Abstract:
The month of June is nationally recognized as gay pride month in order to honor the men, women, and non-binary people who were involved in historic events such as the Stonewall riots. The Stonewall riots started on June 28, 1969 inside a gay bar that police often raided in Greenwich Village, New York. That night, patrons in the bar decided to fight back after multiple encounters with police harassment. These riots would later be described as one of the first major steps towards LGBTQ equality. This paper will examine the impact of the Stonewall riots as well as individuals such as Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay politicians, and Gilbert Baker, who designed the Gay Pride flag, in order to create a timeline of LGBTQ civil rights actions. The paper will discuss the advance of LGBTQ rights as well as setbacks such as President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the Defense Against Marriage Act. The conclusion of this paper will focus on how, while facing deadly attacks and continued political and social discrimination, the LGBTQ community has persevered, grown, and advanced their civil rights in the United States.