As the oldest national LGBT civil rights organization, the Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up.
The American Psychiatric Association begins classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder. While talk therapy is the predominant method used as a “cure,” other forms of treatment included nausea-inducing drugs and electric shock therapy.
The Task Force works to change the American Psychiatric Association's classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, and, with psychiatrist allies, defeats a proposed association-wide referendum to stop the declassification.
Love In Action, the first ex-gay ministry is founded in San Rafael, CA, with the mission of restoring “those trapped in sexual and relational sin through the power of Jesus Christ.”
The Task Force lobbies for the successful ruling by the U.S. Civil Service Commission allowing gay people to serve in government employment.
Exodus International is founded. It is thought to be the largest “ex-gay” group in existence.
The Task Force successfully lobbies the U.S. Public Health Service to stop certifying gay immigrants as "psychopathic personalities."
The Task Force successfully lobbied the U.S. Public Health Service to stop certifying gay immigrants as "psychopathic personalities."
14-year old Lyn Duff comes out to her mother and is then forcibly taken to Rivendell Psychiatric Center in Utah to undergo conversion therapy.
After 168 days of incarceration, Lyn Duff escapes to live on the streets of San Francisco. Later that year, she wins emancipation from her mother and is adopted by a lesbian couple. She is now a well-respected journalist covering stories around the world, including Haiti and Africa.
The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force along with Political Research Associates and Equal Partners in Faith publish “Calculated compassion: How the ex-gay movement serves the right’s attack on democracy." The report finds that these “ex-gay” organizations practice calculated compassion. They publicly portray themselves as a haven for "hope and healing for homosexuals but in reality, it’s just camouflage for the Christian Right. Read the full report here: http://thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/CalculatedCompassion.pdf
