For gay men and women born before 1930, whom I interviewed in 1995 and who came of age in an era of political, medical, and scientific oppression, the emergence of gay liberation (which, sparked by the 1969 Stonewall and similar uprisings, formed a new celebratory lesbian and gay culture based on the open expression of, and pride in, same-sex relationships) was the most significant event shaping their experience of gay life. In the 20th century, the gay community saw such watershed moments as the targeting of gay people by the psychiatric enterprise and the McCarthy era witch-hunts, the birth of gay liberation, lesbian feminism, and queer culture, homosexuality’s decriminalisation and demedicalisation, the legalisation of gay marriage, and the overturning of bans on gay people serving in the military.Īs with all watersheds, these events’ impacts were filtered through such characteristics as gender, ethnicity, class, and age at the time of the event.
