Members of the LGBTQ2S+ community have existed since the beginning of recorded time, and they have made their mark on World history as well as influencing our community collective history. Sadly, our presence, even our mere existence in some times was looked down on with disdain and prejudice, yet we endured, fought, and secured our loves, our families, and our community.
This is a brief timeline of some of the highlights of our history to date.
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2020 – PRESENT
San Francisco History
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San Francisco Police Department History
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United States of America History
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World History
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2010-2019
San Francisco History
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San Francisco Police Department History
- 2010 SFPD establishes the Chief’s LGBT Community Advisory Forum.
United States of America History
- 2012 Democratic party becomes the first to publicly support same-sex marriage as part of their national platform.
- 2015 Secretary of Defense adjusts Military Equal Opportunity Policy to include LBGTQ+ military members.
- 2015 Supreme Court rules that same-sex individuals have the constitutional right to marry their chosen partner.
World History
- 2016 A record high of 41 openly LGBTQ Olympians participate in the Summer Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro.
2000-2009
San Francisco History
- 2004 Mayor Gavin Newsom authorizes same-sex marriage licenses to be issued. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are the first to be married in San Francisco.
San Francisco Police Department History
- 2002 Gay Officer John Cook dies in the line of duty in a vehicle accident.
United States of America History
- 2003 Supreme Court overturns sodomy laws, proclaiming rights to privacy and decriminalizing “homosexual” behavior.
- 2004 Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. State to legally recognize same-sex marriage and conducts the first same-sex marriage in the United States.
- 2008 Proposition 8 passes in California, limiting marriage to only opposite-sex couples.
- 2009 Matthewe Sheppard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is signed into law by President Obama.
World History
- 2001 Netherlands is the first country to fully legalize adoption by same-sex couples.
1990-1999
San Francisco History
- 1990 6th annual International AIDS conference held in San Francisco where activists and people with HIV confronted political and public health officials demanding action in response to the growing deadly epidemic.
- 1996 A 200 foot wide Pink Triangle is installed on Twin Peaks above the Castro for the first time during the 26th Pride Parade weekend.
San Francisco Police Department History
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United States of America History
- 1993 President Bill Clinton signs “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy prohibiting openly LGBTQ+ Americans from serving in the military.
- 1996 Hawaii becomes the first State or recognize that LGBTQ+ couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual married couples.
- 1997 Ellen DeGeneres came out in her popular television comedy. The show was cancelled the following year.
- 1998 Gay Wyoming college student, Matthew Shepard, dies following a brutal beating due to his sexual orientation.
World History
- 1992 World Health Organization declares homosexuality is not an illness.
- 1994 Pedro Pablo Zamora, one of the first openly gay men with AIDS portrayed in popular media, dies on 11/11.
1980-1989
San Francisco History
- 1980 San Francisco resident Ken Horne is reported to the CDC with Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Later they would identify him as the first patients of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
- 1982 San Francisco hosts the first Gay Games, an international sports and cultural event.
- 1985 Cleve Jones creates the AIDS Memorial Quilt project.
San Francisco Police Department History
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United States of America History
- 1982 Nearly 800 people are infected with GRID (Gay Related Immunodeficiency Disorder.) The name is changed to AIDS by the end of the year.
- 1982 Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
- 1987 Act Up is founded in New York to bring attention to AIDS related issues using civil disobedience.
World History
- 1985 The first memorial to Nazi Gay victims at Neuengamme concentration camp is established, a pink granite stone.
- 1989 Denmark is the first country in the World to legally recognize same-sex unions.
1970-1979
San Francisco History
- 1972 First San Francisco Pride Parade on Polk Street called the San Francisco Gay Liberation March.
- 1972 Twin Peaks Tavern, owned by two Lesbian friends Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster, remove the window coverings, making it the first Gay bar whose interior was visible from the outside.
- 1977 Harvey Milk is the first openly Gay person elected to public office in California.
- 1978 Harvey Milk is assassinated in San Francisco City Hall by a fellow Board of Supervisors member and former SFPD Police Officer Dan White.
- 1978 Gilbert Baker develops the LGBTQ+ Rainbow Flag as a symbol of hope and PRIDE.
- 1979 Voicing anger at the lenient sentencing for Harvey Milk assassin, Dan White, the Gay community marched on City Hall and rioted.
San Francisco Police Department History
- 1979 In response to the Gay community riot and damage to City Hall, SFPD raided the “Elephant Walk” bar in the Castro and violently arrests multiple patrons in retaliation.
United States of America History
- 1970 First “Gay Liberation March” is held in New York City recognizing the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riot.
- 1973 American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from the official list of disorders.
- 1974 Kathy Kizachenko is the first openly LGBTQ+ American elected to public office in Michigan.
- 1975 Sgt. Leonard P Matlovich is forcibly discharged from the U.S. Air Force after revealing he is gay.
World History
- 1972 Sweden is the first country in the World to legalize medical transition for trans people.
1960-1969
San Francisco History
- 1961 SFPD raid on the Tay-Bush Inn, arresting 103 people, sees public sentiment shift in support of the Gay community and against harassment by the Police.
- 1961 Jose Sarria becomes the first openly Gay candidate to run for office.
- 1962 Tavern Guild, the first Gay business association in the United States, created in response to continuous harassment and closing of Gay bars by Police and City Officials.
- 1964 Life Magazine calls San Francisco the “Gay Capital of America.”
- 1966 Compton Cafeteria Riot trans Women fight back against San Francisco Police persecution.
San Francisco Police Department History
- 1962 SFPD appoints a liaison to the queer community – believed to be the first in the Country.
- 1965 SFPD raid the California Hall on New Year’s day. Six major LGBT community groups joined together to co-sponsor the dance.
United States of America History
- 1961 Illinois is the first U.S. State to remove sodomy law from the criminal code.
- 1964 Society for Individual Rights (SIR) founded. Within 2-years it becomes the larges homophile organization in the United States.
- 1969 Police raid the Stonewall Inn in New York City, sparking a four-day riot between LGBTQ community members and the NYPD.
World History
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1950-1959
San Francisco History
- 1951 California Supreme Court rules that gays have the right to assemble, leading to a proliferation of gay bars, social clubs and political groups in San Francisco.
- 1955 Daughters of Bilitis, the first known Lesbian rights organization, is formed in San Francisco.
San Francisco Police Department History
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United States of America History
- 1950 First long-lasting gay organization, the Mattachine Society, is founded in Los Angeles.
- 1952 American Psychiatric Association diagnostic manual lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance.
World History
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1940-1949
San Francisco History
- 1945 Thousands of LGBTQ military personnel are demobilized in San Francisco following the end of World War II, and decide to stay creating a large and cohesive LGBTQ community.
San Francisco Police Department History
- 1948 SFPD and ABC target the Black Cat club due to increasing homosexual clientele.
United States of America History
- 1948 Biologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey publishes “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” which concluded that 37% of men have enjoyed homosexual activities at least once.
World History
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The PAST Before 1940
San Francisco History
- 1936 Mona’s 440 club opened on Broadway Street, San Francisco’s first Lesbian bar.
San Francisco Police Department History
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United States of America History
- 1624 Richard Cornish of the Virginia Colony is tried and hanged for sodomy.
- 1949 Sarah White Norman is charged with “Lewd Behavior” with Mary Vincent Hammon in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- 1924 The Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago, the first documented Gay Rights organization in the county.
World History
- 1791 France becomes the first Country in the World to decriminalize homosexuality.
- 1897 First LGBT rights organization in the World, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, was established in Berlin, Germany.