Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals in History


  • The story of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 which is recognized as one of the beginnings of the modern gay/lesbian/bisexual rights movement in the United States [typed in by Jack Caroll] and the New York Daily News article of July 6, 1969.
  • A brief history of the Rainbow Flag as a symbol of gay/lesbian/bisexual liberation.
  • A history of the Lambda as a gay/lesbian/bisexual symbol.
  • Alan Turing was a gay mathematician and founding father of computer science who was instrumental in the British war effort during World War II. After the war, he was convicted of having homosexual sex and forced to undergo drug and hormone treatments.
  • Urvashi Vaid is the past-head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a national lobbying group for gay, lesbian and bisexual rights. She spoke at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Civil Rights and Liberation on the dangerous rise of the religious right.
  • The 1992 City of Pittsburgh Proclamation concerning the Pride Festival. This is the first such proclamation concerning Pride Week in the history of Pittsburgh.
  • Much has been written about gays in the military. This page contains numerous articles about this topic.
  • On June 5, 1993 in a New York Times article, Sara Rimer examines the changing role of lesbians on campus
  • Marvin Liebman argues that gay gridlock is being caused by a reliance on the Democratic Party.
  • Rape of Males, from the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
  • Prison Sexuality, from the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
  • A page dedicated to the pink triangle, and the history of Nazi persecution of gay men during WWII (perpetually under construction)
  • The historic debate in the U. S. Senate on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (and on 9/10/96) that would have forbad employment discrimination based upon real or perceived sexual orientation. The bill failed by a vote of 49-50. The Senator who was abscent later said he would have voted for ENDA.

    • Marriage

    A historic debate has started in Hawaii over the freedom for same sex couples to marry. In the United States, marriage can be two institutions simultaneously. For many people, it is a religious union. However, it is also a civil institution in which society grants access to certain rights and responsibilities for couples in long-term, committed relationships.

    In 1993, the Hawaiin Supreme Court asked the state to show a compelling reason why same-sex couples should be denied these civil, state-granted benefits. Here are those decisions:

    In 1995, a commission set up by the state issued its official report stating that there is no reason why the state should deny same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage. The Western Pennsylania Freedom to Marry Coalition homepage has a number of links to other sites discussing the freedom to marry.

    As a backlash to the possibility of marriage for same-sex couples, states and the federal government have begun to consider laws that would continue to discriminate in marriage rights.

  • The debate in the House of Representatives on the Defense of Marriage Act
  • The U. S. Senate debated DoMA on September 10, 1996. Here is the debate (as an Adobe Acrobat file) and from the Government Printing Office server (including the vote)
  • President Clinton issued this statement prior to signing DoMA on September 21, 1996.
  • Lesbian History Project


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