(The following are some important dates in the gay movement in the US. I wish gay men in other countries would put together a similar time chart for their countries. I will be more than happy to post it here.)

1969 June 27 in the earlier hours NYC police raid a small bar in the Greenwich Village. The men in blue were shocked when "the ladies in pink" fought back. Gay men were supposed to go quietly to the fate that god and society had previously demanded. The riots when on for three days, and the bar gave its name to the gay revolution: Stonewall

1970 First Gay Pride Protest March on Stonewall First Anniversary. The city allowed the marchers just one lane on Sixth Avenue.

1973 The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders.

1974 Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly homosexual American elected to public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan city council.

1977 Singer Anita Bryant fights gay agenda and gives national recognition to gay rights.

1978 Harvey Milk is elected city-county supervisor in San Francisco, becoming the third out American elected to public office and is murder in office eleven months after his election.

1979 The first national homosexual rights march on Washington, DC is held with 70,000 gay and gay supporters showing up.

1980 The United States Democratic Party becomes the first major political party in the U.S. to endorse a homosexual rights platform plank

1982 Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

1983 Gerry Stubbs comes out and is the first openly gay man to serve in the US Congress.

1986 The US Supreme court rules in Bowers Vs Harwick that there is NO fundalmental right of homosexuals to commit Sodomy, not even in privacy. (This ruling would be reversed by the Court in 2003.)

1986 Alaska bans same sex marriage.

1993 The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is instituted for the U.S. military. It has led to the discharge of thousands of men and women in the armed forces at great cost to lives and military effectiveness.

1996 In Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court strikes down Colorado's Amendment 2, which denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, calling them "special rights." According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, "We find nothing special in the protections Amendment 2 withholds. These protections constitute ordinary civil life in a free society."
September: The US Congress passed the Defense of Marriage acts which allows states to ignore the legality of same sex marriages performed in other states and defines marriage as "a union between one man and one woman."

1998 Matthew Shepard is brutally murdered.

2000 Vermont becomes the first state in the country to legally recognize civil unions between gay or lesbian couples.

2003 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that sodomy laws in the U.S. were unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct."
November: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that barring gays and lesbians from marrying violates the state constitution.

2004 On May 17, same-sex marriages become legal in Massachusetts.

2005 Civil unions become legal in Connecticut in October.

2006 Civil unions become legal in New Jersey in December.

2007 In November, the House of Representatives approves a bill ensuring equal rights in the workplace for gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals.

2008 In February, a New York State appeals court unanimously votes that valid same-sex marriages performed in other states must be recognized by employers in New York, granting same-sex couples the same rights as other couples.
February: The state of Oregon passed a law that allowed same-sex couples to register as domestic partners allowing them some spousal rights of married couples.
May 15: The California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. By November 3rd, more than 18,000 same-sex couples had married. On November 4th, California voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage called Proposition 8.
November 4: Voters in California, Arizona, and Florida approved the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage. Arkansas passed a measure intended to bar gay men and lesbians from adopting children.
October 10: The Supreme Court of Connecticut rules that same-sex couples have the right to marry. This made Connecticut the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize civil marriage for same-sex couples.

2009 On April 3 the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rejects the state law banning same-sex marriage. Twenty-one days later, county recorders are required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
April 7: The Vermont Legislature voted to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry, legalizing same-sex marriage. It was the first state to legalize gay marriage through the Legislature instead of the courts.
June 3: New Hampshire Governor signed into law a gay marriage bill becoming the sixth US State where gay marriage is legal.