Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement

Out of the civil rights movements came several different movements, including the gay and lesbian liberation movement. Traditional notions of gender and sexuality were being challenged and the movement developed into a push for greater socioeconomic equality for gays and lesbians.

Many historians point to the Stonewall Riots in 1969 as the beginning of the movement. In Greenwich Village in New York, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, was raided by the police. Harassment against the LGBTQ community was common even in to police force at this time. The Stonewall uprising was a pivotal moment in the liberation movement because it brought grievances of gays and lesbians into political discourse and unified the cause for gay liberation.

Gay- rights groups in the earlier and smaller homophile movement of the 1950s sought to increase tolerance for homosexuality with a more cautious approach. However, these groups were often hindered by the lack of political support because they were neither an ethnic group or a distinct class, but instead considered "victims of moral and medical defect". In the 1960s, these groups were seen as too accommodating to medical and legal groups. Some began protesting the ban of homosexuals in the military and civil service jobs.

Following the Stonewall uprising, activist groups began to take a more militant approach to gay and lesbian liberation. By the 1970s, groups such as the Gay Liberation Front, the Radicalesbians, and the Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries began to form. These groups demanded civil rights legislation from representatives like Mayor Lindsay and Governor Rockefeller. They protested police brutality at gay bars and held "zaps" or public protests to draw attention to the movement. They also established the annual gay pride parade, which demonstrated to people that the LGBTQ community were unified, outspoken constituencies.

Sources:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/a-glimpse-into-1970s-gay-activism/284077/

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/nypl-stonewall-post/