1933: Close to bankruptcy after repeated Nazi raids and seizures of his publications and property, Adolf Brand writes a letter to his followers announcing the end of the Homophile movement he has led.

1979: San Francisco swears in its first openly gay police officers. Within a year, 1 out of every 7 new recruits is LGBT.

1845: In Paris, a mob attacks a group of about 50 men arrested by police in a sweep of the Tuileries Gardens, a popular cruising area. 1951: The “Missions and Purposes” of the Mattachine Society are ratified under a California corporation. 1981: Despite having privately acknowledged her bisexuality to officials from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Czechoslovakian- born … Read More

1982: A federal judge rules that the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s policy of excluding foreign gays from entering the United States is unconstitutional and violates guarantees of free speech and free association. 1984: U.S. News & World Report reports that gay men and lesbians, with an estimated seventeen million potential voters, now make up the seventh largest … Read More

1969: The New York Times notes that filming is under way for the movie version of Matt Crowley’s play The Boys in the Band, which is scheduled for release the following March. 1984: Appearing on a San Francisco talk show, Jerry Falwell offers $5,000 to anyone who can prove he once called the Metropolitan Community Church “vile … Read More

1972: At the Democratic National Convention, Madeline Davis, representing the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier, and Society for Individual Rights leader Jim Foster are the first speakers to advocate lesbian and gay rights at a national political convention. 1984: Walter Mondale chooses New York congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, the first female vice-presidential candidate … Read More

1977: Diversions and Delights, a one-man play starring Vincent Price as Oscar Wilde, has its world premiere in San Francisco. Nine months later, it moves to Broadway. 1984: Boston Mayor Ray Flynn approves a gay rights ordinance that prohibits job and credit discrimination against lesbians and gay men. 1990: Hong Kong repeals its sodomy laws.