Social Movements and LGBTQ+ Rights: How Illinois Became a Leader in Queer Policy

Harms, Molly

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/123017 Copy

Description

Title

Social Movements and LGBTQ+ Rights: How Illinois Became a Leader in Queer Policy

Author(s)

Harms, Molly

Issue Date

2024-05

Keyword(s)

• Social movements
• LGBTQ+
• LGBTQ+ right
• Queer policy
• Illinois

Abstract

This research paper examines how social movements have impacted LGBTQ+ policies in Illinois. This research focuses on the history of Illinois’s LGBTQ+ rights movement, including the development of the movement from the 1950s to the present. Another focus includes how specific elements of progress like marriage equality and the implementation of nondiscrimination policy, for example, have been impacted by LGBTQ+ activists and their advocacy. This paper looks at the organizations and groups that make up Illinois’s LGBTQ+ rights movement and aims to understand how they have influenced both politicians and public opinion. Furthermore, it analyzes the specific actions that have been undertaken by LGBTQ+ social movements in Illinois and examines how those actions have directly led to areas of progress. This research ultimately finds that in Illinois, social movements have been particularly successful in their organization and advocacy, which has significantly impacted the passage of inclusive and protective policies to the point that Illinois is now one of the most progressive states in terms of LGBTQ+ rights. One goal of this analysis of social movements and Illinois’s evolution is that it can be applied to the current LGBTQ+ rights movement and hopefully influence further progress in areas where the state still has room for improvement.

Publisher

University of Illinois Springfield

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

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