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THE EIGHTIES
The public specter of AIDS took a terrible toll on gay lives as the 1980s began, and at the same time, mobilized gays and lesbians for action in ways that were unprecedented.
1980
  • The Democratic Party adopts a platform plank that opposes the ban on homosexual foreign visitors and immigrants, and insists on protecting all “sexual orientation" from discrimination, becoming the first major political party in America to do so
  • The Human Rights Campaign is established
  • David McReynolds becomes the first openly LGBT individual to run for president of the United States, appearing on the Socialist Party USA ticket
  • Two people are killed and six others wounded after Ronald K. Crumpley opens fire at New York City gay bar Ramrod
  • The U.S. House of Representatives votes overwhelmingly to deny federal funding to legal groups that work for equal rights for gays
  • The Screen Actors Guild adds sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination clause for employment
1981
  • Tennis player Martina Navratilova says to the press she is bisexual
  • The first cases of what would be known as AIDS are reported
  • Norway becomes the first country in the world to enact a law to prevent discrimination against homosexuals
  • The Reagan administration cancels the White House subscription to The Advocate
  • Cary Grant sues comedian Chevy Chase for calling a "homo" on the Tomorrow show, though the lawsuit is later dropped
  • Lillian Faderman publishes her book Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women From the Renaissance to the Present
  • Ten thousand people march in Paris to protest the World Health Organization's classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder
  • Nineteen-year-old Timothy Curran successfully sues the Boy Scouts for ousting him for being gay
  • San Francisco judge Mary Morgan becomes the first-ever openly lesbian judge in the country
  • A gay rights bill is reintroduced in the U.S. Senate by Paul Tsongas
1982
  • Randy Shilts's biography on Harvey Milk, The Mayor of Castro Street, is published
    > > Forthcoming movie info
  • The first Gay Games is held in San Francisco, attracting 1,350 participants
  • Wisconsin becomes the first U.Ss state to ban discrimination against homosexuals
  • The House subcommittee on health and the enivronment holds the first federal hearing on Kaposi's sarcoma and related opportunistic infections
  • Former major league baseball player Glenn Burke comes out as a gay man
  • More than 500 gay men pack an NYU auditorium for a briefing on Gay-Related Immunodeficiency (GRID) the original name for AIDS
  • The Center for Disease Control reports 775 cases of AIDS nationally, with 294 deaths, by December
1983
  • Massachusetts representative Gerry Studds reveals he is a homosexual on the floor of the House, becoming the first openly homosexual member of Congress
  • Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy wins Best Play at the Tony Awards
  • The Red Cross and other blood banks issue a joint statement recommending the ban of blood donation from gay males; the Department of Health and Human Services then recommends screening sexually active gay men
  • AIDS is described as a "gay plague" by the Reverend Jerry Falwell.
  • The Hunger and Silkwood are released in theaters
1984
  • Dan White, the assassin charged with the Milk-Moscone murders, is released on parole after serving only five years in prison
  • Ryan White is diagnosed with AIDS
  • Chris Smith comes out of the closet and becomes the first-ever openly gay parliament member in the United Kingdom
  • Liberace wins a victory over Scott Thorson when a major part of Thorson's palimony suit is thrown out of court
  • The first Wigstock is celebrated
    > > LadyBunny.net
    • Lady Bunny at Wigstock 1988
    > > David Yarritu performs Happy Talk at Wigstock 1987
  • In West Hollywood, Calif., Valerie Terrigno becomes the country's first openly lesbian mayor, and the majority of the city council is gay, a first
  • Truman Capote dies in Los Angeles
  • Writing for the District of Columbia court of appeals, Judge Robert Bork deals a major blow to gay rights when he writes that it is "impossible to conclude that a right to homosexual conduct is 'fundamental'"
  • After months of debate, San Francisco closes its gay bathhouses


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