The present generation seems so disconnected from their history. While equality is still not totally achievable because of more than seventy-five anti-LGBTQ + bills that have been signed into law. This is more than doubling last year’s number, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Conversion therapy or “pray-the-gay” away is still practiced in some states. In February 2025, effectively reviving a ban that President Trump instituted in his first term, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued the ban on the transgender people serving in the military. However, an appeals court ruled this month that the Pentagon’s move to boot transgender troops out of the military violated their rights. The ruling confirms that the Trump Administration has no legitimate basis to discharge transgender service members who have met every demanding standard.
Other advances: In June 2015, same-sex marriage was settled. The 14th amendment guaranteed the fundamental right to marry. You can now live with HIV and AIDS today because PrEP and other antiretroviral therapies enable the LGBT+ population to live longer.
WHAT LIFE USED TO BE LIKE FOR LGBT+
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first reported cases in the U.S. in June 1981. I remember those times when AIDS was considered a plague. AIDS was a death sentence. There were cases of rare lung infections and a rare and unusual aggressive cancer called Kaposi’s Sarcoma that were present in New York City and California. Organizations like Act Up were started to counter Ronald Reagan’s apathy and First Lady Nancy Reagan’s message ‘Just Say No to Drugs.’ Act Up demanded accessible treatments, research and health care.
Twelve years before ACT UP, The Stonewall Rebellion or Riots was caused by a police raid on a gay bar, The Stonewall Inn, June 28, 1969. They wanted to shut down the bar. The riots and demonstrations continued beyond that date. Stonewall Inn is still an active bar and has a LGBTQ+ flag to prove that you can’t erase history.
In October 1987, The Names-Project AIDS Quilt in Washington, D.C. represented more than 110,000 individuals who died of AIDS. Today, squares have been added on. According to the CDC, 32 million people died of AIDS world-wide .o
Although “we have come a long way, baby,” the pandemic of 1981 has almost become forgotten, yet it was the older LGBT+ population that struggled and fought the establishments so that everyone could have equal rights. Give them credit and don’t take for granted your rights today that were won on the backbones of others.
When Your Child Is Gay: What You Need To Know
For more detailed advice, see book, co-authored with a mother of a gay son and a psychiatrist, Jonathan L. Tobkes, M.D.
