Gay Marriage

The Society for Human Rights in Chicago became the country's earliest known gay rights organization.

The New York Times becomes the first major publication to use the word "homosexuality."

Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, revealing to the public that homosexuality is far more widespread than was commonly believed.

The Mattachine Society, the first national gay rights organization, is formed by Harry Hay in Los Angeles, considered by many to be the founder of the gay rights movement.

Illinois becomes the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in private.

Riots follow a police raid on the gay bar Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, New York. It is seen as the start of the gay rights movement in the U.S and around the world.

Jack Baker and James Michael McConnell apply for a marriage license in Hennipen County, Minnesota.

The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders.

About 75,000 people participated in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, D.C., in October.

At the 1980 Democratic National Convention held at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Democrats took a stance supporting gay rights.