Decades of Struggle and Triumph: The Gay Rights Movement

The fight for gay rights was never an easy task. Those involved suffered many tragedies and withstood a great deal of anguish because the world didn’t accept them for who they were. Still, there were parts of the Gay Rights Movement worthy of celebration. Despite the fact that homophobia and the mistreatment of the LGBT community still exists today, various actions throughout the decades have furthered the fight for tolerance by opening more opportunities, increasing the amount of support, and creating more equality for those involved.
The fight for tolerance towards the LGBT community has been fought since before the 20th century. Homosexuality was perceived in various ways. Religion, as well as assorted countries, played a role in the disapproval

of same-sex relations. Specifically Muslim countries made same-sex intimacy a crime punishable by death as well as other severe consequences. As for different countries, England was silent on the matter until the beginning of the 16th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, British lawmakers made homosexuality a crime. During the reign of Henry VII, the Buggery Act was passed in England and stated that any same-sex relations between men were a criminal offense that was punishable by death. As for women, during this time in history, it was absolutely unthinkable for women to ever include themselves in such acts, so women were not subject to the law. In Britain, homosexuality was a capital offence until 1861 and in 1885, an amendment was passed by Parliament that enabled any sexual behavior between men to be prosecuted. Germany also acted upon homosexuality by including Paragraph 175 to their final penal code in the 1870s, which made same-sex relations by men a crime punishable through prison and the loss of civil rights. The Gay Rights Movement had a rocky background. Homosexuality wasn’t accepted in any way.
Before the end of the 19th century, there weren’t exactly any movements for gay rights, but signs of tolerance were beginning to show. With the founding of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee by Magnus Hirschfield in Berlin, men and women apart of the LGBT community were given a chance to speak up. They started with a call to repeal Paragraph 175. Though they failed to repeal it, gay men and women were given a certain amount of freedom in Germany, during the Weimar period. In some German cities, gay nightlife grew to be accepted, the number of gay publications increased, and the number of gay bars and periodicals in Berlin topped that in New York 60 years later. It wasn’t just Germany that showed signs of tolerance. Britain and the US both formed groups of their own. Although support was starting to come, gays were still mistreated by figures of authority.
By the mid-20th century, the Gay Rights Movement was starting to become evident. The Stonewall Riot of 1969 was a major event in the Gay Rights Movement. The community grew tired of the mistreatment and decided to fight back. It all started at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969. Police raids on gay bars were no surprise back then. During the time, it was illegal to serve gay people alcohol and for gay people to dance with each other. That day, instead of following orders the people refused to cooperate and as a result, the police decided to take everyone to the station. The patrol wagons had not arrived yet so there was a slight delay and those who were not arrested were released, but instead of going on with their business, they stayed outside and watched. A crowd began to form and soon there was a crowd of 150 people. When the first wagon arrived, the crowd had grown to an extremely large amount of people. An altercation broke out when a lesbian was taken to the wagon and hit with a billy club after complaining about the tightness of her handcuffs. The officer picked her up and put her into the wagon. The crowd had had enough and started an attempt to overturn the wagon. Numerous items were thrown at the wagon and when the police tried to shelter themselves inside the Stonewall Inn, items were beginning to be thrown at the inn as well. The Tactical Police Force of the New York City Police Department arrived on the scene to free the police inside the inn and arrest anyone they could. By 4:00 in the morning, the streets cleared, 13 people had been arrested, some people in the crowd had been hospitalized and four police officers were injured. As for the Stonewall Inn, it was in shambles. The place was almost completely destroyed and had suffered a large amount of damage. News of the event spread and there were a couple of crowds gathered after it. The events of this day are still acknowledged today, for June 28, 1969 marked a great day in history.
The Stonewall Riot inspired some people in Seattle to have a sense of activism.

Various organizations such as the Dorian Society, Seattle Gray Alliance, and the Lesbian Resource Center used this energy to work towards getting new legal acknowledgement of their rights as citizens. Support coming from the Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities even helped the community of cross-dressers feel comfortable enough to go out in the open. In 1973, a momentous occasion occurred that gave the LGBT community protection against job discrimination and other mistreatment. The revision of the Fair Employment Practices Ordinance was passed with the help of City Councilmember Jeanette Williams. Tolerance continued to increase throughout the 1970s in Seattle and even resulted in an annual Gay Pride Week. The LGBT community was finally starting to be

accepted.
The Gay Rights Movement continued to have its ups and downs throughout the years.

However, tolerance continued to increase and resulted in many good things for the community. The first gay minister was ordained by the United Christian Church in 1972. There were even political wins as openly gay and lesbian representatives, such as Benny Frank and Elaine Noble, were elected. With all the positivity, the Gay Rights Movement hit a snag in the 1980s when gay male community was horribly stricken by the AIDS epidemic. Support still continued to grow especially in 1987 and 1993 when marches were held in Washington and as many as 1 million supporters attended. As support continued to grow throughout the years, the homosexual community gained more and more wins with one of the biggest wins of all occurring in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal in all 50 states, although gay marriage was legal in other parts of the world before

then.
The Gay Rights Movement had both positive and negative tolerance, even now. At its early stages, the movement was purely negative tolerance. Not a single part of the world accepted gays and punished them severely for it. Throughout the years, the fight for tolerance has gotten better. Today, they are many open members of the LGBT community that live just as normally as those who are heterosexual. Some members of the LGBT community even hold high positions of authority. Of course, there are still those who don’t accept homosexuality. Even though there is still mistreatment of gays and lesbians today, tolerance continues to get better through the opening of more opportunities, an increase of support, and an increase in the equally of those who are LGBT.