The Gay Rights Movement

Paper Summary:

The paper presents an exhaustive synthesis of the gay rights movement in the United States. This paper begins with an examination of early gay rights movements, focusing particularly on Germany, for it is nearly impossible to understand the movement without first examining its roots. Next, as this synthesis turns its focus to the gay rights movement in the United States, the paper comments that the movement erupted into a global effort to ensure the equality of gays in society. The paper comments on the phenomenon of how the homosexuals reached the position that they occupy today. Moreover,the paper asks, if one examines this progress, is it possible to predict the path in which the gay rights and culture movement is going?

Outline:
Introduction
Early Gay Movements in Germany
Gay Rights in the United States
The Years Leading Up to Stonewall
Stonewall: A Watershed Moment in Gay Rights
Post-Stonewall Movements
The 1980s and 1990s
Gay Rights in the Twenty-first Century
The Future for Gays: The End of Gay Culture

From the Paper:

"The history of homosexuality is weaved inextricably into the history of the world. Ample evidence of homosexual relations has existed as far back as written records can substantiate. As the purpose of this synthesis is not to provide an overview of homosexual history, its focus will begin with the birth of gay rights organizations. This benchmark occurred in Germany in 1897, when the first social movement to advance the civil rights of gay people was founded in Germany. In order to understand correctly where this early gay movement came from and where today's movement is going, it is imperative to examine the social conditions that made the movements possible."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adam, Barry D. The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement. (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987).
• Blasius, Mark and Shane Phalen. We Are Everywhere: A Historical Sourcebook of Gay and Lesbian Politics. (New York: Routledge, 1997).
• Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality : Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1980.
• D'Emilio, John. Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983).
• Gallagher, John & Chris Bull. Perfect Enemies: The Religious Right, the Gay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s. (New York, Crown, 1996).

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