Rehabilitation Act signed

The act partially decriminalized consensual sex between men over 21 in private in England and Wales. It was a limited reform that left unequal age rules and broad exclusions in place.

Queer and trans people resisted police raids at the Stonewall Inn. The uprising helped catalyze new organizations and public mobilization; trans women and people of color were central but often...

Women activists met to set a shared agenda for liberation, including equal pay, education and childcare. The conference helped build a decentralized movement while debate continued over race,...

Parliament repealed a discriminatory criminal-law provision that had set a higher age of consent for same-sex relations between men than for heterosexual relations. COC and other advocates had...

Title IX prohibited sex discrimination in federally funded education. Student groups, educators and women’s organizations used it to challenge institutional barriers, while unequal enforcement...

The APA’s board voted to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder after years of organizing by gay and lesbian activists and internal debate. Medical institutions became a site of struggle over who...

The act made sex discrimination unlawful in employment, education and public services and established the Equal Opportunities Commission. It offered a formal complaints route while leaving pay and...

The act extended protection to employment, housing and education, recognized indirect discrimination and established the Commission for Racial Equality. Activists and community groups had pressed...

Disabled activists occupied a federal building to demand enforceable regulations for Section 504. Cross-movement support helped sustain the protest, making disabled people’s leadership visible in...

Thousands of delegates debated a National Plan of Action on equality, childcare, employment and reproductive rights. It was a rare federally supported gathering shaped by grassroots women and...