Whether it's same-sex marriage or laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender idenity, Connecticut has been near the forefront in advancing LGBTQ causes.

Still, in the state's not-too-distant past, homosexuality was regarded as a mental health or personality disorder. A new research project, jointly undertaken by Central Connecticut State University and the Connecticut Historical Society, details state psychiatric facilities' use of electroshock therapy, even lobotomy, to treat sexuality and gender variations.

But even going back more than a century, love letters included in the project's exhibits attest to an underground gay and lesbian culture here.

Today, we look at Connecticut's LGBTQ history, before and after the Stonewall riots in New York City, which happened 50 years ago next month and gave rise to the modern gay rights movement.

Even before Stonewall, groups here in Connecticut, such as the Kalos Society, championed the push for equality.

We reflect on those efforts, and how the state's LGBTQ community rallied from tragedies, like the AIDS crisis and the murder of a Wethersfield gay man, to bring about change.

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