Celebrate Diversity: LGBT History

The Human Rights Campaign provides a glossary of terms about sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Below is a sampling of some common terms. Visit the HRC Glossary of Terms website for a complete list. 

• Bisexual- "A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity."
• Cisgender - A person whose gender identity aligns with the biological sex assigned to them at birth.
• Gay - A person who is attracted to members of the same gender.
• Gender Identity - "One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth."
• Lesbian - A woman who is attracted to other women.
• Non-binary - "An adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman."
• Queer - "A term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations."
• Transgender - "An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc."

LGBTQ patients face discrimination that negatively impacts their health care.

According to the CDC (2014), members of the LGBTQ community are at a higher risk than heterosexual peers for a number of illnesses; some of the causes of these disparities are rooted in social and structural inequalities, including the stigma and discrimination the LGBTQ community faces. Different groups in the community face their own sets of health challenges.

A 2018 Center for American Progress (CAP) survey discovered the following statistics about its respondents who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer:

• 8 percent said that a doctor or other health care provider refused to see them because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
• 6 percent said that a doctor or other health care provider refused to give them health care related to their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
• 9 percent said that a doctor or other health care provider used harsh or abusive language when treating them.

CAP survey respondents who identified as transgender reported the following:

• 29 percent said a doctor or other health care provider refused to see them because of their actual or perceived gender identity.
• 12 percent said a doctor or other health care provider refused to give them health care related to gender transition.
• 21 percent said a doctor or other health care provider used harsh or abusive language when treating them

Finally, according to NAMI (2020), LGTBQ individuals experience a wide range of mental health and other social issues. For example:

• LGB adults are more than twice as likely to have a substance abuse disorder than heterosexual adults, and transgender individuals are more than four times as cisgender individuals to have a substance abuse disorder.
• LGBTQ youths experience a higher rate of homelessness and LGBTQ youths and adults face a higher rate of suicide than heterosexual or cisgender youths and adults.

Check out our Cultural Diversity in Health Care guide for additional local resources.

Below is a small sampling of defining moments in LGBTQ history as listed on History.com. You can read more about these moments and find additional defining moments on History.com's Gay Rights History page. 

• 1924 - German immigrant Henry Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights organization in the U.S.
• 1950 - Harry Hay founded Mattachine Foundation, one of the country's first gay rights groups. The Mattachine Foundation later formed the Mattchine Society with chapters in various parts of the country.
• 1952 - The American Psychological Association lists homosexuality as a mental disorder.
• 1953 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an order banning gay people from federal jobs.
• 1961 - Illinois became the first state to effectively decriminalize homosexuality when it did away with anti-sodomy laws.
• 1965 - Dr. John Oliven coined the term "transgender."
• 1969 - The Stonewall Riots happened at the Stonewall Inn, located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Police raided the club and occupants fought back. This raid turned into a riot with subsequent protests that lasted for five days. Stonewall is a pivotal moment in LGBTQ history.
• 1970s legislation - The LGBTQ rights movement made progress as courts ruled against discrimination on a case by case basis and LGBTQ individuals secured public office positions. 1979 saw the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
• 1980s and 1990s - the AIDS epidemic became a significant factor in the struggle for LGBTQ rights.
• 1992 - President Bill Clinton enacted the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy which allowed gay people to serve in the military as long as they hid their sexuality. Also in 1992, Washington, D.C., passed a law allowing gay partners to register as domestic partners.
• 1996 -President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law, prohibiting the extension of federal benefits to same-sex couples and allowing states to not recognize same-sex marriage.
• 2003 - Lawrence v. Texas decriminalized homosexual relations nationwide
• 2011 - President Barack Obama repeals Don't Ask Don't Tell
• 2015 - The Supreme Court rendered the Defense of Marriage Act ineffective when it ruled states can't ban same-sex marriage, legalizing gay marriage throughout the country. 
• 2016 - The U.S. military lifted its ban on transgender people serving openly.

Dr. John E. Fryer (1937-2003) was a gay psychiatrist who is credited with getting homosexuality removed from the American Psychological Association's (APA) list of mental illnesses in 1973. According to Equality Forum Presents (2020), Fryer testified on an APA panel in 1972 wearing a mask, utilizing a voice modulator, and under the pseudonym Dr. H. Anonymous. During this panel, he admitted to being a homosexual psychiatrist and described the hardships homosexuals faced. The disguises were necessary because at this time, being gay could result in being fired or losing your medical license. In fact, Dr. Fryer had been asked to leave his residency position at the University of Pennsylvania because of his homosexuality. He later finished his residency at Norristown State Hospital and joined the medical school faculty at Temple University. 

You can learn more about Dr. Dryer at:

• 217 boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous
• Von Bergen, J.M. (2017). Honoring a gay psychiatrist credited with getting homosexuality declassified as an illness. Philadelphia Inquirer. 
• Lenzer, J. (2003). John Fyer. BMJ, 326(7390), 662. 

Image courtesy of Find a Grave Memorial.