THEN"A homosexual is somebody who knows nobody and who nobody knows.

- Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"

"It is a pathetic little second-rate substitute for reality, a pitiable flight from life. As such it deserves fairness, compassion, understanding and, when possible, treatment. But it deserves no encouragement, no glamorization, no rationalization, no fake status as minority martyrdom, no sophistry about simple differences in taste—and, above all, no pretense that it is anything but a pernicious sickness."

In 1966, Time magazine published a long essay called "The Homosexual in America."

An 81-year old Korean War veteran and former high school teacher in Chicago's inner city regularly attends a weekly lunch for LGBT seniors at the Center on Halsted. His brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews still don’t know he is gay.

"What was the point?" he asked, when asked why he never came out to his family.

"I came from a very large family. There were 10 of us. I did go out with girls to give the impression I was straight. I saw no point. I never felt like I was hiding anything.

Why should I tell people I’m gay?The times were different. I don’t see the rationale behind coming out. Why should I tell them? And who cares really?

That’s their own business. To each his own."

40 Years AgoThree years after Time's essay, in July 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, in order to harass and intimidate its gay clientele under the pretense that they were serving bootleg liquor.

The young gay men and women in and around the bar were tired of the routine persecution. They fought back against the police for three days, causing many to become injured and sending others to jail.

The Stonewall Riots were a turning point in the history of gay rights.

Background image of people clashing with the police at the Stonewall Inn from the cover of David Carter's book "Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution"

NOW“Welcome to your White House.” - President Barack Obama to a group of gays and lesbians

This summer, on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, President Barack Obama invited a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the White House.

Although he does not support gay marriage, Obama supports civil unions. Obama has also voiced support for a bill that would prevent employers from firing an employee based on their sexual orientation.

A significant number of gays supported Obama in the presidential election. Many are upset because he has not yet repealed the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" military policy, which has discharged almost 13,000 gay service members since the mid-1990s, and which Obama opposes.

“I know that many in this room don't believe that progress has come fast enough, and I understand that,” Obama said. “But I say this:  We have made progress and we will make more.  And I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I've made, but by the promises that my administration keeps.”

Today even films with gay storylines are part of the mainstream.

30% of people older than 26 think gays and lesbians should be able to marry compared with 47% of people 18-25.

44% of people older than 26 think gays and lesbians should be able to adopt compared with 61% of people 18-25.

“The mentor program helps youth see that there isn’t just this community of dancing and sex, that there's actual community that exists. There are families and beautiful relationships that exist. You can be queer and have a long-lasting relationship with someone.“

Mentoring younger gays is "essential because you're not taught our history in school. You have to take special classes in college. We’re not given this information. Someone has to pass on the stories about the Stonewall Riots and the AIDS epidemic and all the beautiful things that they [older gay people] gave to this community."

"The reality is younger people don’t have it easier. They have their own unique set of circumstances. They're still struggling to come out."

Tony Alvarado-Rivera is director of a mentor program at the Broadway Youth Center in Chicago. He connects LGBT youth with adults who share their experiences of growing up gay.

Bill Healy

News 21Medill School of Journalism

Northwestern University

Part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism