Same-sex intercourse is generally believed to be against Islamic law; however, there are differing methods of punishment. For example, in some fundamentalist Muslim regions, such as in Nigeria and Iran, homosexual behavior is still punishable by death

In June 2011, California became the first state to pass a bill requiring public schools to teach the historical accomplishments of gay men and lesbians

Pride Day or Pride March refers to celebrations that typically take place in June that commemorate the Stonewall Inn riots of June 28, 1969. These riots are considered the birth of the modern gay civil rights movement

In 1995, British actor Nigel Hawthorne, star of the film The Madness of King George, became the first openly gay Best Actor nominee in the history of the Academy Awards.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association decided that homosexuality should no longer be classified as a mental disorder. Also the same year, the American Bar Association passed a resolution recommending the repeal of all state sodomy laws.

The 1969, Time magazine’s “The Homosexual in America” was the first cover story on gay rights in a national magazine

In 1968, Dr. John Money performed the first complete male-to-female sex-change operation in the United States at Johns Hopkins University.

The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop was founded in 1967 in New York City and was the first gay bookstore in the world

In 1961, Illinois became the first state to abolish its laws against consensual homosexual sex.

The first lesbian organization in the United States was formed in 1955. Called the Daughters of Bilitis, it was founded in San Francisco by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

In 1952, the Unites States Congress enacted a law banning lesbians and gay foreigners from entering the country. The law was on the books until it was repealed in 1990.

In 1948, the Kinsey Institute published its groundbreaking study of sexual behavior in American men. Kinsey’s research helped foster a sense of community and self-acceptance among homosexuals

The first U.S. lesbian magazine was titled Vice Versa and was written by the pseudonymous Lisa Ben (an anagram for “lesbian”)

In 1930, Hollywood studios enacted the Motion Picture Production Code, prohibiting all references to homosexuality or “sexual perversion” in the movies. It was strengthened in 1934 under pressure from the Catholic-led Legion for Decency. It remained in effect until the 1960s.

The Drag, written and produced by Mae West, is the first play with gay male content to be produced in the United States.

The first published piece about homosexuality by an African American writer is the short story “Smoke, Lilies and Jade” by Bruce Nugent

The Society for Human Rights in Illinois was founded in 1924 and is believed to be the first homosexual organization in the United States. It lasted just a few months but published two issues of Friendship and Freedom, the first gay liberation magazine in the country

The first U.S. novel to touch on the subject of homosexuality is Bayard Taylor’s 1870 Joseph and His Friend.

In 1860, Walt Whitman published the homoerotic Leaves of Grass, which later inspired numerous gay poets

Same-sex marriage is legal in Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, and Argentina. In Mexico, same-sex marriage is legal but performed only in Mexico City

If one identical twin is gay, the other has about a 20-50% chance of being gay. Because it is not 100%, scientists speculate that homosexuality is a result of the interplay of environmental factors (e.g., surge of hormones in the womb, a virus, etc.) and genetics.j

Studies have shown that gay men have more feminized patterns for certain cognitive tasks, such as spatial perception and remembering where objects are placed. Studies have also shown masculinized results for lesbians in inner-ear functions and eye-blinking reactions to loud noises

Gay people tend to be left-handed much more often than heterosexuals.

Gay teen suicides are more common in politically conservative regions