The Nation

SCOTUS Marriage Equality 2015.jpg

Washington, D.C. on the day in June 2015 that Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage across the United States.

Following the 1970’s the social and political climate in response to the gay community had begun to evolve. On a national level the gay rights movement was more galvanized than ever. Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man elected to public office, when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978. In 1980 the Human Rights Campaign was founded creating the largest advocacy group for LGBTQ civil rights in America.

The first ever National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay rights consisted of 75,000 marchers took to the DC streets on October 14, 1979 in an effort to raise awareness and visibility of the gay community. The first advertisement for the ally group Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) was 1981. In the political sphere anti-discrimination ordinances were proposed in multiple states with Wisconsin becoming the first to pass a statewide protective ordinance aimed at the LGBTQ community in 1982. [24]

The political and social climate in America has evolved slowly but significantly from how it views LGBTQ people in the 1970s. Landmark court cases, like Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 and United States v. Windsor in 2013 [25], reflected victories for LGBT activism in politics which contrasted earlier notions that denied the political existence of the LGBT community altogether. Most recently, the court case Obergefell v Hodges was decided in 2015 and officially legalized same sex marriage across the nation. This marked a sizable win for the gay rights movements.

Despite a decrease in frequency following the early 1970’s, bar raids were still prevalent in gay communities across the United States. Bar raids still occur, very rarely, and attacks on gay bars still occured. In cities retaining anti-LGBTQ legislature, it is still legal to ticket or arrest someone for their dress or actions.

While the bar raids in Houston seem like a small detail in the grade scope of the LGBTQ movement in America, it provided the solid framework against which LGBTQ citizen fought for decades. The modern day LGBTQ scene in Houston owes its roots to the response to HPD bar raids in the late-middle 1900s.