AMERICA
The position in the Sixties slowly changes compared to the previous decade . The Vietnam war , started in 1954 , c o m e s w i t h a r i s e o f p ro t e s t i n g movements . In the United States , the Beat Generation is the first cultural movement showing of the emergence of a counter culture rooted in anti capitalism , rejecting materialism in favour of spiritual quest ( through the use of psychedelic drugs ), personal exploration and sexual liberation . The “ Beatniks ” are poets and some of t h e m w r i t e a b o u t h o m o s e x u a l experiences . Although this movement is very male-centered , because girl rebellion is faced with violent backlash , it brings homosexuality to the table for the first time in a positive light .
A few gay activist groups have started to appear in the 1950s . The Mattachine Society is one of them , heavily linked to the Communist Party and often focusing on the actions of police against gay people , which shows again how anticapitalist politics and lgbt activism go hand in hand . Five years later , in 1955 , the group of the Daughters of Bilitis is formed , as an alternative to lesbian bars who were harassed more and more often by the police . This social group is asking for a better education about LGBT issues , as well as civil and political rights for LGBT people .
These are the two axes that start developing in the 60s . More and more groups appear , such as the East Coast Homophile Organization ( ECHO ) in 1963 , and the National Transsexual ’ s Counseling Unit in 1965 , the world ’ s first transgender organization ; and these organizations reclaim and obtain civil rights , such as the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults ( 1962 in Illinois , 1969 in Canada ). The same year , Franck Kameny , teacher in the Astronomy Department of Georgetown University , is fired because of his perceived sexual orientation and enters a judicial procedure against the US government . He creates the Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . b r a n c h o f t h e Mattachine Society and sides with the Daughters of Bilitis in a number of protests and picket lines in front of the White House , the Pentagon , the United Nations , and the United States Civil Service Commission . In 1966 , endocrinologist and sexologist Harry Benjamin publishes The Transsexual Phenomenon ; a Scientific Report on Transsexualism and Sex Conversion in the Human Male and Female , opening the door to the idea of sexual transition and advocating for a humane treatment of transsexual people . This is also the year of the founding of the National Transsexual Counseling Unit in San Francisco , which is the world ’ s first transgender organization .
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