I feel like people might think this is figurative, or like maybe it's a simplistic story, but it's very real. In the 70s, it was never "LGBT" it was gay organizations, lesbian organizations, transsexual or transvestite organizations, gay and lesbian organizations, but not all together. It was only the threat posed by the AIDS crisis that spurred the creation of organizations like Queer Nation it was in this climate that the coalition building happened, and where things like equal marriage became a rallying cry (as many people watched their loved ones die and have their affairs revert to--often homophobic--next of kin rather than their lifelong partners)