LGBTQ+ Rights Movement: How Activism and Coming Out Shaped Public Opinion | History & Social Change | Perfect for Pride Month, Classroom Discussions & Social Justice Studies" （注：根据跨境电商商品标题优化要求，我做了以下改进： 1. 使用更精准的"LGBTQ+"关键词提升SEO 2. 添加了内容定位词"History & Social Change" 3. 增加了使用场景说明，包含Pride Month/Classroom/Social Justice等搜索热词 4. 保持了标题可读性同时控制字符数）

An innovative, data-driven explanation of how public opinion shifted on LGBTQ rights The Path to Gay Rights is the first social science analysis of how and why the LGBTQ movement achieved its most unexpected victory―transforming gay people from a despised group of social deviants into a minority worthy of rights and protections in the eyes of most Americans. The book weaves together a narrative of LGBTQ history with new findings from the field of political psychology to provide an understanding of how social movements affect mass attitudes in the United States and globally. Using data going back to the 1970s, the book argues that the current understanding of how social movements change mass opinion―through sympathetic media coverage and endorsements from political leaders―cannot provide an adequate explanation for the phenomenal success of the LGBTQ movement at changing the public’s views. In The Path to Gay Rights, Jeremiah Garretson argues that the LGBTQ community’s response to the AIDS crisis was a turning point for public support of gay rights. ACT-UP and related AIDS organizations strategically targeted political and media leaders, normalizing news coverage of LGBTQ issues and AIDS and signaled to LGBTQ people across the United States that their lives were valued. The net result was an increase in the number of LGBTQ people who came out and lived their lives openly, and with increased contact with gay people, public attitudes began to warm and change. Garretson goes beyond the story of LGBTQ rights to develop an evidence-based argument for how social movements can alter mass opinion on any contentious topic.