|
Year
|
In Houston/Texas
|
Other
Events in United States |
|
1960
|
|
May-The Daughters
of Bilitis sponsor a national convention of lesbians, probably the
first gathering focused on the topic of lesbianism in the U.S.
Virginia
(Charles) Prince begins publishing Transvestia Magazine. She
also founds Los Angeles' Hose and Heels Club and another organization
that develops into Tri-Ess
("The Society for the Second Self"). These organizations
are thought to be the first modern transgender support groups, and
the magazine is the first publication for and by transgender people. |
|
1961
|
|
Openly gay
club singer Jose
Sarria (founder of the Imperial
Court system) ran for the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco
by appealing exclusively to the gay community. Though he didn't
win, the campaign was historic. See this
link for a 2012 interview with Sarria, and more |
|
1962
|
|
Illinois
is the first state to decriminalize consensual sodomy, owing largely
to the efforts of a heterosexual lawyer whose law school roommate
had committed suicide because he was gay.
After the Black
Cat Raid and the "gayola" scandals local bar owners
start The Tavern Guild in San Francisco in an effort to fight police
corruption. It is the first gay business association in the United
States |
|
1963
|
Andy
Ruth opened the dance bar Roaring Twenties in 1963, at 2215 W. Dallas,
with manager Rita "Poppa Bear" Wanstrom. |
Publication of El
Paso native John Rechy’s City of Night. A breakthrough
in describing the underside of gay life
Barbara Gittings takes over publication of The Ladder |
|
1964
|
The
Red Room, a club in business
at 612 Hadley from 1964 until the Fall of 1974.
|
Council
on Religion and the Homosexual founded in San Francisco.
July 2: President Johnson signs
the “1964 Civil Rights Act” into law. The act prohibits
discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national
origin, but does not cover sexual orientation. Sex is added to
the bill at the last minute to "poison" it, but it passes
nonetheless. Courts later rule that sex does not include transsexuals.
Society
for Individual Rights (SIR), formed in San Francisco by William
Beardemphl, Jim Foster, Bill Plath, and others.
First demonstration for homosexual
civil rights, NYC, September 19, 1964
The national convention of the American Civil Liberties Union
modifies the organization’s position on sexual rights and
opposes government interference in the private sex lives of consenting
adults
|
|
1965
|
Phil
Johnson, Dallas, starts the Circle of Friends in Dallas. Although
only social in nature, it is the first gay society in Texas. He
also later founded the Gay Archives of Dallas, and was a prolific
writer on GLBT Texas history.
With financial backing from El Paso-born trans pioneer Reed Erickson,
one of the nation's first trans clinics opens in Johns Hopkins
Hospital at The University of Texas Medical Branch, with a stated
purpose to care for “gender dysphoric” patients.
August. The Albatross,
with Editor Bob Eddy (owner of the bar Showboat), was a slim publication
having the honor of being the first gay one in Houston, lasting
into 1968.
Robert's
Lafittes opens in Galveston, the oldest gay bar in Texas.
It was already in business when mentioned in the 1965 publication
Albatross.
|
April 25
Dewey's Lunch Counter, a popular downtown hangout spot for African-American
GLBT youth in Philadelphia, had begun to refuse service to young
patrons dressed in what they called 'non-conformist clothing.' On
April 25, 1965, more than 150 people in 'non-conformist clothing'
showed up and refused to leave.
May 25, 1965 - First openly gay demonstration for gay rights at
the White House
July 4, 1965
A small group of conservatively dressed lesbians and gay men picket
Independence Hall in Philadelphia in one of the first public demonstrations
for gay rights
July 31, 1965
Lesbian and gay demonstrators picket the Pentagon to protest discrimination
in the military
August 28, 1965
The State Department is picketed by gay and lesbian demonstrators
for the first time
Virginia Prince is arrested for distributing "Transvestia"
through the US Mail, starts public education effort in response. |
|
1966
|
|
Mattachine Society of NY, Sip-In, April 21,
1966
Compton
Cafeteria Riot occurred in August
The Society for Individual Rights opens the first gay community
center in the United States.
The National
Planning Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO) holds
the first national convention of gay and lesbian groups in San
Francisco.
The premiere of The
Group marks the first time the word "lesbian"
is used in a Hollywood movie
Harry Benjamin Publishes the Transexual
Phenomenon
Vanguard, the the first known gay youth organization in the United
States organized with the help of radical ministers working with
Glide Memorial Methodist Church, a center for progressive social
activism in the Tenderloin section of San Francisco
|
|
1967
|
Rita Wanstrom opens the Houston Lesbian
club The Roaring Sixties on June 23, 1967, at 2305 S.Shepherd
(the location is now covered by a larger building).
Rita “Papa Bear” Wanstrom
founds The
Tumblebugs, a group of women who raise money to hire legendary
lawyer Percy Foreman to defend those among their number who were
arrested during a bar raid, for cross-dressing (fly front pants
being illegal dress for females).
Promethean Society was formed by
Rita Wanstrom, Ray Hill, David Patterson.
|
Opened in
1967, Manhattan's Oscar
Wilde Memorial Bookshop was for a time the oldest gay bookstore
in the world, finally closing in 2009
The Student Homophile League of Columbia University becomes the
first gay group to obtain a campus charter |
|
1968
|
Promethean Society founders attend
the 4th annual conference of NACHO (North American Conference
of Homophile Organizations-originally the North American Homophile
Conference) in Chicago. The Resolution is passed to adopt "Gay
as Good" as the slogan for the homophile movement.
When the Promethean
Society floundered Rita Wanstrom founded the Texas Homophile Educational
Movement, THEM, which was short-lived but was the state's first
chartered homosexual organization.
The first Transgender organization
in Houston, a branch of The Foundation for Personal Expression
(FPE) is established.
Bar, The
Galleon, opened March 1968, in business on Richmond Ave until
Sept 1989.
|
In its official
listing of mental disorders, the American Psychiatric Association
re-categorizes homosexuality as a "sexual deviation" or
a non-psychotic mental disorder" Previously, the group has
considered homosexuality a "sociopathic" disorder.
The Rev. Troy Perry founds the Metropolitan
Community Church of Los Angeles. The first branch of the now-international
Metropolitan Community Church, which has a primarily gay and lesbian
membership. See
link for Houston early info
National Transsexual Counseling Unit founded in San Francisco. The
first such peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.
Boys
in the Band the first play to deal with openly gay characters
opened on April 14, 1968 at Theater Four in New York where it ran
for 1000 performances, becoming a film in 1970 |
|
1969
|
Miss
Camp America founded in Houston
The Texas Conference of Churches formed |
June 28,1969
The
Stonewall Riots occur
July 4. The Daughters of Bilitis and Mattachine Society members
picket Independence Hall in Philadelphia for the fifth and last
time
July 27. The Mattachine Society of New York held a one-month after
Stonewall rally in Washington Square park. It urged people to be
open and to wear a lavender armband. Marshals would wear lavender
sashes. Three or four hundred people showed up at what was the first
Post-Stonewall gay pride rally
September 3. The American Sociological Association condemns "oppressive
actions against any persons for reasons of sexual preference."
It is the first national professional organization to voice support
of gay and lesbian civil rights
Under the leadership of Fr. Patrick Nidorf, OSA, Dignity
begins as a counseling group in San Diego |
1940s
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