1950-11-11 First Meeting of Mattachine Society

Harry Hay, Chuck Rowland, Bob Hull, Dale Jennings, and Rudi Gernreich meet at Hay’s home in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles to discuss the formation of an organization to liberate “the homosexual minority.” Most had connections to the Communist Party and other left-wing organizations. The meeting led to the formation of the Mattachine Society and launched a continuous history of LGBT organizing in the U.S.

1950-12-15 The U.S. Senate releases a report titled “Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government.”

The U.S. Senate released a report titled “Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government.” The report described homosexuals as “security risks” and wrote that even one homosexual “can pollute a Government office.” The report received wide publicity and helped provoke campaigns to identify and terminate all gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals employed by the federal government.