Movement Successes
The Gay Rights Movement has been marked by many smaller victories and has gained footholds of acceptance along the way, but each step has been not come easy. Often a success for the LGBT community is followed immediately by a loss as counter-movement voices and influences battle against them. The status of Gay adoption and Gay marriage are two examples - both having limited victories in legislatures and courtrooms, but experience and equal or greater than amount of resistance in the same venues. The movement is not without large successes, however.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
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The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the most recent and probably the most significant gay rights victory in several decades. The move comes at a time where a significant amount of patriotism has been felt, and the realization that thousands of men and women serving the United States in the Armed Forces are in fact homosexual. The stigma of gays in the military and the negative connotations persisted for a very long time. However as the US Service-member paradigm shifted from mainly peacetime to war in decades past, it became harder to deny that a Soldier fighting for their country, completing the tasks of the President and Congress, and at many times sacrificing their lives, can be gay.
Gay Christians
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The Presbyterian church recently voted to allow gay clergy to be ordained and serve. They aren't the first, but it's a definite example of success for the LGBT community in general, seeing as the Christian community at large has been one of the strongest, if not the strongest, opponents in the quest for equality and acceptance. With the coming out of gay Christians (and other religious faiths) and the acceptance by such large bodies of believers, it paved the way for Christian leadership to gain a foothold. The Gay Rights Movement now holds stock in mainstream religion, which certainly isn't bad PR.
Stonewall
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The Stonewall Uprising took place on June 28th, 1969. Police raided a bar known for hosting homosexual individuals as patrons. What started as a police raid ended in a riot, and more followed. These events marked the gay community fighting back in unity, and with organized structure. Many remember Stonewall Inn as the night that the LGBT community stood up for itself and demanded to be recognized and treated with dignity and respect.