THE NINETIES
The 1990s ushered in a brand-new era for gay rights, with hopes riding on a Democratic president and a new vanguard of famous figures unafraid to come out of the closet.
1990
  • In one of the first federal gay rights victories, a new federal law is created to keep statistics nationally on hate crimes, including those based on sexual orientation
  • Artist Keith Haring dies from an AIDS-related illness
  • Longtime Companion is released in theaters
    > > Interview with Craig Lucas
  • Paris is Burning is released in theaters
    Interview with Willi Ninja
    > > Madonna's music video Vogue
  • The third Gay Games, Celebration '90, kicks off in Vancouver, British Columbia
  • ACT UP activists found the group Queer Nation in New York City
  • The GLAAD Media Awards are created
  • David Bowie's ex-wife Angela claims to have caught the musician in bed once with Mick Jagger
  • Barney Frank is reprimanded in the House of Representatives for his relationship with male prostitute Steve Gobie
  • Ian McKellen becomes the first openly gay man to be knighted
1991
  • Amanda Donohoe plants a kiss on Michele Green on an episode of L.A. Law
  • The red ribbon is first used as a symbol of the campaign against HIV/AIDS
  • The film adaptation of the novel Fried Green Tomatoes is released in theaters, though its lesbian romance has been snipped
  • Magic Johnson announces that he is HIV-positive
    > > Magic Johnson Foundation
    • Freddie Mercury of Queen
  • The day after admitting he has AIDS, Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of British rock group Queen, dies at age 45
  • The Center for Disease Control announces that AIDS is the second-leading cause of death among men between the ages of 25 and 44
  • New York mayor David Dinkins gives up his honorary spot at the front of the city's annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and joins gay and lesbian marchers, whom the parade organizers had sought to ban.
  • Austin gay activist Glen Maxey is elected to the Texas house of representatives
  • The American Family Association complains that The Simpsons, L.A. Law, thirtysomething, and The Golden Girls are “pro-homosexual” programs
  • Illustrator Tom of Finland dies at age 71
    > > Taaschen Books
1992
  • The World Health Organization removes homosexuality from its list of diseases
  • Australia allows homosexuals to serve in the military for the first time
  • Melrose Place premieres on Fox with a gay regular character, played by Doug Savant
  • Gay-friendly reality show The Real World premieres on MTV
  • The AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Dance is released
  • Retired tennis star Arthur Ashe discloses that he has AIDS
  • The Crying Game is released to stellar reviews, eventually racking up one Oscar and six Academy Award nominations
    • movie poster of The Crying Game
  • Bank of America and Wells Fargo pull their donations to the Boy Scouts of America based on their exclusion of gays, though Bank of America quickly reneges
  • LGBT newsmagazine In the Life premieres on PBS
  • Gay activists protest the release of Basic Instinct in theaters
  • John Schlafly, son of antigay activist Phyllis Schlafly, comes out in the San Francisco Examiner
  • kd lang grants a historic coming-out interview to The Advocate
1993
1994


PLEASE YOUR ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

< < PREVIOUS   1985-1989    |   1995-1999  NEXT > >