1978 in LGBT rights

Events

*Anti-Gay Briggs Initiative "Prop. 6" which would have forbidden gays to teach in schools, defeated in California. President Jimmy Carter announced his opposition to this measure at a rally in California, the first such mention by a US President.
*Berkeley, California prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation in the private sector.
*San Francisco, California adds Article 33 to the San Francisco Police Code, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation in the private sector.

April

*April 19 - 1,500 gays and supporters rallied on the steps of the state capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota in support of the gay rights provision in the city's human rights ordinance.
*April 25 - In St. Paul, Minnesota voters repealed a provision in the city's human rights ordinance that protected gays and lesbians from discrimination. The ordinance was repealed by a 2-to-1 margin; 54,096 in favor of repeal, 31,694 against.

May

*May 9 - In Wichita, Kansas voters repealed a gay rights ordinance by a 2-to-1 margin; 47,276 for repeal, 10,500 against.
*May 23 - In Eugene, Oregon residents voted to repeal an ordinance banning discrimination against gays and lesbians by a 2-to-1 margin.

June

*June - In Sydney Australia, a gay and lesbian protest march is held on International Gay Solidarity Day to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in the US. Although the organisers of the march obtain permission, it is revoked at short notice, and police break up the march. 53 of the marchers are arrested, though charges are eventually dropped.
*June 25 - Rainbow flag first used as a symbol of gay and lesbian pride. The original gay-pride flag first flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978.

July

*July 1:
** A gay protest rally is held in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in response to a visit by Anita Bryant.
*July 5:
** The Quebec Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission) rules that a Montreal Catholic school board's refusal to rent facilities to a gay group is discriminatory. This represents the first application of Quebec's anti-sexual-orientation-discrimination law since it was passed in 1977.
*July 27:
**New Jersey repeals its anti-sodomy laws.

September

*September 10:
**A protest is held in London, Ontario in response to a visit by Anita Bryant.

November

*November 27 - San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, and mayor George Moscone are assassinated in San Francisco City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. That night a candlelight march of 50,000 people marched from Castro Street to San Francisco City Hall in memory of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

Births

Deaths

* November 27 (San Francisco, California) - Harvey Milk, American politician and gay rights activist and the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco.
* November 27 (San Francisco, California) - George Moscone, Mayor of San Francisco from January 1976 until his assassination.

External links

* [http://www.advocate.com Web site for Advocate news magazine]
* [http://www.365gay.com 365gay.com]
* [http://news.google.com/news?as_q=&svnum=10&as_scoring=r&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=gay+lesbian+bisexual+transgender+homosexual&as_eq=&as_nsrc=&as_nloc=&as_occt=any&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=&as_minm=1&as_mind=20&as_maxm=2&as_maxd=19 Google search for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender news]