In 1655, the New Haven colony published laws which included lesbianism, heterosexual anal intercourse, and masturbation among the crimes punishable with death.

In 1656, the New Haven Colony enacted the death penalty for lesbianism.

In 1863, Philip H. Sheridan reported that two women were in the Union army, passing as men, and supposedly lovers. They had not joined up for duty together but had apparently meet while serving in the army. He also said that they were discharged after being found out, were given clothes 'proper for their sex' and sent home.

In 1897, German physician Magnus Hirschfeld founded what was probably the first group to advocate removing the laws which made homosexuality illegal, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee.

In 1901, a 21 year old lesbian (name unknown) in Massachusetts committed suicide because of her family's reaction to her lesbian love affair with a married neighbor.

In 1920, Dr. Sigmund Freud's German paper The Psychogenesis of a Case of Female Homosexuality was translated into English. It stated that homosexuality is the result of gender confusion and that homosexuals 'role-play' gender roles (one takes on the position of the 'man' while the other takes the position of the 'woman' in the relationship.) He also said that some women are lesbians because they hate men. (It is important to note that his own daughter was in fact a practicing lesbian.)

In 1922, The God of Vengeance opened at the Provincetown Playhouse in Greenwich Village. It was the first major US play to have a lesbian character, which resulted in 14 arrests of people involved with the play when it moved to Broadway.

In 1924, the first US based homosexual advocacy group was created by Henry Gerber in Chicago. The Society for Human Rights is quickly shut down, however, after a member's wife complained to the police, resulting in Gerber's arrest for "obscenity".

In 1928, Radclyffe Hall's novel The Well of Loneliness was published.

In 1935, Chideckel's Female Sex Perversion was published.

In 1940, Dr. Newdigate M. Owensby explains his research at a Southern Psychiatric Association meeting in which he gave 5 white, homosexual men and 1 white, homosexual woman a drug called Metrazol along with shock therapy. He claimed success, but his results have never been able to be duplicated and in the 1949 issue of the Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, Dr. George N. Thompson said that Owensby's 6 studies did not prove anything.

In 1941, Henrys' Sex Variant II was published and included mention of lesbians.

In 1947, Vice Versa, believed to be the first lesbian periodical in the US, was founded by Edith Eyde, using the name Lisa Ben, in Los Angeles.

In 1948, Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was published, stating that 37% of American males had had at least one sexual experience with another man resulting in orgasm.

In 1950, Communist Harry Hay and others found The Mattachine Society, dedicated to service and the welfare of lesbians and gay men, in Los Angeles, inspiring various local chapters.

In 1953, the group begins to dismantle its leadership as a result of the McCarthy-era persecution and begins to call for less confrontational approaches to bringing changes.

In 1953, Kinsey publishes his study on female sexual behavior, stating that 13% of American women had had at least one sexual experience with another woman.

In 1953, psychologist Evelyn Hooker examined the psychological adjustment of gay men with a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, finding that no psychological differences between heterosexual and homosexual men. This was a big step towards the end of classifying "homosexuality" as a "mental disorder".

In 1954, Dr. Caprio's Female Homosexuality was published, stating "the vast majority of lesbians are emotionally unstable and neurotic".

In 1958, the US Supreme Court overturns previous rulings without comment in the case of the Los Angeles-based homophile group One Inc. who's magazine One had been censored by the Los Angeles postmaster in 1954 as "obscene", thus ending censorhip of lgbt magazines by postal or other authorities.

In 1959, Dr. Richard C. Robertiello's book Voyage From Lesbos was published.

In 1961, the first known openly gay person runs for public office. Latino female impersonator José Sarria lost his bid for the San Francisco board of supervisors but did go on to form the Imperial Court, a US-wide drag system.

In 1962, Dr. Harvey E. Kaye, et. al. did a study on lesbians undergoing psychoanalysis in New York City. In 1967, Their first paper was presented to the Society of Medical Psychoanalysts in New York.

In 1963, open gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin helps Martin Luther King, Jr. organize the famous march on Washington. Rustin was one of the first civil rights leaders to call for the inclussion of lgbt rights.

In 1964, a group called The New York League for Sexual freedom picket the Whiteball Induction Center to protest the military's antigay policies. This is considered to be the first-ever public US gay and lesbian rights demonstration. The group continues to make their annual pickets for years to come, until the first US pride parade marking the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In their attempt to show gay men and lesbians as "normal", they inforced a strict, conservative dress code for participants in the picketing. The annual pickets were called off after the first parade commenorating Stonewall, but not until they had had one last picket, with people dressed as they wanted. These annual polite, quiet protests took place at great risk to those involved and laid the groundwork, in part, for the coming lgbt rights movement. (in part, the rest I got from a TV documentary on the lgbt rights movement)

In 1965, San Francisco police harassed the 600 guests attending a New Year's ball. Following the bogus arrest of four people, including heterosexuals, the ball's sponsor, The Council on Religion and the Homosexual, held a press conference to condem the police's actions. At the trial, the judge ordered that they be found not guilty. This was an important turning point in the legal rights of lgbt people and also allowed an opportunity for heterosexuals to witness first hand the then common-place police harrassment of lgbt people.

In 1967, The Advocate was founded by Dick Michaels, Bill Rand, and Sam Winston. While it was little more than an offshoot of a newsletter in the beginning, the magazine went national within 3 years and remains one of the US's leading lgbt news/culture magazines.

In 1967, Craig Rodwell opens the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore in New York. It was the first gay bookstore in the country, but certainly not the last.

In 1968, the Metropolitan Community Church was founded in Los Angeles by the openly gay former Pentecostal minister Troy Perry. Today, MCC is one of the largest and best-funded lgbt organizations in the world.

In 1969, ne of the most important events in history for the lgbt community in the US was the Stonewall Riots in New York which had far-reaching effects for the lgbt community around the globe.

In June 1970, five thousand women and men marched in New York to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion.

In 1970, lesbians wearing "Lavender Menace" T-shirts stormed the stage at the Second Congress to Unite Women in New York and demanded that the convention address the anti-lesbian biogtry in the women's movement.

In 1973, Barbara Grier, her partner Donna McBride, Anyda Marchant and Muriel Crawford formed Naiad Press with the express purpose of publishing lesbian literature.

In 1973, Rita Mae Brown's Rubyfruit Jungle was first published by a small feminist press. When Bantan bought the rights to the paperback version, it became a best-seller and it remains popular among many lesbian.

In 1973, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund was founded.

In 1973, the National Gay Task Force was founded. It was later renamed The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

In 1974, the first openly lesbian was elected to public office in the US when Kathy Kozachenko won her bid for a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan city council. (There had been no openly gay men elected to public office as of yet.)

In 1974, the US's first openly lesbian state offical was elected when Elaine Noble won her bid for the Massachusetts state lesgislature. (There had been no openly gay men elected to state office as of yet.)

In 1974, Allen Spear came out. He had been elected as a Minnesota state senator 2 years earlier.

In 1974, Olivia Records was founded by a Washington D.C.-based women's collective, becoming the most successful lesbian-feminist recording label ever.

In 1975, Leonard Matlovich sued the Air Force for discharging him because he was gay. In 1980, a federal judge ordered the Air Force to reinstate him but a settlement of $160,00 was offered and accepted by Matlovich instead of reinstatement.

In 1975, David Kopay became the first pro team sports athlete to come out in an article in the Washington Star newspaper.

In 1975, the Gay American Indians group is founded by Randy Burns, Barbara Cameron, and 10 others. It was the first group of its kind to be created.

In 1976, the first annual Michigan Womyn's Music Festival was held.

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors. In 1978, he was assassinated by former supervisor Dan White because he was gay, making Milk a widely known symbol for the violence against lgbt people.

In 1977, the Gay Film Festival of Super-8 Films took place in San Francisco. It was most likely the world's first lgbt film festival.

In 1978, the rainbow flag was created by Gilbert Baker. The rainbow flag has become a world-wide symbol of lgbt pride.

In 1980, the Human Rights Campaign Fund (now the Human Rights Campaign) was founded.

In 1981 Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (now Parents, Family, and friends of Lesbians and Gays, aka PFLAG) was founded by Adele Starr.

In 1984, Susie Bright started On Our Backs, an innovative lesbian erotic magazine still available today.

In 1985, several gay authors and journalists, including Vito Russo, Arnie Kantrowitz, and Darrell Yates Rist, form the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in response to sensationalized coverage of the AIDS crisis as it related to gay people.

In 1991, the first Black Lesbian and Gay Pride event was held in Washington, D.C.

In 1991,Martina Navratilova came out publicly.

In 1992, K.D. Lang came out publicly in a cover story in The Advocate.

In 1992, The Lesbian Avengers was founded in New York in 1992.

In 1996, a federal jury found that Ashland, Wis. school officials "inentionally discriminated" against Jamie Nabozny because of his sexual orientation, resulting in years of mental and physical abuse by his classmates and his decision to drop out of school in 1993. The school district, as a result, agreed to pay him $900,000 in damages.

In 1996, a Hawaii court ruled that gay couples can be married in the case brought by Dan Foley and Evan Wolfson. However, Hawaii voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage shortly after, preventing Hawaii from becoming the lgbt wedding Mecca it had been heralded as being destined to be.

In 1997, Jon and Michael Galluccio won the right to jointly adopt their foster son, setting a legal precedent in New Jersey.

In 1998, Tammy Baldwin became the first non-incumbent openly lgbt person to win election to Congress.

In 2000, Vermont passed a civil rights law which legally recognizes gay and lesbian relationships and grants them every state-sanctioned privilege that married couples enjoy, expcet a marriage certificate. This was the first law of its kind in the US, but hopefully not the last.

February 10, 2000, Montpelier, Vt. - Vermont House committee decides Gays, Lesbians should be granted the same rights, benefits as heterosexual couples through broad civil rights statute, but not marriage.

February 11, 2000, Sacramento, California - Methodist church decides not to charge 68 ministers who blessed lesbian wedding in protest of church's ban on gay marriages.

March 30, 2000, Greensboro, NC - Reform Jewish leaders overwhelmingly approve resolution to allow rabbis to preside at gay commitment ceremonies.

April 6, 2000, Trenton, NJ - New Jersey Supreme Court, in unanimous ruling, said plaintiff V.C. holds "psychological parent" status, meaning she has same parental rights as former lover, M.J.B., with 1994 born twins conceived via artificial insemination and jointly raised for two years.

April 16, 2000, Montpelier, VT - 19-11 vote approves gay couples to form "civil unions" that will entitle them to all 300+ rights, benefits available under state law to married couples.

April 30, 2000, Washington, D.C. - Thousands of demonstrators gathered on the National Mall in Washington on Sunday to march for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

July 1, 2000, Brattleboro, VT - Two Vermont women, Carolyn Conrad and Kathleen Peterson, became the first same-sex couple in the nation to be legally united.

September 7, 2000, San Antonio, TX - Couple from Houston make history by obtaining the first marriage license issued in Texas to two lesbians -- a union that will be legal under current state law because one of them used to be a man.

November 30, 2000, Showtime cable network premiers Americanized "Queer As Folk" version of popular Brit series.

July 11, 2001, Washington, D. C. - Bush administration declines request from Salvation Army, nation's largest charity, to exempt religious charities that receive federal money from local laws barring discrimination against homosexuals.

July 19, 2001, Rhode Island - The state has become the second in the country to ban discrimination against transsexuals, cross-dressers and others who cross sex boundaries. The law, which became effective without the governor's signature, prohibits discrimination based on ''gender identity or expression'' in housing, employment and credit. Gay rights advocates say the law will ensure that a worker cannot be fired for having ''sex reassignment'' surgery.

July 27, 2001, Houston, TX - The Houston City Council approves ordinance outlawing discrimination against gay men and lesbians in hiring by city agencies.

July 28, 2001, San Francisco, CA - Sharon Smith, lesbian partner of a San Francisco woman killed by attack dogs, became first gay partner to be granted legal standing and may file a wrongful-death suit against the couple who were looking after the dogs.

August 1, 2001, Berlin, Germany - Angelika and Gudrun Pannier, dressed in black tuxedos and white bow ties, exchanged rings and sealed Germany's first legal homosexual union with a kiss. The new Partnership Law allows inheritance and health insurance rights, but does not give gay partnerships the same tax privileges as heterosexual marriages.

August 22, 2001, U.S. Census shows same-sex couples head nearly 600,000 homes in US, with gay or lesbian couple in nearly every county.

August 20, 2001, Miami, FL - A federal judge ruled Thursday that Florida's law banning homosexuals from adopting children is valid, saying the state has a legitimate interest in only allowing married couples to adopt. The law is considered the nation's toughest ban on gay adoptions, prohibiting adoptions by any gay or lesbian individual or couple. Mississippi and Utah also ban adoptions by same-sex couples.

September 26, 2001, Washington, D.C. - House Approves D.C.'s Law On Rights of Domestic Partners and ends nine years of blocking District of Columbia domestic partners law, adopting measure 226 to 194 despite opposition by most of Republican leadership.

September 29, 2001, Finland and South Africa - South African court rules that gay and lesbian couples may adopt children; Finnish parliament approves law allowing gays to register as couples, with right to inherit property and visit partners in hospitals, but not to adopt children or take common surname

March 14, 2002, New York, NY - Rosie O'Donnell, in her first extensive public discussion about being gay, says in a television interview on ABC's Primetime Thursday that she didn't come out sooner partly because she didn't consider it a big deal.

March 15, 2002, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reports that Defense Department discharged 1,250 men and women in 2001 for declaring themselves gay or engaging in homosexual conduct, highest figure in 14 years, and that number of cases of anti-gay harassment rose to 1,075 from 871 in 2000; calls statistics an affront to liberty, unity and military readiness.

March 16, 2002, Neward, DE - Delaware has joined a handful of states breaking legal ground in child support with a court ruling that two women should both be considered parents of a 4-year-old boy to whom one gave birth after in-vitro fertilization

April 10, 2002, Thousands of high school and college students around the nation protest anti-gay bias in schools by not speaking all day Wednesday.

April 17, 2002, Cleveland Heights, OH - Cleveland Heights becomes first city in Ohio to extend health care benefits to same sex couples.

April 19, 2002, Canberra, Australia - Prime Minister John Howard said children are better off if they have a mother and father, and vowed to overturn a court ruling granting lesbians access to fertility treatment.

April 24, 2002, Tacoma, WA - Tacoma City Council added sexual orientation and gender identity to the city's anti-discrimination law.

April 26, 2002, Pennsylvania - For first time, LGBTs included in annual report on the hate crimes in Pennsylvania published by the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

April 26, 2002, WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions voted to send the gay civil rights bill known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to the full Senate for a vote later this year.

August 16, 2002, New York, NY- New York City Council voted Thursday to recognize gay marriages from other jurisdictions.

August 21, 2002, New York, NY- About 20 lesbian and gay survivors whose partners died in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will receive workers' compensation under state law.

December 17, 2002, Los Angeles, CA - A 15-year-old female student who says she was banned from gym class at school because she is a lesbian filed a lawsuit Tuesday against her instructors and the school district, accusing them of discrimination.

December 18, 2002, Albany, NY - Republican Gov. George Pataki signs bill outlawing discrimination against lesbians and gays in New York state, 31 years after advocates began lobbying for it. The law protects people from abuse, harassment and discrimination in employment, housing, education and public services based on their sexual orientation. It made New York the 13th state to prohibit anti-gay bias.

January 8, 2003, Key West, FL - Key West City Commission votes unanimously to amend local nondiscrimination law to include transgender people.

June 20, 2003, NY, NY - New York teenager, 14-year-old Natalie Young is openly lesbian, alleges school violated her civil rights when they suspended her from school for wearing a "Barbie is a Lesbian" T-shirt.

November 18, 2003, Boston, MA - Boston Supreme Court rules in lawsuit brought by gay and lesbian couples seeking the right to marry in Massachusetts that the state of Massachusetts may not "deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry."

January 21, 2004, Washington DC - President Bush states: "our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage" thus opposing gay and lesbian marriage during state of union address.