1950

The Lavender Scare: McCarthy links homosexuality and Communism  |  State Department reports dismissing 91 homosexuals  |  Nationally-syndicated columnists deplore homosexual employees in government  |  Congressman gives the “putrid facts about homosexuality”  |  GOP Chairman warns of “perverts who have infiltrated our government”  |  Congressman claims the homosexual drive is like menstrual cycles  |  DC polce estimate 3,750 “sex perverts” working in government  |  Senators demand special investigation of homosexual federal employees

1959

State investigators hunt homosexuals at University of Florida  |  ONE magazine asks, “When will homosexuals stop pitying themselves?”  |  Village Voice imagines “The Revolt of the Homosexual”  |  London’s Daily Express calls for purge of West End theaters  |  LGBT people riot at Cooper Do-Nuts in Los Angeles  |  Liberace wins his libel case against London’s Daily Mirror  |  ONE explores “The homosexual and the Beat Generation”  |  Mattachine Society holds its sixth annual convention in Denver  |  San Francisco mayoral candidate charges incumbent with allowing the city to become “deviate headquarters.”  |  Anti-gay psychoanalyst publishes 1000 Homosexuals  |  Britain’s ITV broadcasts the first gay-themed drama  |  A gay doctor tells other doctors about gay people   |  Ann Arbor police arrest 25 in “homosexual crackdown”

1960

Gay bars close in New York City cleanup drive  |  Michigan man commits suicide two days before sentencing for gross indecency  |  New York Times links homosexuals and decay on West 42nd Street  |  U.S. Postal authorities seize 400 “physique” magazines, declaring them obscene and unmailable | Miami police raid “deviates’ den” | William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell defect to the Soviet Union

1961

“Morals raids” carried out in Tampa  |  Delaware police announce “morals” cleanup  |  Heterosexuals are vulnerable to blackmail  |  Illinois repeals its sodomy law while revising its criminal code  |  San Francisco police arrest 103 at the Tay-Bush Inn raid.  |  New York Mirror columnist blasts Mattachine Society  |  San Francisco’s KQED airs “The Rejected”

1962

Illinois sodomy law repeal goes into effect  | Two men are arrest for the “Abominable Act and Detestable Crime Against Nature.” | The U.S. Supreme Court rules that magazines featuring nude males are not obscene | New York’s WBAI radio broadcasts a panel discussion featuring eight gay men | British Admiralty clerk John Vassall is arrested for spying |

1963

New Mexico increases criminal penalties for sodomy | ONE magazine publishes “Let’s Push Homophile Marriage | U.S. Congress holds hearings the on Mattachine Society | Frank Kameny becomes the first openly gay man to speak before a Congressional committee

1964

A simple home device for aversion therapy | The FCC backs broadcasters airing programs about homosexuality | A treatment program for homosexuals at an Ohio psychiatric hospital | Life publishes “Homosexuality In America” | The Haight Theater in San Francisco begins catering to gay audiences

1965

Researchers unveil an improved method for delivering electric shocks for aversion therapy | San Francisco Police raid the New Year’s Day Ball | The Washington Post publishes “Those Others: A Report on Homosexuality” | FBI collects info on homophile groups “obstructing the efforts of the bureau | East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO) endorsement of picketing threatens to split the gay rights movement | The U.S. Supreme Court cites the right to privacy in striking birth control bans | Life opposes decriminalization of homosexuality | U.S. Appeals Court rules that an unspecified charge of homosexuality is not a bar to federal employment | Gay activists picket the Civil Service Commission | FBI issues a memo on “Obstructive Tactics of Organizations.” | A letter to a probation officer | The Washington Post reveals the Civil Service is offering disability retirement for “alcoholics and homosexuals.” | Gay rights activists picket the State Department | The Twelfth (and last) annual Mattachine Society conference is held in San Francisco | A Boston resident congratulates Beacon Hill for its tolerance |The third annual ECHO conference is held at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in New York City | Tallahassee police use college students as bait