Well it sure looks like things are getting better for us as a whole and it isin the long run. We are finding out that there are more people like us, many more! There are hundreds and thousands of us that are standing up and fighting for what is right. We are human beings just like everybody else and we will have our rights, read as we see how the next couple of decades unfold in the third installment of the History of the Gay World.

Estimating that there are more than 6,000 homosexuals in Miami, local police begin a concerted campaign against gay men in which hundreds are arrested on beaches and in bars.

September 21, 1955
San Francisco: Four lesbian couples, including Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, found the Daughters of Bilitis, the first homophile organization exclusively for women.

1956
At a meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Dr. Evelyn Hooker presents the results of her study, which shows that gay men are no more likely to have psychological problems than heterosexual men.

The board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union approves a national policy statement asserting that Laws against sodomy and federal restrictions on employment of lesbians and gay men are constitutional.

September 20, 1958
New York City: Lesbians including Barbara Gittings hold the first Daughters of Bilitis New York meeting at the offices of the Mattachine Society of New York. The chapter is the first lesbian organization on the East Coast.

October 7, 1959
Russell Wolden, running for mayor of San Francisco as a Democrat, accuses the incumbent of welcoming and collaborating with the city's "sex deviates." His tactic backfires: the city's newspapers accuse him of irresponsible mudslinging, and he loses in the next month's elections.

May 12, 1960
United Kingdom:The first public meeting of the Homosexual Law Reform Society is attended by more than 1,000 people.

October 3, 1961
Hollywood: The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) announces a revision of its production code. "In keeping with the culture, the mores and the values of our time," the revision advises, "homosexuality and other sexual aberrations may now be treated with care, discretion and restraint." The new ruling paves the way for the release of films like The Children's Hour and Advise and consent, but the MPPDA later amends the revision to specify that "sexual aberration" may be "suggested but not actually spelled out."

January 1962
Illinois criminal code reform passed last year takes effect this month, making Illinois the first state in US history in which consensual same-sex acts are legal between adults.

1963
Grove Press publishes John Rechy's City of Night to generally positive reviews, pioneering a new level of sexual explicitness both in the text and in the book's packaging: the cover features a photograph of Times Square male prostitutes.

Life magazine entitles a cover story "Homosexuality in America." The article, which features photographs taken at a leather BAR called the Tool Box in San Francisco, challenges the gay male "pansy" stereotype at the same time it helps build awareness of the emerging American gay and lesbian subculture.

July 31, 1965
Lesbian and gay demonstrators picket the Pentagon to protest discrimination in the military.

1966
The premiere of The Group marks the first time the word "lesbian" is used in a Hollywood movie.

April 1966
San Francisco: The Society for Individual Rights opens the first gay community center in the United States.

1967
Following New Jersey's lead, the New York Supreme Court rule that bars May now legally serve "known" homosexuals

December 3, 1968
At the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles, the Reverend Troy Perry officiates at what is probably the first public same-sex union ceremony in the US.

June 28, 1969
Greenwich Village, New York: Police raid the Stonewall Inn at 2:00 A.m. For once, patrons-and the crowd gathered outside-fight back. The American Gay liberation movement begins.

July 2. 1969
New York City: 500 marchers confront police in the first "gay pride" demonstration, a march down Christopher Street.

December 31, 1969
San Francisco: the Cockettes, one of the first gender-bending performing groups, makes its debut.

March 17, 1970
The film version of The Boys in the Band, the first major Hollywood look at gay life, premieres.

June 28, 1970
New York City: The tradition of annually commemorating the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising begins with a "Christopher Street Liberation Day" march and a "gay-in." in Central Park. About 15,000 people participate, making it the largest gay and lesbian rally yet.

Los Angeles celebrates the Stonewall anniversary with a march down Hollywood Boulevard that draws about 1,000 people.

Smaller marches take place in Chicago and San Francisco. The anniversary is also marked by special celebrations at gay bars around the world, including clubs in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The New, York Times Magazine includes a groundbreaking seven-page essay by writer Merle Miller entitled "What It Means to Be a Homosexual."

There will be more progress as we move into the latter half of the 20th century. But with progress comes frustration. As we fight for our rights other people fight because of ignorance. Look for the next issue of BOI for more History of the Gay world.