So-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law confuses some Florida schools

In the early hours of June 28, 1969, the New York Police Department unwittingly helped start the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. At the time, clubs with gay or lesbian patrons weren’t allowed to serve alcohol, but the Stonewall Inn still served booze to their customers, which gave police cause to raid the bar. The clientele pushed back, and 13 people were arrested. LGBTQ+ people and allies protested for days. Among the crowd was transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, who later founded Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization that provided resources for transgender youth.

After the events at Stonewall—which the NYPD eventually apologized for in 2019—more and more people pushed for LGBTQ+ equality. Activists organized the first LGBTQ+ marches in the United States and around the world, giving rise to annual pride parades. In 1973, the American Psychological Association no longer considered being gay or lesbian a mental illness, and the first openly lesbian politicians were elected in the following year. Currently, openly gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer candidates occupy political office, including in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Abroad, Iceland and Ireland both have openly gay prime ministers.

There is still more to be done yet, but since then, the government has passed laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and the Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage. More than two dozen countries have passed legislation giving marriage rights to everyone.

In the military, it took decades for gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members to win the right to enlist. And it wasn’t until 2011 that LGBTQ+ troops could openly serve in the United States armed forces. While the Obama administration repealed the ban on transgender troops in 2016, former President Donald Trump effectively reinstated the ban in 2019.

To find out more about LGBTQ+ history, Stacker combed through news reports and used data from the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to compile over 50 years of LGBTQ+ progress. Read on to see the evolution of this movement, from then to now.

You may also like: Looking back at 50 years of pride festivals

Anger erupted after New York City police arrested 13 people during a raid at the Stonewall Inn, a bar and safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. Advocates protested for days, even though police took action—even turning fire hoses onto the crowd. Many say the event catalyzed the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.

The events of Stonewall led to the creation of the GLF, a group that organized the Christopher Street Liberation Day in New York—now considered the first pride parade. It started with only a few hundred people, but by the time the group reached Central Park, thousands were marching for LGBTQ+ equality.

In 1972, Sweden became the first country to give people the right to legally change their gender on identifying documents. However, people needed to be over 18 years old, unmarried, and sterilized; the country didn’t remove the mandatory sterilization law until 2013. In some U.S. states, people still need to undergo gender-reassignment surgery to legally change their gender.

The United Kingdom held the country’s first LGBTQ+ pride parade on July 1, 1972. Britain’s GLF organized the event, and about 700 people showed up to march. Their slogan was simple: “Gay is good.”

The Lambda Legal organization was formed to offer legal support for LGBTQ+ equality, but first, they had to represent themselves to fight for the right to exist in New York. In the ’70s, the group fought for LGBTQ+ rights on the college and national levels. In 1983, they were successful in the first HIV/AIDS discrimination case in the U.S.

You may also like: How top Democratic candidates compare on major issues

Until the early ’70s, physicians could diagnose someone in a same-sex relationship as mentally ill. But in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed “homosexuality” from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or the DSM-II).

Kathy Kozachenko and Elaine Noble became the nation’s first openly lesbian or gay elected officials in 1974. Kozachenko won a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan, while Noble held a position in the Massachusetts General Assembly.

Harvey Milk made history when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay male politician elected in a major city. Before he was assassinated a year later, Milk helped pass city ordinances to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In 1978, Harvey Milk’s friend Gilbert Baker brought his 30-by-60-foot rainbow flag to an LGBTQ+ rights rally in San Francisco. Afterward, it became an enduring symbol of pride for the LGBTQ+ community. According to The Washington Post, Baker sometimes referred to himself as “the Betsy Ross of gay liberation.” He died in 2017 at the age of 65.

Thousands of people marched for equality in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. They gathered together to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, including within the federal government.

You may also like: 50 ways the news industry has changed in the last 50 years

In 1981, Norway amended its laws to include protections for LGBTQ+ people. The legislation stated that business owners couldn’t discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation nor deny them access to public events. Hate speech was also prohibited.

In 1981, the New York Times reported 41 gay men had been afflicted with a “rare cancer.” Doctors originally thought HIV/AIDS was a skin cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma. A year later, though, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) started calling the illness “acquired immune deficiency syndrome,” or AIDS.

In 1981, Rep. David Clarenbach (D-Wis.) brought forth a measure to protect LGBTQ+ people from employment discrimination in public and private sectors, making Wisconsin the first in the U.S. to pass a statewide law against such discrimination. The law also banned landlords from denying housing based on sexual orientation.

BiPOL, the first bisexual political group, started in San Francisco in 1983. They helped put on the Bisexual Rights Rally a year later, which took place outside the Democratic National Convention.

After ruling out cancer, researchers in France and the United States discovered that a retrovirus caused AIDS. Scientists hoped a vaccine would be available by the late ’80s, but it wasn’t until 2012 that the FDA approved PrEP, the first drug to help prevent the transmission of HIV. In 2019, two men were “cured” of AIDS after blood stem cell transplants. More than 35 million people have died of AIDS or related illnesses.

You may also like: A timeline of WWII, the most devastating conflict in history

After Michael Hardwick failed to show up for a court summons for public drinking, a police officer went to his house. That’s when he and a male friend were arrested for having consensual sex, which was illegal between two people of the same gender. The case, Bowers v. Hardwick, went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the state. The Court didn’t strike down sodomy laws until 2003.

After more than a decade of debate, New York City passed an anti-discrimination bill in 1986: Sexual orientation couldn’t be the basis of discrimination in employment, housing, or public accommodations.

The HIV/AIDS crisis continued into the late ’80s. In 1987, Princess Diana dispelled the myth that the disease could be transmitted by touch: without gloves, she shook the hand of an infected man at the opening of the United Kingdom’s first HIV/AIDS unit at the London Middlesex Hospital.

Although his straight allies and colleagues cautioned him against it, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) revealed his sexual orientation in 1987, making him the second openly gay congressman. Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.) reluctantly came out in 1983. Frank announced his retirement in 2011.

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) helped change the way people thought about the disease. Their slogan was simple but effective: “Silence = death.” Many say that the group jump-started a movement that led to the creation of HIV/AIDS drugs.

You may also like: Defining historical moments from the year you were born

A year after the second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, a group of activists founded National Coming Out Day (October 11), which aims to help LGBTQ+ people live openly.

Demark recognized same-sex domestic partnerships in 1989, which extended the rights of marriage to gay and lesbians couples. In 2010, same-sex couples in the country could register for adoptions, and by 2013, they could legally get married.

Activist Simon Nkoli helped start the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand. GLOW organized the first pride parade in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1990, where people also marched against apartheid. Some LGBTQ+ marchers were so scared of exposing themselves that they marched with bags over their faces. Only about 800 people gathered for the first parade; by 2018, that number swelled to 22,000.

Then-President Bill Clinton signed “don’t ask, don’t tell” as a compromise with Republicans: gay and lesbian service members could join the military, but they could not tell anyone about their sexual orientation. Some officials, including Colin Powell, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, voiced concerns about AIDS and whether gay and straight soldiers would have to live in the same quarters.

As the mid-’90s approached, the AMA told doctors to have “nonjudgmental recognition” of their gay, lesbian, and bisexual patients, and also stopped recommending that physicians try to “reverse” a patient’s sexual orientation. By 2019, Washington, D.C., and 18 states banned this type of conversion therapy.

You may also like: US cities with the dirtiest air

Until 1995, someone who was gay or lesbian might not get a federal security clearance because government officials considered sexual orientation a security risk, the rationale being that gay and lesbian people who kept their lives secret could be subject to blackmail. Then-President Bill Clinton signed an executive order ending the regulation.

In 1996, Clinton signed a law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In 2013, he wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post asking the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA. In the piece, Clinton wrote he believed the law to be “incompatible with our constitution,” and the Court agreed with him.

After she started the Gay-Straight Alliance at her Utah high school, Kelli Peterson, a 17-year-old lesbian senior, made national news. The administration didn’t want to allow her LGBTQ+ group but the Equal Access Act meant the school couldn’t legally prevent them from meeting. Instead, Salt Lake City's Board of Education banned all high school clubs. Students sued the school and a federal judge ruled in their favor.

Ellen DeGeneres told the world she was a lesbian on the cover of TIME magazine. Then, her television character, Ellen Morgan, became the first openly LGBTQ+ lead in a sitcom. DeGeneres won an Emmy for her performance, but her show was canceled a year later. In 2003, she started her long-running eponymous talk show and later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Barack Obama.

Michael Page created the pink, purple, and blue bisexual pride flag in the late ’90s. In 1999, Page and other activists created Bi Visibility Day, which is celebrated every September 23.

You may also like: The only 7 countries that are on track to meet the Paris Agreement—and how they're doing it

A 1997 lawsuit led Vermont to pass a bill guaranteeing same-sex partners the same legal rights as married people. The Vermont Supreme Court held that the state was unconstitutionally discriminating against gay and lesbian couples. In 2009, Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage.

After changing one sentence in their legislation, gay and lesbian couples in the Netherlands were given the right to marry, divorce, and adopt. The Dutch country was the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

When New York City passed the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA), it became illegal to discriminate in work, housing, school, or public services based on someone’s sexual orientation.

The Supreme Court legalized all consensual sex acts between same-sex adults after the ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. “Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government,” wrote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

On May 17, 2004, Marcia Kadish and Tanya McCloskey became the first same-sex couple to get married in the U.S. A year earlier, the Massachusetts Supreme Court had ruled that the ban on marriage for gay and lesbian couples was illegal. It took until 2008 for another state (Connecticut) to follow.

You may also like: Best-run cities in America

Then-President Barack Obama enacted the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act to give the U.S. Department of Justice additional funding to investigate and prosecute hate crimes. This includes crimes committed based on a victim's race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Some activists, however, feel the law did not do enough to increase prosecution of crimes against LGBTQ+ people.

After same-sex marriage became legal in Iceland, the country’s openly lesbian prime minister wed her long-time partner. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and Jónína Leósdóttir were previously in a civil union. That same year, same-sex marriage became legal in Portugal and Argentina.

At 12:01 a.m. on September 20, 2011, “don’t ask, don’t tell” was no longer in effect. Then-President Barack Obama signed a law repealing the policy in December 2010. The decision allowed gay and lesbian troops to serve openly in the military.

Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay or lesbian senator in 2012. Before heading to the Senate, Baldwin served as one of only four openly gay members of the House.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court held that the Defense of Marriage Act—which stated that marriage could only be between a man and a woman—was unconstitutional. They also decided not to hear a case about Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. This paved the way for nationwide marriage equality, which would come two years later.

You may also like: Youngest and oldest presidents in US history

Under the Obama administration, the Department of Education extended Title IX coverage to transgender students. The civil rights law bans sex discrimination in schools or activities that are funded by the federal government. The Trump administration aimed to roll back trans protections and include only people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth in the legislation.

Transgender actress Laverne Cox became the first trans person nominated for an Emmy when she received the nod for her role in “Orange Is the New Black.” She also appeared on the cover of TIME the same year. Cox made history again in 2018 when she became the first openly trans person on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine.

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court historically ruled to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Justice Anthony Kennedy reasoned that the Constitution grants all couples “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.”

In June 2016, the military lifted the ban on transgender troops. That same month, the Obama administration dedicated the Stonewall Inn as a national monument, the first LGBTQ+ site added to the National Parks System.

Virginia voters made history in 2017 when they elected transgender candidate Danica Roem to their state legislature. That same year, then-President Donald Trump announced that the military would no longer accept transgender troops because of “tremendous medical costs and disruption.”

You may also like: US cities with the cleanest air

Voters elected more than 150 LGBTQ+ politicians to office in 2018. Among the history-makers at the time were Jared Polis, the openly gay governor of Colorado; U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Native American lesbian representing Kansas; and Malcolm Kenyatta, the first gay Black man elected to the Pennsylvania legislature.

Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. Only a year before, lawmakers voted to deny the right to same-sex couples.

Then-President Donald Trump’s restrictions on transgender people in the military went into effect on April 12, 2019. While the administration claims there is no ban, transgender troops are required to serve as the gender they were assigned at birth. Service members will receive a diagnosis of gender dysphoria if they admit they are transgender, which is grounds for dismissal. If a troop’s commander suspects they are transgender, they may be forced to reveal their status.

Democrat Pete Buttigieg is the second openly gay man to run for president of the United States. (In 2012, Fred Karger, a lesser-known Republican, became the first.) Buttigieg, who entered the Navy Reserves under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” has gained momentum since his bid.

The World Health Organization (WHO) no longer considers being transgender a mental illness. The WHO removed “gender identity disorder” from the International Classification of Diseases, which is a global manual for diagnosing mental illness. The update may help put an end to the practice of forcing transgender people to get surgery and forced sterilization in order to legally change their gender.

For the first time since its inception, the NYC Pride March was canceled out of an abundance of safety and due to social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic. Other events around the globe were similarly canceled. But that hardly means Pride Month was off—instead, virtual events have since become common during the month of June to celebrate the historic milestones of the LGBTQ+ movement and to observe the battles still being fought for equal rights today.

You may also like: Countries that have mandatory voting

Just five days after taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that overturned the previous administration’s ban on transgender people in the military. Before the ban in 2017, it was estimated 2,450 service members were transgender, with about 0.1% of the total force seeking gender-related treatments. The Trump administration deemed gender-affirming care too expensive for the military to budget when in actuality it would only increase military spending by 0.04% to 0.13%.

A law passed in Arkansas banned physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming health care to minors—even with parental consent. Trans children in the state were immediately unable to access trans-related health care, health care which has been proven to lower the risk of suicide among transgender youth. In July 2021, following a court case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spurred by protests and activists, the bill was overturned and gender-affirming care was once again accessible for minors.

Across the pond, in December 2020, the U.K.’s High Court ruled transgender children under the age of 16 could not consent to receive trans-affirming health care. Trans youth seeking medical treatment needed to consult a judge before receiving care. The National Health Service (NHS) appealed the decision and won in September 2021. Roughly 2,400 children a year in the U.K. seek gender-affirming health care through the NHS, making this overturned case paramount for a significant number of minors.

In September 2021, a two-thirds majority in Switzerland voted to legalize gay marriage in a referendum vote. This referendum also extended family rights for same-gender couples, allowing them to adopt children and permitting couples of two women to have children through sperm donation. The new ruling will be enforced in July 2022. Switzerland is one of the last Western European countries to legalize same-sex marriage.

In Japan, the country inched closer to marriage equality in a ruling which claimed to bar same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Gay marriage is not yet legal in Japan, but this ruling will likely set a precedent for future legislation.

As of May 2022, over 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 36 states across the U.S. in 2022, some of which have become law in eight states. In Florida, one such measure—dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics—prohibits elementary school teachers from educating students in grades K-3 about sexual orientation or gender identity. Another law in Alabama that criminalizes gender-affirming medical care for trans youth was partially blocked by a judge in May. A significant number of these bills specifically target transgender people.

10. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas: I wrestled with who should get the final spot on the list -- considering Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley among others. I eventually settled on Cotton because a) I think he is the smartest politician of that group b) he represents the sort of muscular conservatism that I think very much would appeal to Trump voters if the former President isn't in the race and c) he will outwork almost any one else in the race. Cotton's challenges are clear: He would have to prove he could raise money to be competitive and he would have lots of work to do to raise his name identification among GOP base voters.

9. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida: Scott has been perennially underestimated in his political career. First, people said that he couldn't win the governorship. He served two terms in the job. Then they said he couldn't get elected to the Senate; he knocked off longtime Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson to do just that in 2018. Scott's ambitions are clearly national in scope; his decision to release a policy agenda that he wants to implement if Republicans retake control of the Senate in 2023 is proof of that.

8. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin: Two things are true about the Virginia governor: 1) He was just elected to his first public office in 2021 and 2) He is term limited out of that job in 2025. That second point means that Youngkin, necessarily, is already keeping one eye on his future. His successful win in Virginia in 2021 was widely touted as evidence that the GOP can keep the Trump base of the party happy while also appealing to critical swing, suburban voters. I tend to think Youngkin is more VP material in the end but the success and notoriety derived from his 2021 campaign means he can't be ignored if he goes for the top job.

7. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gets the most 2024 buzz among the Republican state executives -- more on that below -- Abbott has effectively used his perch as the top elected official in Texas to position himself for a presidential race as well. Abbott has been open about his interest in the race -- "We'll see what happens," he said in the wake of the 2020 election -- but has to win his reelection bid against former Rep. Beto O'Rourke first.

6. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley: You can count on one hand the number of high-profile Trump appointees who left the administration on good terms with the former president. Haley, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, is one of them. "She's done a fantastic job and we've done a fantastic job together," Trump said when Haley left in 2018. "We've solved a lot of problems and we're in the process of solving a lot of problems." But, Haley has also publicly flip-flopped on Trump; she was openly critical of him in the aftermath of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol before falling in line behind him once it became clear that the party's base didn't view January 6 as disqualifying for the former president.

5. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas: Don't forget that the Texas senator was the runner-up to Trump in the 2016 presidential race. And that, after a rocky relationship with Trump during the fall of 2016, Cruz has gone out of his way to make nice with the man who suggested his father might have been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cruz's stronger-than-expected 2016 run should not be discounted -- he has organizations in early states and a national fundraising base that is unmatched by those below him on this list.

4. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina: Like a number of people on this list, it's hard to imagine the South Carolina Senator running for president if Trump is in the field. (Scott is on record as saying he would back a Trump 2024 campaign.) But, in a Trump-less field, Scott is deeply intriguing: He is the first Black senator elected from the Deep South since Reconstruction and the first Black Republican to serve in the Senate since 1979. He's built a reliably conservative (and pro Trump) record during his nine years in the Senate while showing a willingness to work across the aisle when possible. If Republicans decide they need a new face to lead their party, Scott is at the front of that line.

3. Former Vice President Mike Pence: I really struggled on where the former vice president belonged on this list. On the one hand, he has been disowned by Trump (and the former president's loyalists) for refusing to overturn the 2020 electoral college results. On the other, Pence has tons of residual name identification from his four years as vice president and retains a solid base of support among religious conservatives. The New York Times reported last month that Pence is trying to edge away from Trump as he considers running in 2024. That's going to be a very delicate dance.

2. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: There's a clear gap between the Florida governor and the rest of the Republican field not named "Donald Trump." DeSantis even managed to beat out the former President in a straw poll conducted at a Colorado conservative political conference over the weekend. DeSantis can't take his eye off the ball -- he is running for a second term this fall -- but he has, to date, very effectively used his day job as a way to boost his national profile.

1. Former President Donald Trump: If you want to find cracks in the Trump foundation, you can do it; his endorsed candidates in governor's races in places like Georgia, Nebraska and Idaho lost primaries earlier this year. But, that would miss the forest for the trees. The simple fact is that Trump remains the prime mover in Republican Party politics. If he runs -- and I absolutely believe he will -- he starts in a top tier all his own. The nomination is quite clearly his to lose -- which doesn't mean he can't lose it.

Gretchen Robinson, a lesbian high school teacher in Orange County, Fla., poses for a photo at the downtown library, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Educators are cautiously making changes as they wait to see how the new law governing lessons on gender and sexual orientation will be interpreted and enforced.