LGBTQ movements
1987–2000
#### 1987–2000

[thumb\|The [rainbow flag](/wiki/Rainbow_flag_%28gay_movement%29 "Rainbow flag (gay movement)")](/wiki/File:Gay_flag.svg "Gay flag.svg")

##### AIDS pandemic

Some historians posit that a new era of the gay rights movement began in the 1980s with the emergence of [AIDS](/wiki/AIDS "AIDS"). As gay men became seriously ill and died in ever\-increasing numbers, and many lesbian activists became their caregivers, the leadership of many organizations was decimated. Other organizations shifted their energies to focus their efforts on AIDS. This era saw a resurgence of militancy with [direct action](/wiki/Direct_action "Direct action") groups like [AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power](/wiki/AIDS_Coalition_to_Unleash_Power "AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power") (ACT UP), formed in 1987, as well as its offshoots [Queer Nation](/wiki/Queer_Nation "Queer Nation") (1990\) and the [Lesbian Avengers](/wiki/Lesbian_Avengers "Lesbian Avengers") (1992\). Some younger activists, seeing *gay and lesbian* as increasingly normative and politically conservative, began using *[queer](/wiki/Queer "Queer")* as a defiant statement of all [sexual minorities](/wiki/Sexual_minority "Sexual minority") and [gender variant](/wiki/Gender_variant "Gender variant") people—just as the earlier liberationists had done with *gay*. Less confrontational terms that attempt to reunite the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people also became prominent, including various [acronyms](/wiki/Acronym_and_initialism "Acronym and initialism") like *[LGBT](/wiki/LGBT "LGBT")*, *LGBTQ*, and *LGBTI*, where the *Q* and *I* stand for *[queer](/wiki/Queer "Queer")* or *[questioning](/wiki/Questioning_%28sexuality_and_gender%29 "Questioning (sexuality and gender)")* and *[intersex](/wiki/Intersex "Intersex")*, respectively.

##### Warrenton "War Conference"

A "War Conference" of 200 gay leaders was held in Warrenton, Virginia, in 1988\. The closing statement of the conference set out a plan for a media campaign: 
The statement also called for an annual planning conference "to help set and modify our national agenda." The [Human Rights Campaign](/wiki/Human_Rights_Campaign "Human Rights Campaign") lists this event as a milestone in gay history and identifies it as where [National Coming Out Day](/wiki/National_Coming_Out_Day "National Coming Out Day") originated.

On June 24, 1994, the first Gay Pride march was celebrated in Asia in the Philippines. In the Middle East, LGBT organizations remain illegal, and LGBT rights activists face extreme opposition from the state. The 1990s also saw the emergence of many LGBT youth movements and organizations such as LGBT youth centers, [gay–straight alliances](/wiki/Gay%E2%80%93straight_alliance "Gay–straight alliance") in high schools, and youth\-specific activism, such as the [National Day of Silence](/wiki/National_Day_of_Silence "National Day of Silence"). Colleges also became places of LGBT activism and support for activists and LGBT people in general, with many colleges opening LGBT centers.

The 1990s also saw a rapid push of the [transgender](/wiki/Transgender "Transgender") movement, while at the same time a "sidelining of the identity of those who are transsexual." In the English\-speaking world, [Leslie Feinberg](/wiki/Leslie_Feinberg "Leslie Feinberg") published *Transgender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time Has Come* in 1992\. Gender\-variant peoples across the globe also formed minority rights movements. [Hijra](/wiki/Hijra_%28South_Asia%29 "Hijra (South Asia)") activists campaigned for recognition as a [third sex](/wiki/Third_gender "Third gender") in India and [Travesti](/wiki/Travesti_%28gender_identity%29 "Travesti (gender identity)") groups began to organize against police brutality across Latin America while activists in the United States formed direct\-confrontation groups such as the [Transexual Menace](/wiki/Transexual_Menace "Transexual Menace").


What is the significance of the Warrenton 'War Conference' in gay history?