1981: Toronto police stage a massive raid on four local gay bathhouses, arresting 305 men (the largest mass arrest in Canadian history).  The raids prompt a riot the following night, causing more than one participant to consider this the Canadian Stonewall.

1982: The film Personal Best opens in New York City.  It depicts two women (Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly) as competing athletes who have a lesbian affair while training for the Olympics.