We have witnessed a succession of empires, civilizations, and political entities through Western Civilization and noted how inevitably the entrenched power elite create political conditions to maintain the status quo for their own class and kind. This is the case whether we look to political rulers such as King Hammurabi of Babylon or King John of England. It is true for those who wield religious authority such as the Papacy. The same may be said for majority populations or groups that maintain their status at the expense of minority groups. This we have noted with the issue of colonial powers subjugating indigenous peoples as well as the white majority perpetuating slavery on both sides of the Atlantic.

Issues of gender, race, sexual orientation, and other classes of minority groups experience the same climate of exclusion from full participation in the larger society while meeting with resistance to the winds of change and the opening of opportunity. It is most often that the position and access to the resources of power enable the entrenched majority to maintain the status quo. For the minority groups it means gaining access to those avenues of privilege and power and forging coalitions that can change the views, conditions, and legal climate that are in opposition to opening the doors of opportunity to them.

We will look more closely at the fight women waged in the 19th and 20th centuries to achieve universal suffrage. We follow similar efforts through the mid-20th century as the civil rights era brought the recognition of other minority groups also seeking equal rights and opportunity. In the African American community, women were also denied equal opportunity, equal pay, and self-determination with regard to their own bodies and sexuality. Finally, we will look at the struggle that led the gay community to more fully find a place in society as it rode the wave of social justice and human rights efforts that have resulted in greater acceptance and participation in all areas of society, brought the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as eventually led to the legalization of same-sex marriage across the country.