NHD: The History of Gay Rights

The Long Debate of Gay Rights

        For the past century, gay rights have been debated and fought over in hope to give equal rights to all people. Although gay relationships and feelings were recognized as far into history as the 7th Century BC, the true activism has increased since the beginning of the 20th century. In America, the way as a country we debate is through politics; the debating of gay rights is one prime example of this. As time has progressed, gay rights have become a widely spread issue across the country. To this day, there are still few states within the United States that allow same sex marriage. Although great acts of courage and strength have occurred regarding gay rights, the shift into change has been and will continue to be an extremely slow process.

        In this site, you will find the history of the debate of gay rights displayed in two different ways. The first is an interactive timeline that allows you to scroll through the historical, debatably events that left large impacts on the progression of gay rights. The second display is a video compilation of multiple speeches. These speeches feature people from Harvey Milk to John McCain. This video is made in hope to help the comparison of debates around this issue become more visual using actual debates said by prominent supporters and opposers of gay rights.

Enjoy

Maxime Damis, Julia Boyer, and Luna Frank-Fischer