1973 in LGBT rights

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This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1973.

Events

January

• 1 – Maryland becomes the first state to ban same-sex civil marriages. It does so by passing a statue restricting marriage to heterosexual couples.^[1]
• 27 – The Metropolitan Community Church's headquarters in Los Angeles is burned to the ground by an unknown assailant.^[2][3] No persons are inside of the building at the time of the fire.

April

• 22 – The first gay protest in Santiago, Chile was organised at Plaza de Armas.^[4]

June

• 24 – The UpStairs Lounge arson attack in the French Quarter of New Orleans kills 32 members of a Metropolitan Community Church congregation meeting.^[5]

August

• Pride Week 1973, the first major LGBT pride event in Canada, is held simultaneously in several Canadian cities.^[6]

October

• 10 – Following a lobbying campaign by the Gay Alliance Toward Equality, Toronto City Council adopts a policy forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in municipal hiring, making the city the first jurisdiction in Canada to do so.^[7]

November

• 5 – The Supreme Court of the United States in Wainwright v. Stone finds that the sodomy law of Florida is not unconstitutionally vague, reversing a Fifth Circuit ruling.^[8]
• 9 – The Kentucky Court of Appeals rules in Jones v. Callahan that two women were properly denied a marriage license despite the gender neutrality of the state's marriage statute.^[9]

December

• 13 – Washington, D.C.'s Title 34 makes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation illegal.^[10]
• 15 – The board of the American Psychiatric Association votes 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-II. The resolution also urges an end to private and public discrimination and the repeal of laws discriminating against homosexuals.^[11]
• 20 – The city council of New York City rejects a gay rights ordinance.^[12]
• 21 – A United States federal judge issues a bulletin stating that the federal civil service may not terminate an employee based on sexual orientation alone.^[13]

See also

• Timeline of LGBT history – timeline of events from 12,000 BCE to present
• LGBT rights by country or territory – current legal status around the world
• LGBT social movements

References

1. Rector, Kevin (9 March 2015). "Md. attorney general says Supreme Court must overturn same-sex marriage bans nationwide". Baltimore Sun.
2. Clendinen, Dudley (1999). Out For Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America. Simon & Schuster. p. 179. ISBN 0684810913.
3. "Metropolitan Community Church fire report". January 27, 1973. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
4. Falcón, Iván (2006). "La guerra de los colas" (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Universidad de Chile. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
5. "32 People Died In the UpStairs Lounge Fire in 1973. Why was it Forgotten?". WBUR. May 6, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
6. Peters, Rob. "Pride and Prejudiced: A history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender milestones, in Vancouver and around the world". The Tyee, August 4, 2006. Accessed on September 25, 2008.
7. "City Bars Job Discrimination", The Body Politic, no. 10, 1973.
8. Wainwright v. Stone, 414 US 21 (Supreme Court of the United States 2010-11-05).
9. Jones v. Callahan, 501 S.W.2d 588 (November 9, 1973)
10. District of Columbia Human Rights Law Title 34 D.C. Rules and Regulations (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Government of the District of Columbia. 1973. pp. 9–10.
11. Caplan, Arthur L. (1987). Scientific controversies: case studies in the resolution and closure of disputes in science and technology. Cambridge University Press. p. 392. ISBN 0-521-27560-1.
12. "Gay Activists Alliance Actions at City Hall". NYC LGBT Historic Sites. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
13. "SINGER v. UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COM'N | 530 F.2d 247 | 9th Cir. | Judgment | Law | CaseMine". www.casemine.com. Retrieved 2021-01-15.