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                     CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2010, VOL. 2 (ISSUE 1: 37-42) 

Change in Progress 
 

 

Antonia Reyes 

Department of Sociology 

California State University, Los Angeles 

 

 

                       This paper explores the beginnings of the movement of the 

Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual & Transgendered community 

(GLBT). By analyzing pioneers such as Henry Hey, Dr. 

Evelyn Hooker and Harvey Milk, and also by revisiting 

events such as the stonewall riots, the paper illustrates the 

social stigma that the GLBT community has been enduring. 

 Also, by exploring institutionalized discrimination, a better 

understanding of the adversity that some people face can 

be reached. 

 

 
1
Social Change can be reflected by a 

change in values and an increase in 

tolerance.  The changes in sentiments 

have made revolutions and a change in 

human rights possible. Social changes 

have helped the gay, lesbian, bisexual, 

and transgender movement’s progression 

(GLBT).  The GLBT movement has 

been progressing slowly but surely the 

GLBT community has been able to gain 

certain liberties that were not readily 

available before.  The analysis of the 

GLBT movement will be focusing on the 

progression of their framing strategies 

that were and are currently being used 

today.  The paper will begin with the 

analysis of the use of the motivational 

frame work utilizing Henry Hey and the 

                                                           
1
 Antonia Reyes is an undergraduate student at 

the Department of Sociology.  Her paper was 

originally submitted to SOC 418 Crowd 

Behavior and Social Movements, taught by 

Professor Hyoujoung Kim in Summer 2009.    

Stonewall Riots to further emphasize its 

importance. The motivational frame 

work will then intertwine with the surge 

of Diagnostic framing; consequently, 

this framing serves the purpose of 

diagnosing the problem and attributing 

the blame to particular sources. The 

progressions from motivational to 

diagnostic are both important for the 

emergence of the prognostic framing 

stage that evolved from being a personal 

problem to a social problem seeking a 

change in the political and social system. 

This is the particular sequence that is 

reflective of the GLBT movement’s 

success.  

      As opposed to the Civil Rights 

and Women’s movements, the GLBT 

required a higher degree of motivation in 

order to get the movement started.  A 

hero is a martyr willing to come out and 

express his sentiments, and that 

individual was Henry Hey—an educated 

and political advocate who wrote about 

the “oppressed minority.” Henry Hey 



CHANGE IN PROGRESS by Antonia Reyes                            38 

 

CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2010, VOL. 2 (ISSUE 1: 37-42) 

was one of the founders of the 

Mattachine Society, and he recommend-

ed gay and lesbian individuals to come 

out and fight against their oppression. 

The conception of an oppressed minority 

was important because it legitimized 

homosexual identity.  Not only was this 

conception important at the personal 

level, but it was vital for the uprising of 

GLBT movements. The uprising of 

individuals and the collective commun-

ity is an example of the motivational 

incentives that initiated from the 

conception of the “oppressed minority.” 

Having legitimized their grievances, this 

idea of an “oppressed minority” was the 

threshold needed for gays to “come out.”  

This brought about the conception of 

“Identity,” and this conception, con-

sequently, allowed for GLBT in-

dividuals to gain a sense of community, 

allowing individuals to share testimonies 

of their grievances and struggles, while 

bolstering their sense of identity, outrage 

and Pride.  

      In June of 1969, Police raided the 

Stonewall Inn, a bar where gays 

socialized. This act of police violence 

was symbolic because the gay men 

fought back with frustration, which 

would later fuel and cause the 

emergence of the “Gay Liberation 

movement” as a result of the Stonewall 

Riot.  This took place about sixteen 

years after Henry Hey professed the 

oppressive reality of the gay and lesbian 

community. The latent support was 

brought to the frontlines after the 

Stonewall Riot. The oppressive behavior 

of the State caused a heightened level of 

indignation within the GLBT that has 

lasted and continues till this day.  The 

stonewall riot was to the GLBT 

community what Rosa Parks was to the 

Civil Rights movement, as both helped 

motivate group members to organize and 

resist (Write1999). 

      Due to the GLBT’s lack of 

identity and lacking sense of community, 

it was essential for organizers to appeal 

to people’s individual’s beliefs.  In the 

beginning stages, the majority of the 

people, including gay and lesbian 

individuals, thought that being homo-

sexual was not a social problem but a 

personal problem. Since the individual 

was to blame, society was justified when 

they were mistreating and oppressing 

their behavior. During the motivational 

stage, leaders had to take extreme 

measures in order to appeal to the GLBT 

individuals. By appealing to the 

individuals beliefs and emphasizing the 

importance of identity, Henry Hey was 

successful in embedding a sense of pride 

and outrage in the individuals. As a 

result, individuals began to assemble and 

began to build organization groups that 

will ultimately led to collective action. 

Without pride, outrage and a possibility 

of success GLBT, individuals would not 

have participated in any collective action 

because the consequences for doing so 

were great. Reaching a communal state 

was a success for the GLBT community 

because it allowed for people such as 

Henry Hey and other members of the 

Mattachine society to be influential.  

Although it is important to note that 

many gay individuals came out, the 

political system and religious groups 

were not willingly ready to acknowledge 

their new found identity. 

      Gay, lesbian, bisexual and 

transgender individuals were denied the 

right to initiate romantic involvement 

and forced to deny their sexual identity.  

GLBT were imprisoned in a role that 



CHANGE IN PROGRESS by Antonia Reyes                            39 

 

CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2010, VOL. 2 (ISSUE 1: 37-42) 

denounced their needs and denounced 

their civil liberties. The community 

needed to acknowledge who they were 

and demand that they be granted equal 

rights. Without the obvious relation 

between identity and oppression, the 

resources needed to mobilize the 

movement would not have been 

possible. Their new found pride and 

outrage was enough motivation to 

initiate the movement. Henry Hey was 

the leading advocate promoting gays to 

come out, and he also helped transform 

the concept of what it meant to be gay in 

America. Without Henry Hey and his 

efforts the gay community would not 

have been motivated enough to rise up 

and mobilize. Thus, Henry Hey was a 

symbolic figure that represented another 

perspective of the gay individual, one 

that is educated and successful.  

Although this was not the overwhelming 

perspective, this triggered scientific 

research. One of the most important 

research studies was done by Dr. Evelyn 

Hooker.  Her groundbreaking paper, 

presented in 1956, demonstrated that 

“gay men were as well adjusted as 

heterosexual men, often more so” 

(Ritts2009).   Although gay and lesbians 

were not removed from the American 

Psychiatric Association until 1973, Dr. 

Hooker’s developments brought the 

symbolic justification that reinforced the 

reality of their discontent of their 

mistreatment and oppression.  

      Determining the point at issue is 

an extremely hard task to arrive at, but 

many groups have chosen to specialize 

in specific grievances, whereas others 

have focused on a large range of topics. 

More specifically, the social organiza-

tions being discussed are the Mattachine 

Society, GLAAD, and the Gay and 

Lesbian Task force.  These organizations 

diagnosed four problematic areas. They 

attributed blame to the religious 

organizations, to inaccurate accounts of 

GLBT lifestyles, to the lack 

acknowledgement, and to the oppressive 

political system working in concert with 

the other three.  

      Since the concept of identity 

brought about enlightenment and 

awareness, both of which were necessary 

for the transition to a diagnostic frame 

work, the progression from motivational 

to diagnostic was necessary because 

mere motivation to act is not sufficient 

for successful collective action. This 

particular framework attributes blame 

for the injustices; for example, GLAAD 

is concerned with the media, and the 

effect it has on the portrayal of GLBT 

character. They attribute the blame to the 

mass media; although mainstreaming has 

helped build awareness, it has also been 

used against the GLBT organizations.   

      The Mattachine Society and the 

N.G.L.T.F. (national gay and lesbian 

task force) both attributed the blame to 

the political system for legitimizing 

oppression.  In the case of the NGLTF 

and Mattachine Society, they oppose any 

unequal treatment to GLBT community 

topics ranging from marriage to job 

opportunities. For example, these 

organizations wanted to alleviate the 

stress of both being gay and career 

consequences, such as “GLB sociologist 

who participated in activism, according 

to a survey were more likely to 

encounter difficulties in obtaining 

academic positions than non-activists” 

(TaylorRaeburn262).  

      Many argue that focusing on 

specialization of issues within the GLBT 

movement would be successful. With 



CHANGE IN PROGRESS by Antonia Reyes                            40 

 

CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2010, VOL. 2 (ISSUE 1: 37-42) 

particular issues movement, organiza-

tions are less likely to lose focus of the 

main goal.  What was most problematic 

for the GLBT movement was the 

decision to bridge with other move-

ments. The Civil Rights movement 

(CRM) took full stage in the 1960’s, and 

many GLBT organizations decided to 

support Civil Rights organizations. 

Later, many Lesbian organizations 

would dissolve to either join or counter 

the Women’s movement. Depending on 

what was of highest priority to the social 

organizations, many would dissolve and 

join other organizations or bridge with 

other movements to join forces. For this 

reason, the diagnostic frame adapted an 

extension alignment in order to increase 

movement participation. For instance, 

the alliance between gay and union 

activists, when voicing their concerns 

regarding job security, bridged their 

framework with unions to unite around a 

common agenda (Sweeney35). Support 

of other social movements increased the 

level of organizational support, as well 

as increased resource availability. 

      In diagnosing the source of the 

problem, the political system has been 

overwhelmingly the problem (Snow 

1999). Minority groups have been the 

overwhelming victims of political 

oppression; for example, the Civil Rights 

movement, the Women’s movement and 

the GLBT are all representative of 

minority groups being oppressed. The 

GLBT differs because many viewed the 

GLBT as deviants being gay, lesbian, 

bisexual or transgender, as they were 

thought to be a matter of choice. There 

are currently eleven states that have 

legalized marriage between gay and 

lesbians, either through the use of civil 

unions or domestic partnership. 

California is currently in a battle 

regarding the legalization of gay and 

lesbian marriages. Even though the 

California Supreme Court ruled that 

couples have the right to marry, 

proposition eight, which denied gays and 

lesbians from being legally married, was 

voted on and passed in November 2008 

by Californians taking their right to 

marry away. This proposition was timely 

for the countermovement because the 

2009 elections had conditions that were 

not favorable to GLBT members, as the 

first African American candidate was 

running for president. Because a 

majority of African Americans are 

Christians and because the African 

American turnout was higher than prior 

years, I can be asserted that their ideals 

conflicted with the GLBT ideals, and, as 

a result, most African Americans voted 

in favor of proposition 8. Admittedly, 

the GLBT community was so reliant on 

California’s Liberal majority that they 

failed to the predict African American 

Christian turnout.  This is an example of 

affluent religious groups using money to 

bring about success to counter GLBT 

movement in the political system. 

      The GLBT movement was 

initiated through motivation then it 

began diagnosing the problems and 

determining who was responsible for the 

injustice (Snow 1999). Blame was 

attributed, which led to the transforming 

of diagnostic to prognostic framing, 

where solutions are proposed and tactic 

strategies are developed. The Civil 

Rights and the Women’s movement 

have paved the way for collective action 

tactics.  Tactics most commonly used by 

the GLBT were protest, Pride parades, 

media, and lobbing power.  The NGLTF 

has been the leading organization 



CHANGE IN PROGRESS by Antonia Reyes                            41 

 

CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2010, VOL. 2 (ISSUE 1: 37-42) 

composed of a large range of grievances, 

all of which are fought through lawsuits 

and proposed legislature. 

      Countering the countermovement 

and the proper use of resources has lead 

to the movement’s success. For instance, 

Pride Parades have been very successful 

countering the “choice” argument 

because pride parades are representative 

of individualism and sharing of life and 

knowledge.  The counter for the deviant 

argument has been made successful by 

individuals of positive influence in the 

fields of Academics, Politicians Harvy 

B. Milk, Entertainers and many more.  

As stated by a GLBT member “our 

sexual behavior and how we define 

ourselves, is usually a choice. Though 

some people claim  their sexual 

orientation is a choice for the vast 

majority this doesn’t seem to be the case, 

in a world void of homophobia few 

people would construct their identity 

based on sexual orientation” (Miceli 

603).  This article is important because it 

states that sexual orientation is 

biological, and that sexual identity is 

socially defined. Countering the argu-

ment of “choice” was done by giving an 

example of social determinism that 

questions whether individuals living in a 

society actually have choices.   

      Resources available to the GLBT 

community also varied from the amount 

of resources available to CRM and WM, 

in that many GLBT members were 

affluent facilitating the availability of 

resources that took time for CRM and 

WM to raise. Money facilitated the 

distribution of information through 

media, parades, and lobby groups. 

Mainstreaming information and properly 

educating citizens about GLBT struggles 

can be a result of using the media as a 

tactic. It can also facilitate parades 

because of the massive distribution of 

information, thereby increasing the 

amount of potential participants being 

exposed to the information, while 

affecting the influence money has on 

lobby groups.  Money as a resource has 

a major influence on the success or 

failure of a social movement. Lobbing 

has become a very influential tool in 

politics.  As seen by CRM and WM, 

political know how is important for 

reform, since there has not been 

exponential national policy success; 

thus, the GLBT have focused on State as 

opposed to national policy.  

      The GLBT struggles are not a 

modern phenomenon, and the increase of 

GLBT individuals that are out and open 

about their identity has increased as a 

result of a new found perspective.  

Incrementally, the movement has been 

able to gain momentum, regarding the 

fight for civil rights and their decriminal-

ization, while also highlighting the 

debate of how much influence should 

religion have on political laws and the 

political process as a whole. Taking 

away the religious and moral argument 

of right and wrong from the GLBT 

debate, it forces us to see it as a matter 

of human liberties.  Although the GLBT 

movement has gained certain acknow-

ledgements, they are still denied the 

national acknowledgement needed for 

complete freedom and acceptance. 

Unfortunately, this is still a working 

progress, but with perseverance and an 

increase in national understanding the 

movement can hopefully transcend 

boarders and ultimately reach national 

success.  

  

 



CHANGE IN PROGRESS by Antonia Reyes                            42 

 

CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2010, VOL. 2 (ISSUE 1: 37-42) 

REFERENCES  

 

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against 

Defamation (GLAAD) - Home. 

Web. Aug. 2009. <http://www 

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Miceli, Melinda S. "Morality Politics vs. 

Politics: Framing Process and 

Competion among Christian RIght 

and Gay Social Movement 

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Web. Aug. 2009. <http:// 

www.JSTOR.org>.  

Ritts, Alli. "The Howard Thurman 

Center." Www.bv.edu/thurman 

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Aug. 2009.  

Snow, David A., Burk E. Rochford, 

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<http://www.JSTOR.org>.  

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<http://www.JSTOR.org>.  

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