gay rights activism

gay rights activism Political campaigning by homosexual men and women for an end to social and legal discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference. Concerted gay activism originated in the USA, where the “Stonewall Riots”, which took place in New York in 1969, saw the gay community react against sustained police brutality. The work of pressure groups and the liberalization of public opinion have ensured the decriminalization of consenting homosexual acts throughout the Western world. A US Supreme Court ruling of 1996 expressly precluded state and local administrations from denying basic civil-rights protection to homosexuals. In Britain the legal age of male homosexual consent remains higher than that for heterosexual acts. Discrimination is sometimes still enshrined in civil law, in such diverse matters as inheritance, and insurance cover. Christian Fundamentalists, with their championing of the heterosexual couple as centre of the family, continue to challenge gay rights. Similarly, many traditionalist societies ranging from the Islamic states of the Arab world to socialist Zimbabwe remain hostile to homosexual people.