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1950s

A Glimpse of Gay Pride in the 1950s

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives shares a rare glimpse at gay life in the 1950s in honor of LGBT Pride month.

Gay Weddings Before 1950?

A new exhibit at the San Francisco Public Library gathers the stories of pioneering LGBT people who disguised their gender and legally married the ones they loved.

'Bar Dykes' Dives Into Lesbian Life In the 1950s

The Flea Theater transports audiences to a lesbian bar in pre-Stonewall America. 

13 Historic Photos of Men in Love, 1850s to 1950s

This book celebrates love that dared not speak its name.

State Department Apologizes for 1950s Anti-LGBT Witch Hunt

John Kerry issued an apology after the Human Rights Campaign lobbied the secretary of State.

Mika Spotlights 1950s Gay Cruising Culture in 'Sanremo' Music Video

The out singer visited a time when homosexuality was illegal and underground in Western Europe.

WATCH: 1950s Political Blackmail Caused Senate Suicide

In 1954, Joe McCarthy threatened to reveal Sen. Lester Hunt's son was a homosexual unless he withdrew from his reelection bid. Two weeks later the senator took his own life.

Heavens to Murgatroyd! Snagglepuss Is Now a Sexy Gay Daddy

A comic book reimagining transforms a fey mountain lion into a brooding, closeted cat of the 1950s.  

Pioneering trans soul singer Jackie Shane honored with historical marker in Nashville

Shane was a soul and R&B singer in the 1950s and 1960s credited with helping to pioneer the Toronto Sound.

Phyllis Lyon, Pioneering Lesbian Activist, Dies at 95

Lyon and her longtime partner, Del Martin, had fought for equal rights since the 1950s.

The Lavender Scare's New Relevance

The Human Rights Campaign is calling on the State Department to apologize for all the gays and lesbians it fired in the 1950s. 

Tab Hunter Tells All

The great screen heartthrob of the 1950s sets the record straight by coming out as gay in Tab Hunter Confidential.

Men Arrested for Sex in 'Pleasure' Store Encounter Sympathetic Judge

In what seems a throwback to the 1950s, at least 19 men have been arrested this year for engaging in consensual sex at Florida's Pleasure Emporium.

Actor Jack Larson of 'Superman' Fame Dies at 87

Larson, a rare out gay actor in 1950s Hollywood, was best known as Superman's sidekick Jimmy Olsen but was a man of many other talents.

The Controversial Play All About Love

Angry letters and death threats couldn't stop Terrence McNally's landmark play about a flock of gay men who follow the Messiah in 1950s Texas.

Dude worship on YouTube

Images of puffed-up bodybuilders made popular in 1950s publications are alive and well as videos on the Internet. Only now they're creating a new connection between gay and straight men.

Construction Begins on Navy Ship Named After Harvey Milk

The slain LGBTQ leader resigned from the Navy in 1950s after being spotted in a popular San Diego gay cruising area. Now a ship named after him will be constructed in the same city.

History in the Making

In the 1950s, Frank Kameny was fired from his job in the Army Map Service for "sexual perversion." Now he's watching an openly gay man run the very office once responsible for scrubbing gays from the government.

17 Women Who Changed the Course of LGBTQ+ History

For Women's History Month, we salute activists who've made LGBTQ+ history from the 1950s through the 2020s.