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In 1869, a Hungarian psychologist invented the word "homosexual" to define people who are attracted to the same sex. This was a colossal turning point, as now instead of being seen as a criminal or a person choosing to "live in sin," same sex attraction was considered a psychological "condition" which should be cured and not punished. By the late nineteenth century more women were joining the workforce and becoming independent. This meant they did not need a man to "keep" them and were free to act on their desires, thus the lesbian communities emerged.
Moving forward to 1942, the United States Army began asking soldiers if they were gay or had gay ideations. This was enough for dismissal and led to 100,000 Americans being dismissed over the next 50 years. This prompted the first gay rights organization to be formed in 1950. The first lesbian rights organization was founded in 1955. In 1965 the first protest led by gay people was held at the nation's capital. By 1969 "Gay Pride Marches" were being held across the nation to commemorate the uprising against oppression. .
Things were beginning to look brighter. In 1973, the American Psychological Association voted to remove homosexuality as a diagnosis, admitting it did not need a cure. In 1986, the American Counseling Association followed suit and removed it as a diagnosis from the DSM. The outlook continued to improve, gays were getting elected to congress, and Ronald Reagan openly supported the gay population. Unfortunately, matters took a nose dive when in 1981 a new disease, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), swept through the gay community and instilled fear into the majority of the population. Over the following ten years, 100,000 gay men died of AIDS, or what was commonly referred to as "gay cancer" at that time. .
That was not enough to slow the gay and lesbian rights activists down.