gay liberation
a social movement seeking to redress legal, social, and economic discrimination against, and advocating equal rights and acceptance for, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Gay liberation emerged from the radicalism and social turmoil of the late 1960s and extended its political organizing activities in response to the rise of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. Since then, it has evolved into a broad, diverse movement that includes core debates about how to achieve full equality. For example, some argue for complete integration into mainstream society and its institutions (e.g., through legalization of same-sex marriage), and others stress the essential difference of homosexual experience, culture, and identity. Also called gay lib; gay rights movement; homosexual rights movement; queer rights movement.