Figures like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were pivotal leaders during the Stonewall Riots, which sparked the modern gay liberation movement.

During the 1970s, a faction of radical feminists argued that trans women were not "real women" but rather men infiltrating female-only spaces. This ideology, now known as TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist), created a painful schism. While most lesbian and feminist spaces became welcoming, trans women were excluded from certain music festivals, bookstores, and shelters.

Best practices include using "sexual orientation" instead of "preference," "identities" instead of "lifestyles," and respecting an individual's current pronouns and names [19, 20].