During The Quiet Age, the LGBTQ community was forced behind the curtain. Beginning in the 1960s, this community began to find their voice in the streets, on print and on screen as the Stonewall riots provided the catalysts for change. While there was great backlash to this change, the LGBTQ community made great strides towards equality.
Violence Breaks the Silence
Compton's Cafeteria Riot
Compton's Cafeteria was a haven for trans women in the early 1960s San Francisco until one early morning in August 1966 when police raided the cafeteria, arresting individuals under the crime of "female impersonation." A riot broke out after one of the women threw a cup of coffee in an officer's face. The film director of Scream Queens (2005), Susan Stryker, described the riot as "the transgender community's debut on the stage of American political history." Compton's riot served as the precursor to the Stonewall Inn riots and their influence.
Article: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/05/05/404459634/ladies-in-the-streets-before-stonewall-transgender-uprising-changed-lives
Article: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/05/05/404459634/ladies-in-the-streets-before-stonewall-transgender-uprising-changed-lives
Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall riots started on June 28th, 1969; they became symbolic of the growing confidence of the LGBT community. Police raided the Stonewall Inn, which triggered a violent protest that lasted six days and included thousands of people. This commotion received a lot of media coverage, bringing attention to the issue.
Article: https://theswamp.media/learn-your-gay-history-stonewall-riots-june-28-1969
Article: https://theswamp.media/learn-your-gay-history-stonewall-riots-june-28-1969
Champions of the Awakening
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk is one of the nation’s first openly gay elected officials. He was known as the “standard-bearer” of the gay liberation movement. Before his assassination in 1978, he helped stop a conservative backlash against LGBT equality through his Briggs Initiative, which barred gay people from teaching in California's public schools.
Article: https://www.advocate.com/world/2016/7/08/20-lgbt-people-who-changed-world#slide-9
Article: https://www.advocate.com/world/2016/7/08/20-lgbt-people-who-changed-world#slide-9
Murder of Matthew Shepard
October 6th, 1998. Openly gay college student Matthew Shepard is tied to a fence and fatally beaten because of his sexual orientation. His death sparked large debates about hate crimes and the lack of legislation towards them, and his murder case became one of the most famous in Wyoming history.
Article: https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/matthew-shepard
On the Cover
Leonard Matlovich was pictured on TIME Magazine's cover in 1975 after "coming out" to his superior officer in a letter and subsequently discharged from the Air Force. TIME shared his story, bringing the spotlight to his previously private life. Matlovitch used this platform to launch his advocacy work for gay rights around the country.
His epitaph reads:
"When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."
Article: http://time.com/4019076/40-years-leonard-matlovich/
Since the first episode of The Ellen Show, the gossip columns were abuzz with rumors about Ellen DeGeneres' sexuality. In 1997, Ellen sat down with TIME to put those rumors to bed. Her interview address a lot of the fear and anxiety that many queer individuals felt about "coming out." But she mentions that the world has finally come to point where she can share her sexuality.
Excerpt from feature article:
TIME: So, for the record, are you yourself gay?
Ellen DeGeneres: Yes. You’re the first person that I’ve—I mean I knew that I was going to—that was one of the things when I decided to have my character on the show come out, I knew I was going to have to come out too. But I didn’t want to talk about it until the show was done. And you know, I watched my friend Melissa [Etheridge] come out, and she became “the lesbian rock star.” I never wanted to be “the lesbian actress.” I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.
TIME: Why now?
DeGeneres: I don’t think I could have done this a long time ago, and I don’t think people would have accepted it as readily as they do now. Now I feel comfortable with myself, and I don’t have to be fearful about something damaging my career if it gets out, because now I’m in control of it—sort of. No one can hurt me now.
Ellen's historic decision to be the cover model, brought in a wide variety of responses to the magazine. Thousands wrote the magazine letters, displaying both admiration and condemnation. This photo caused a massive shift in how the gay community was talked about as Ellen was a powerhouse even then. The title "Yep, I'm Gay," showed the frivolity of a person's sexuality instead of something that needs to be treated so exact as Matlovitch's "I Am a Homosexual."
Article: http://time.com/4728994/ellen-degeneres-1997-coming-out-cover/
Excerpt from feature article:
TIME: So, for the record, are you yourself gay?
Ellen DeGeneres: Yes. You’re the first person that I’ve—I mean I knew that I was going to—that was one of the things when I decided to have my character on the show come out, I knew I was going to have to come out too. But I didn’t want to talk about it until the show was done. And you know, I watched my friend Melissa [Etheridge] come out, and she became “the lesbian rock star.” I never wanted to be “the lesbian actress.” I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.
TIME: Why now?
DeGeneres: I don’t think I could have done this a long time ago, and I don’t think people would have accepted it as readily as they do now. Now I feel comfortable with myself, and I don’t have to be fearful about something damaging my career if it gets out, because now I’m in control of it—sort of. No one can hurt me now.
Ellen's historic decision to be the cover model, brought in a wide variety of responses to the magazine. Thousands wrote the magazine letters, displaying both admiration and condemnation. This photo caused a massive shift in how the gay community was talked about as Ellen was a powerhouse even then. The title "Yep, I'm Gay," showed the frivolity of a person's sexuality instead of something that needs to be treated so exact as Matlovitch's "I Am a Homosexual."
Article: http://time.com/4728994/ellen-degeneres-1997-coming-out-cover/
The Conversation Turns to AIDS
Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement — the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?
Speakes: What’s AIDS?
Q: Over a third of them have died. It’s known as “gay plaque.” [laughter] No, it is. I mean it’s a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this has died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?
Speakes: I don’t have it. Do you? [laughter]
October 15, 1982, was the first time "AIDS" was mentioned in the White House. Reporter Lester Kinsolving's questions were met with ignorance about the existence of such a disease and treated with a general levity from Press Secretary Larry Speakes. While hundreds of people were dying across the nation, the White House still saw AIDS as a taboo topic.
Article: http://www.slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/12/trump-administration-wont-appeal-trans-troops-ban-to-the-supreme-court.html
Article: http://www.slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/12/trump-administration-wont-appeal-trans-troops-ban-to-the-supreme-court.html
Philadelphia Paints the Ugly Discrimination Against AIDS Victims
Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l433n5zAxAU
Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia (1993) was the first major motion picture to tackle to impact of AIDS on the gay community and the discriminatory backlash. The goal was to bring "gay" and "AIDS" together in conversation while also depicting the truth of a gay relationship. Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington gave landmark performances as a lawyer who has AIDS and fired from his firm (Hanks); his lawyer in the suit against the firm (Washington).
David Kirby Redefines What AIDS Looks Like
David Kirby was a gay rights activist in the 1980s. He was diagnosed with AIDS in the latter half of the decade. TIME photographed him in 1990 hours before his death. He is pictured here surrounded by his family. This horrific photograph struck a chord with readers across the country. Before this spread, the image associated with AIDS had been one of prevention as no one was talking about what AIDS physically did to the human body.
Article: http://time.com/3503000/behind-the-picture-the-photo-that-changed-the-face-of-aids/
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was introduced to Congress in May of 1996 and signed into law in September of the same year by President Clinton. This was a detrimental setback in the legal campaign to afford queer rights. DOMA defined "spouse" and "marriage" as only applying to opposite-sex couples as far as the government was concerned. While it did not make homosexual marriage federally illegal, it did not recognize that validity of those marriages for taxes, insurance benefits and all other benefits applicable to heterosexual marriage.
Here is an excerpt from DOMA Section 3:
‘Sec. 7. Definition of ‘marriage’ and ‘spouse’‘In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.’.
Article: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hr3396/summary
Here is an excerpt from DOMA Section 3:
‘Sec. 7. Definition of ‘marriage’ and ‘spouse’‘In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.’.
Article: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hr3396/summary
Cover Photo: i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/00/2f/ee002f785273602bfa586e213a6c0f97.jpg.