Are there any gay people that legally renamed themselves

Last Updated: May 28, The gay rights movement in the United States has seen huge progress in the last century, and especially the last two decades. Laws prohibiting homosexual activity have been struck down; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals can now serve openly in the military.

And same-sex couples can now legally get married and adopt children in all 50 states. But it has been a long and bumpy road for gay rights proponents, who are still advocating for employment, housing and transgender rights. During his U. Police raids caused the group to disband in —but 90 years later, the U.

Homosexual prisoners at the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, Germany, wearing pink triangles on their uniforms on December 19, For example, English poet and author Radclyffe Hall stirred up controversy in when she published her lesbian-themed novel, The Well of Loneliness.

And during World War IIthe Nazis held homosexual men in concentration camps, branding them with the infamous pink triangle badge, which was also given to sexual predators. Additionally, inin his book Sexual Behavior in the Human MaleAlfred Kinsey proposed that male sexual orientation lies on a continuum between exclusively homosexual to exclusively heterosexual.

Though it started off small, the foundation, which sought to improve the lives of gay men through discussion groups and related activities, expanded after founding member Dale Jennings was arrested in for solicitation and then later set free due to a deadlocked jury.

At the end of the year, Jennings formed another organization called One, Inc. Jennings was ousted from OneInc. InOne, Inc. That same year, four lesbian couples in San Francisco founded an organization called the Daughters of Bilitis, which soon began publishing a newsletter called The Ladderthe first lesbian publication of any kind.

The Global Divide on Homosexuality

These early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a form of mental disorder in The following year, President Dwight D. This ban would remain in effect for some 20 years. The Stonewall Inn Riots sparked the beginning of the gay rights movement in America.

Learn how. The gay rights movement saw some early progress In the s. InIllinois became the first state to do away with its anti-sodomy laws, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality, and a local TV station in California aired the first documentary about homosexuality, called The Rejected.

InDr. But more than 10 years earlier, transgender individuals entered the American consciousness when Christine Jorgensen came out as a trans woman, following gender confirmation surgery. In fear of being shut down by authorities, bartenders would deny drinks to patrons suspected of being gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drinks but force them to sit facing away from other customers to prevent them from socializing.

They were denied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Julius, resulting in much publicity and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor laws. A few years later, ina now-famous event catalyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall Riots. The clandestine gay club Stonewall Inn was an institution in Greenwich Village because it was large, cheap, allowed dancing and welcomed drag queens and homeless youths.

Fed up with years of police harassment, patrons and neighborhood residents began throwing objects at police as they loaded the arrested into police vans. The scene eventually exploded into a full-blown riot, with subsequent protests that lasted for five more days. During the early hours of June 28,the Stonewall Inn was raided by police with no warning.