Nationalizing Gay Rights

LGBTQ people experienced discrimination throughout the twentieth century. There were many efforts to combat this discrimination, but one key strategy was the development of a language of rights to present to people in power. From the mid-1960s to the late 1970s, various contingencies in the homophile and gay liberation movements struggled to develop a common language with which to argue for rights for homosexuals. Part of this struggle was the inclusion of lesbians under the term “gay.” This exhibit chronicles the efforts of three national groups to develop a language of gay rights between the mid-1960s and late 1970s in the United States. It also highlights how these various groups used that language to express their desire for change on a national level.