Draft:LGBT history in New Hampshire
The American state of New Hampshire has been home to LGBT gathering places and communities since the mid-20th century.
20th century[edit]
1950s and 1960s[edit]
The 1950s saw the emergence of an LGBT community in Portsmouth.[1] The city's first gay bar, the Seacoast Club, opened in 1957.[1] A second LGBT-friendly venue, the Sagamore Social Club, opened that year; it remained open until 1978.[2][3]
However, the LGBT community remained largely quiet, and many LGBT-friendly establishments were in out-of-the-way or secret locations.[4]
1970s[edit]
The 1970s saw a rise in LGBT activism in the state, particularly in the Seacoast Region.[5]
In the early 1970s, students at the University of New Hampshire founded the Gay Student Organization.[1] The university recognized the group in 1973.[4] However, the group faced opposition from authorities, including then-Governor Meldrim Thomson, who told the university the group was not allowed to host social events, and UNH resciended their support.[1][4] In spring 1974, student activists attempted to meet with Thomson via an auction, as New Hampshire Public Television was auctioning off a pancake breakfast with the governor to raise funds. The students were outbid, and were not given a chance to raise their bid before the item closed.[6] Beginning in 1992, the GSU would commemorate this occasion with an annual LGBTQ+ and Ally Pancake Breakfast.[6] The GSU instead took their case of discrimination to the state's supreme court, who ruled in GSU's favor in 1975.[1][4]
The Seaport Club opened in 1977, and continued to serve the community until its closure in 1995.[7] In 1979, the social group Seacoast Gay Men was founded.[4]
1980s[edit]
The LGBT community in New Hampshire, as with the rest of the country, was heavily impacted by the HIV/AIDS crisis. AIDS Response Seacoast was working in the state by the late 1980s.[1]
In October 1981, the NH Gay Symposium was held.[3] In April 1982, New Hampshire police seized the mail list of the Gay Community News.[3]
In 1984, a gay man from Portsmouth, Charlie Howard, was killed in a hate crime in Bangor, Maine. Two memorial benches were later installed in Portsmouth in his memory.[5]
Iris, a "women's bar" in Portsmouth, was open during the 1980s.[2]
1990s[edit]
In the early 1990s, community organizers held a Gay Pride event at Pats Peak, a ski resort in Henniker.[7]
In 1993, activists proposed an anti-discrimination ordinance in Portsmouth.[1][7] The city's first Gay History Walk was held the following year.[7]
Hate crime bill[1]
1996 - Hampton protests[8]
1999 - Struck down ban on gay and lesbian adults being able to foster or adopt[9]
21st century[edit]
2000s[edit]
2007 - first civil unions bill in the country to be passed through legislation rather than courts[1]
2010s[edit]
2010 - same sex marriages[1]
The first Pride event in Portsmouth was held on June 27, 2015, the day after the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples had a right to marry.[7] That same year, New Hampshire resident Tom Kaufhold founded the NH Seacoast LGBT History Project.[4][10]
2018 - Chris Pappas[1], Gerri Cannon, Lisa Bunker[11]
2020s[edit]
2022 - James Rosener, first openly trans male state legislator[12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hernandez, Monica (2022-06-11). "In New Hampshire, fight for LGBTQ acceptance has spanned decades". WMUR. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b Hall, Beth LaMontagne (2015-12-23). "Hidden history". PortsmouthNH.com. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b c "50 years of Rainbow Reflections". Foster's Daily Democrat. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b c d e f Sarris, Aliya (2021-03-01). "LGBTQ+ Oral History: The Power of Community and Individual Stories". Inquiry Journal. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b Wood, Sherry. "Standing Together exhibit shines light on NH LGBTQ+ activism". Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b "A Breakfast With A History". UNH Today. 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b c d e Wood, Sherry (2019-05-02). "LGBT Project Exhibit". Portsmouth Athenaeum. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ "NH Seacoast LGBT History Project Video Archive · Portsmouth Public Library's Online Archives". portsmouthexhibits.org. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ "In a National First, NH Lawmakers Repeal Ban on Gay and Lesbian Foster Care and Adoption". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ Harris, Jackie (2023-10-24). "Archive features oral histories from LGBTQ+ elders on the NH Seacoast". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ Doyle, John. "Transgender state reps will make history". Foster's Daily Democrat. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ Spirit, Boston (2022-11-14). "Voters in New Hampshire elect first trans man to their state's legislature | Boston Spirit Magazine". Retrieved 2023-12-28.