gay liberation

[gey lib-uh-rey-shuhn]

noun

1. a political and social movement to combat legal and social discrimination against gay people.

Other Word Forms

• gay liberationist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of gay liberation¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

An alcove devoted to gay rights displays an early version of the rainbow flag, campaign and protest buttons, and a ceiling fragment from the Stonewall Inn, where a 1969 uprising launched the gay liberation movement.

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With photos traversing anywhere from the 19th century to today, visitors get a peek into what gay clubs were like in the Prohibition era and can see the beginnings of the Gay Liberation Movement.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In the days immediately following the riots, gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals organized the Gay Liberation Front to work alongside the Black Panthers, the Puerto Rican Young Lords, Women’s Liberation Movement, and student anti-war movements.

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The city had already held several annual Gay Freedom Day celebrations—which would eventually become known as Pride—in commemoration of the Stonewall uprising of 1969, when queers fought back against police harassment at a New York City gay bar, jump-starting the gay liberation movement.

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It would turn out to be a critical crossroads for the gay liberation movement, and not just because it triggered the first statewide vote on gay rights.

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