Red = Expected to
vote against samesex marriage
Yellow =
Considered “swing
votes” (could go
either way)
Conclusion
• Why do you think this has changed so
much in your lifetime?
• How is this movement similar to / different
from / influenced by the Civil Rights
Movement?
• Almost half the states and the District of Columbia
have laws that currently prohibit sexual orientation
discrimination in both public and private jobs:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois,
Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• In addition, a few states have laws prohibiting
sexual orientation discrimination in public
workplaces only.
Video Clip
1. What do you learn about peoples’
experiences of Stonewall?
2. What were the short-term effects of
Stonewall?
3. What were the long-term effects?