1955-09-21 Daughters of Bilitis founded

A group of eight women, including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, begin meeting in San Francisco, to form a lesbian social club. They name their organization the Daughters of Bilitis and it quickly evolves into a lesbian rights organization that becomes the first national organization devoted to achieving equality and acceptance for lesbians.

1955-10-13 Allen Ginsberg Reads Howl

At the Six Gallery in San Francisco, a group of Beat poets gives a reading of their work. The highlight of the evening was Allen Ginsberg reading for the first time the poem Howl. The poem openly embraces homosexual love between men, which was rare for the time, and it later became the subject of a major censorship trial when it was published.

1955-11-03 Boise Newspaper Starts Anti-Gay Panic

In an editorial titled “Crush the Monster,” the Idaho Daily Statesman, a newspaper in Boise, announces that the “evils of moral perversion prevail in Boise on an extensive scale.” The editorial sets off a public panic that lasts for over a year and leads to over 1400 men being questioned by the police. The Boise City Council calls for the conviction of all homosexuals. Many gay men fled the city.