Final answer:
Access to reliable information on sex was limited before the late 1940s. Dr. Alfred Kinsey's survey research in the 1940s challenged societal notions about homosexuality and sparked conversations about human sexuality. Criminalization of same-sex acts in the United States began to unravel in the 1960s and 1970s and was fully invalidated in a 2003 Supreme Court decision.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before the late 1940s, access to reliable information on sex was limited. In the 1940s, Dr. Alfred Kinsey conducted large-scale survey research on human sexuality, with some of the results published in the books 'Sexual Behavior in the Human Male' and 'Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'. These books challenged the notion that homosexuality was rare or abnormal behavior and sparked open conversations about human sexuality.
In the United States, criminalization of same-sex acts began to unravel in the 1960s and 1970s. Every state criminalized same-sex acts, allowing law enforcement agencies to investigate and detain people suspected of such acts, and military to dishonorably discharge gay veterans. However, in a 2003 Supreme Court decision, same-sex acts were fully invalidated.
The public reaction to Kinsey's books was not one of acceptance, and persecution of homosexuals intensified through the Lavender Scare during the Cold War. GLBT individuals were increasingly forced on the defensive against the widespread association as 'deviants'.