History of gay men in the United States

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Founders of the Mattachine Society, the first major American gay-rights advocacy organization, in 1951
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This article addresses the history of gay men in the United States. Unless otherwise noted, the members of same-sex male couples discussed here are not known to be gay (rather than, for example, bisexual), but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of male homosexuality—that is, same-sex male sexual and romantic behavior.