The Ten Percent Society is the name of the first gay rights organization in North Dakota created by students and faculty at the University of North Dakota in 1982. The organization gained its name from a widely held (but false) belief that scientist Alfred Kinsey's research in the 1940s and 1950s had stated that ten percent of the population was gay. While the organization had little early success, it started to foster an increased tolerance for gay people and a more active LGBT rights movement in North Dakota.
LGBT rights in North Dakota
In 1975, the North Dakota State legislature legalized private, adult, consensual and noncommerical homosexuality as part of a larger revision of the criminal code. It was during this decade, that a LGBT community was slowly becoming more visible in Fargo, North Dakota as well as Grand Forks, North Dakota.
In 1982, University of North Dakota students, faculty and staff formed the "Ten Percent Society" to provide a social network for LGBT people and campaign for LGBT rights. A similar group was formed at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.
Today, the Ten Percent Society is still a recognized student organization at the University of North Dakota [1].