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40 years, 40 events

by Jessica Carreras

June 28, 1969 Police raid the Stonewall Inn of New York City, causing the infamous uprising of LGBT protestors in the Stonewall Riots.

1969 The Advocate, first published as local newsletter The Los Angeles Advocate, is renamed and distributed nationally.

1970 The first gay marches are held in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco one year after Stonewall.

1971 Dr. Frank Kameny becomes first openly gay candidate for the United States Congress, running for a District of Columbia seat.

1971 University of Michigan opens the first-ever collegiate LGBT programs office, originally called the Human Sexuality Office.

1972 East Lansing and Ann Arbor become two of the first cities in the U.S. to pass a homosexual rights ordinance.

1972 Jim Foster of San Francisco and Madeline D. Davis of Buffalo are the first gay and lesbian delegates to attend the Democratic National Convention.

1973 The National Gay Task Force, the first national LGBT rights organization in the U.S., is founded. It was later renamed as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

1973 American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and Mental Disorders.

1974 Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly homosexual American elected to public office, winning a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council.

1977 New York Supreme Court rules that United States Tennis Association must allow transgender tennis pro Renee Richards to play as a woman. The ruling establishes that in the U.S., transgender people must be recognized in their new identity after reassignment.

1978 San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White.

1978 The rainbow flag is used for the first time as a symbol of gay pride. Designed by Gilbert Baker, the original eight-striped version first flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Celebration.

1979 Activists hold the first gay rights march on Washington, D.C.

1980 The Democratic Party endorses homosexual rights in its platform at the DNC for the first time.

1980 David McReynolds is the first openly gay person to run for U.S. President with the Socialist Party.

1980 The Human Rights Campaign is founded.

1981 The first case of AIDS is reported, contracted by a gay man in Los Angeles.

1982 The first Gay Games is held in San Francisco.

1982 The Gay Men's Health Crisis is formed in response to the AIDS epidemic.

1982 Wisconsin becomes the first state to ban discrimination against homosexuals.

1983 Massachusetts Rep. Gerry Studds announces on the House of Representative floor that he is gay, outing himself as the first openly gay member of Congress.

1987 The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, also known as ACT UP, stages its first major demonstration.

1989 The second march on Washington, D.C. is held.

1989 The Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center is founded in Ferndale.

1990 Congress signs the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act into law. It is the largest Federal contribution to research and treatment of HIV/AIDS ever.

1991 The Triangle Foundation is founded in Detroit.

1993 The third march on Washington, D.C. is held.

1994 The HOPE Fund is started by the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan to support projects that help the LGBT community.

1998 Matthew Shepard is murdered, galvanizing the LGBT community to push for support of anti-bullying efforts and legislation.

1999 California adopts a domestic partnership law.

2000 Vermont becomes the first state to legalize civil unions.
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2003 Homosexual acts become legal in all 50 states as the last of the sodomy laws are struck down by U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas.

2003 Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage.

2004 Eleven states ban same-sex marriage, including Michigan.

2007 The Michigan Supreme Court bans domestic partnership benefits based on Proposal 2, which banned same-sex marriage in the state in 2004.

2008 Connecticut legalizes same-sex marriage.

2008 Detroit City Council adds gender identity and expression to its list of protected traits in its anti-discrimination ordinance.

2009 Iowa, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire legalize same-sex marriage.

2009 The California Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8, a measure voted on by citizens of the state that labels marriage as only between a man and a woman.

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