Gay Rights Movement

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One day in May 1988, Rebecca Wight and Claudia Brenner were backpacking on the Appalachian Trail in south central Pennsylvania. Claudia was thirty-one, and Rebecca was twenty-eight. Along the trail, they encountered a stranger who tried to involve them in conversation. Suddenly, the quiet of the afternoon was shattered by gunfire. Claudia was hit in the arm, neck, and face. Rebecca struck in the back and head; the shot in her back exploded her liver and killed her. The stranger, Stephen Roy Carr, shot them because they were lesbians (Oliver 8). There were laws against this of course. However, unfortunately for people who identify as homosexual, not many of these laws were followed for the reason that discrimination against gay people was clearly evident in America. When this incident happened, a social movement was well under way. This movement, of course, was the gay rights movement. One of the earlier accomplishments of the movement was in 1951, when the First National Gay Origination was founded. Yet, during the 1950s, it would have been immensely illegal and dangerous to register any kind of pro-gay organizations (Head). The gay rights movement continues to create and achieve goals even today. Many people did not support the movement; however, fortunately the gay rights movement had many followers from homosexual to straight people all over the country. Some memorable leaders would be Kathy Kozachenko, first openly gay women elected into politics, and Harvey Milk, first openly gay man elected into politics. In 1977 Harvey Milk won a seat in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. It was there that Milk delivers a famous and inspirational speech which would later be called the “Hope Speech”. The main idea to take away from th... ... middle of paper ... ...s movement affects people today because the gay rights movement made it safer and easier for gays to be able to come out into the world and be leaders for homosexuals and straight people everywhere. Works Cited Head, Tom. "The American Gay Rights Movement: A Short History." About.com. About.com, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. Hottman, Sarah. "Building a Movement." The Oregonian 31 May 2013, Sunrise ed., Local News: n. pag. eLibrary. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. "Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement." American Experience. WGBH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. Milk, Harvey. "Hope Speech." California Faith for Equality. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. Oliver, Marilyn Tower. Gay and Lesbian Rights. Springfield: Enslow, 1998. Print. Singleton, Dave. "40 Years Later: A Look Back at the Turning Point for Gay Rights." AARP. AARP, June 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

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