Baxter Manor

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjKbwFEGnMs)

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, Virginia elected Danica Roem as the state's first openly transgender candidate to the Virginia House of Delegates. Roem unseated incumbent Bob Marshall, who held that seat for over 26 years. Roem also became the first openly transgender candidate elected to a state legislature in United States history.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriages. The June 26th 5-4 ruling was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, Barack Obama became the first sitting President of the United States to publicly support marriage equality. That same year, the Democratic Party became the first major political party in United States history to publicly support same-sex marriage as part of their national platform. And, later that year, on November 6th, Tammy Baldwin became the first openly lesbian politician (as well as, the first Wisconsin woman) to be elected to the US Senate.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, the first legal same-sex marriage in the United States took place in Massachusetts. This came a year after the Supreme Court of the United States voted, in a 6–3 decision, for Lawrence v. Texas, which also reversed Bowers v. Hardwick, and four years after Vermont became the first state to legalize civil-unions between same-sex couples.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, Harvey Milk, was sworn in as the first openly gay man to be elected to a political office in California (as San Francisco's city supervisor). That same year, inspired by Milk's death (he was murdered along with Mayor George Moscone by Dan White), Gilbert Baker designed and stitched together the first rainbow flag as a symbol of pride and hope for the LGBT community - a symbol that to this day is used around the globe.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly LGBT American elected to any public office after winning a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council. That same year, Elaine Noble became the first openly LGBT candidate elected to the Massachusetts State legislature.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, Lambda Legal was established to fight for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. On January 1, 1973 the fight took a step backward when Maryland becomes the first state to ban same-sex marriage. That same year, the first meeting of "Parents and Friends of Gays" took place on March 26, 1973. In 1982 the group went national as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). By year's end, on December 15, 1973, by a vote of 5,854 to 3,810, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, momentum was growing from the Black Cat Demonstration, and when Police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969, sustained protests and demonstrations immediately begin. These events are widely considered to be the tipping point for the gay rights movement and the organized fight for the LGBT community in the United States. This year also saw national distribution for The Advocate Magazine. It is the oldest continuing LGBT publication, originally published by the activist group Personal Rights in Defense and Education (PRIDE), as a local newsletter named "Advocate" in Los Angeles.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, the Black Cat Demonstration took place on Feb. 11, 1967 in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. For the first time in our history, protesters organized to bring attention to the New Year's Eve Police raid just a month earlier, where officers beat patrons and arrested 14 people, who were charged with lewd conduct for same-sex kissing at the strike of Midnight.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, Daughters of Bilitis, the first-known U.S.-based lesbian rights organization was formed in San Francisco. The group hosted private social functions to avoid police raids and threats of violence and discrimination at local bars and clubs.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, the Mattachine Society was formed by Harry Hay and became one of our country's first sustained gay rights groups. The Los Angeles-based group focused on social acceptance.

In this year of our LGBTQ+ history, the Society for Human Rights was founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago and has been recorded as the first documented gay rights organization in America.

We are making a donation with each candle we sell… 10% of all #OurHistoryCollection will go to The Trevor Project - because we want to support the history our next generation will make.