Manchester Outright

The Stonewall Riots Took Place in June 27, 1969:
The Stonewall Riots took place in New York City on this day in 1969. One
of the most significant events in gay and lesbian history, the Stonewall Riots marked the dawn of a new
era for our community, as gays, lesbians and transgendered citizens fought back against police for
the first time. Rock on!

The very first Gay Pride Parade took place in New York City on June 28,1970.
The parade took place one year after the infamous Stonewall Riots occurred, which marked the
dawn of a new era for the gay and lesbian community.

Unitarian (UU) Church Approves Same-Sex Unions on June 30, 1984. 
The Unitarian Church voted to approve ceremonies uniting
same-sex couples. The struggle continues to get our unions recognized by the government?

Vermont's Civil Unions Go into Effect in 2000. 
On July 1, 2000 marks the first day that same-sex couples could become civil partners in the state of Vermont. Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean signed the landmark law that gives gay and lesbian couples most of the rights, benefits and
responsibilities of married couples. It’s been four years and going strong.

Before the rainbow flag, a few different symbols were used to represent homosexuals. In Victorian, England, green was associated with homosexuality. After the Stonewall riot in 1969, purple was used and gays used the phrase, “purple power” to show their pride. In the early 1980s, there was the pink triangle. The pink triangle was originated to identify gay males in Nazi Germany concentration camps.
In 1978 Gilbert Baker of San Francisco designed and made the rainbow flag to represent gay pride. The original flag had eight colors: pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These colors were to represent sexuality, life, healing, sun, nature, art, harmony, and spirit. The flag then changed to just the six colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) and is still used today as the symbol of gay pride. It is even recognized by the International Congress of Flag Makers.

The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality has the following entry on Lambda:

In the early 1970s, in the wake of the Stonewall Rebellion, New York City's Gay Activists Alliance selected the Greek letter lambda, which member Tom Doerr suggested from its scientific use to designate kinetic potential, as its emblem. (Curiously, in some ancient Greek graffiti the capital lambda appears with the meaning fellate, representing the first letter of either lambazein or laikazein.) Because of its militant associations, the lambda symbol has spread throughout the world. It sometimes appears in the form of an amulet hung round the neck as a subtle sign of recognition which can pass among unknowing heterosexuals as a mere ornament. Such emblems may reflect a tendency among homosexuals toward tribalization as a distinct segment of society, one conceived as a quasi-ethnic group.

In More Man Than You'll Ever Be by Joseph P. Goodwin (Indiana University Press:Bloomington, 1989) on page 26, Goodwin writes:

The lowercase Greek letter lambda carries several meanings. First of all, it represents scales, and thus balance. The Greeks considered balance to be the constant adjustment necessary to keep opposing forces from overcoming each other. The hook at the bottom of the right leg of the lambda represents the action required to reach and maintain a balance. To the Spartans, the lambda meant unity. They felt that society should never infringe on anyone's individuality and freedom. The Romans adopted the letter to represent "the light of knowledge shed into the darkness of ignorance." Finally, in physics the symbol designates and energy change. Thus the lambda, with all its meanings, is an especially apt symbol for the gay liberation movement, which energetically seeks a balance in society and which strives through enlightenment to secure equal rights for homosexual people.