1996: President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act, denying federal benefits to same-sex spouses should gay marriage ever become legal, and creating an exception to the US Constitution to allow states to disregard same-sex marriages performed in other states. Source: Hogan/Hudson

---

1996: Kelli Peterson founds a Gay-Straight Alliance at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. The city school board bans all "non-curricular" student clubs in order to keep the group from meeting. Kelli Peterson and a New Generation of Activists Source: Hogan/Hudson Image: Don Romesburg