The Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club (first known as The Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club and later the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club) is a San Francisco-based association and political action committee for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) Democrats.
The political club is currently active in its endorsement of Democratic candidates in the San Francisco area.
Founded in 1971 by activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Beth Elliott, and Jim Foster, it was the first organization for gay Democrats in the United States. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is named after lesbian writer and San Francisco native Alice B. Toklas. [5] The club has been known for its more moderate approach but is now considered to have a big tent ideology and to the left of the national Democratic Party. In 1976, local LGBTQ activists broke off to form the more progressive Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club. [6]
The club hosts an annual breakfast during Pride. In 2016, the event was attended by more than 800 people and was addressed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, several members of Congress, and several state and local elected leaders. [7] In 2024, the breakfast's keynote was Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. [8]
Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin and Phyllis Ann Lyon were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay-rights activists.
LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.
Stonewall Democrats, also known in some states as LGBT Democrats, is a caucus within the Democratic Party that advocates for issues that are relevant to LGBT Americans. The caucus primarily operates through individual chapters or political clubs supporting LGBT rights and affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.
Based in San Francisco, California, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club is a chapter of the Stonewall Democrats, named after LGBT politician and activist Harvey Milk. Believing that the existing Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club would never support him in his political aspirations, Milk co-founded the political club under the name "San Francisco Gay Democratic Club" in the wake of his unsuccessful 1976 campaign for the California State Assembly. Joining Milk in forming the club were a number of the city's activists, including Harry Britt, Dick Pabich, Jim Rivaldo, and first club president Chris Perry.
LGBT rights organizations are non-governmental civil rights, health, and community organizations that promote the civil and human rights and health of sexual minorities, and to improve the LGBT community.
The GLBT Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of archival materials, artifacts and graphic arts relating to the history of LGBT people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California.
James M. Foster was an American LGBT rights and Democratic activist. Foster became active in the early gay rights movement when he moved to San Francisco following his undesirable discharge from the United States Army in 1959 for being homosexual. Foster co-founded the Society for Individual Rights (SIR), an early homophile organization, in 1964. Dianne Feinstein credited SIR and the gay vote with generating her margin of victory in her election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969.
The history of LGBT residents in California, which includes centuries prior to the 20th, has become increasingly visible recently with the successes of the LGBT rights movement. In spite of the strong development of early LGBT villages in the state, pro-LGBT activists in California have campaigned against nearly 170 years of especially harsh prosecutions and punishments toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people.
The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.
The Outwords Archive (OUTWORDS) is a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. It records and archives on-camera interviews with elders from the LGBTQ+ community throughout the United States.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.
LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is a memorial wall in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". Located inside the Stonewall Inn, the wall is part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the country's LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty nominees were announced in June 2019, and the wall was unveiled on June 27, 2019, as a part of Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 events. Five honorees will be added annually.
Nancy Wohlforth is an American union leader and activist who has advocated for a variety of civil, labor, and LGBTQ causes throughout her career including single-payer healthcare, domestic partner worker benefits, and non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ workers. She was the first out member of the LGBTQ community to be elected to the AFL–CIO Executive Council in 2005.