The following is a list of LGBT historic places in the United States. It includes sites that are recognized at the federal, state, county, or municipal level as important to the history of the LGBT civil rights movement. They represent the achievements and struggles of the community and provide context to understand these events and people. The National Park Service is amid an effort to chronicle LGBT sites across the nation, and have identified almost 400 of interest. [1]
Name | Image | City | State | Designation | Level of designation | Date first designated | Description | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alice Austen House aka Clear Comfort | Staten Island | New York | NRHP NHL NYCL | Federal | August 2, 1967 | Birthplace of photographer Alice Austen (1866-1952) and later of her partner Gertrude Tate | [2] | |
Carrington House | — | Cherry Grove | New York | NRHP | Federal | January 8, 2014 | Oldest house in the gay town of Cherry Grove; where Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's | [1] |
The Castro Camera and the Harvey Milk Residence | — | San Francisco | California | SFDL | Local | July 2, 2000 | Home and studio of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to win an election. Lenient sentencing following his assassination in 1978 led to the White Night riots. | [1] |
Charlton–King–Vandam Historic District | New York City | New York | NRHP HD NYCL | Federal | August 16, 1966 | The John V. Gridley House, 37 Charlton Street, was Marianne Moore's childhood home | [3] | |
Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre | — | Cherry Grove | New York | NRHP | Federal | June 4, 2013 | Oldest continually-operating gay summer theater | [1] |
Cinema Follies | - | Washington | District of Columbia | HABS | Federal | - | 37 L St. SE, Washington, DC, was the Cinema Follies, adult film theater for gay men | [4] |
The Clubhouse | - | Washington | District of Columbia | HABS | Federal | - | 1296 Upshur St. NW, Washington, DC, was the Clubhouse of the Metropolitan Capitolites, a social club for African American LGBTQ Washingtonians | [5] |
Earl Hall at Columbia University | New York City | New York | NRHP | Federal | March 14, 2018 | The Student Homophile League was the first gay student organization in the US, founded at Columbia University in 1966. | [6] | |
Edificio Comunidad de Orgullo Gay de Puerto Rico | Pueblo | Puerto Rico | NRHP | Federal | May 2, 2016 | Founded in 1974, also known as "Casa Orgulllo", meeting place for the first LGBT organization in Puerto Rico | [7] | |
Elks Athletic Club | Louisville | Kentucky | NRHP | Federal | July 16, 1979 | The Beaux Arts Cocktail Lounge was a club for gay men from 1947 to 1955 | [8] | |
Federal Building | San Francisco | California | HD | Federal | June 5, 2017 | In 1985 a protest took place at this location with AIDS activists chaining themselves to the door of the building, asking for an increase in funding for AIDS-related research, social services, and medical care | [9] | |
The Furies Collective | Washington | District of Columbia | NRHP | Federal | February 5, 2016 | House of the Furies Collective, a lesbian feminist separatist collective active from 1971 to 1973 | [10] | |
Henry Gerber House | Chicago | Illinois | CL NRHP NHL | Local | June 6, 2001 | Apartment of Henry Gerber, who founded the first gay rights organization. | [1] | |
Barbara Gittings Way | - | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | - | - | October 1, 2012 | A section of Locust Street, Philadelphia, is named "Barbara Gittings Way" in Gittings' memory. Gittings' house was at 236 S 21st Street. | [11] |
Great Wall of Los Angeles | - | Los Angeles | California | NRHP | Federal | September 18, 2017 | Represented themes are also gay and lesbian rights | [12] |
Harleigh Cemetery, Camden | Camden | New Jersey | NJRHP | Local | 1995 | Burial place of Walt Whitman | [13] | |
Hull House | Chicago | Illinois | NRHP NHL CL | Federal | June 23, 1965 | Settlement house co-founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr | [14] | |
Julius' Bar | New York City | New York | NRHP | Federal | April 20, 2016 | Julius’ Bar is the oldest gay bar in New York City and one of the oldest bars in the city in continuous operation | [15] | |
Dr. Franklin E. Kameny Residence | Washington | District of Columbia | NRHP | Federal | November 2, 2011 | Home of gay rights activist Frank Kameny | [1] | |
James Merrill House | Stonington | Connecticut | NRHP NHL | Federal | August 28, 2013 | Home of poet James Merrill and his partner David Noyes Jackson | [1] | |
Pauli Murray Family Home | Durham | North Carolina | NRHP NHL | Federal | December 23, 2016 | Home of civil rights advocate Pauli Murray | [16] | |
Nob Hill | - | Washington | District of Columbia | HABS | Federal | - | 1101 Kenyon St. NW, Washington, DC, was the Nob Hill, a bar for African American gay men | [17] |
Bayard Rustin Residence | New York City | New York | NRHP | Federal | August 3, 2016 | In 1962, Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) bought apartment 9J in Building 7 of the Penn South Complex, West Chelsea, Manhattan | [18] | |
Phase One | Washington | District of Columbia | HABS | Federal | - | 525 8th St. SE, Washington, DC, was the Phase 1, a bar for lesbian women | [19] | |
Pier 9 Bar | - | Washington | District of Columbia | HABS | Federal | - | 1824 Half St., SW, Washington, DC, was the Pier 9 Bar, a disco for gay men | [20] |
Stonewall Inn | New York City | New York | NRHP NHL NM | Federal | June 28, 1999 | Site of the Stonewall riots of 1969. First recognized National Historic Landmark and National Monument. | [1] | |
Sunny Slope Cemetery | - | Saunemin | Illinois | - | - | - | Jennie Hodgers, woman soldier who served in Union army, is buried at Sunny Slope Cemetery | [21] |
Trinity Episcopal Church | - | St. Louis | Missouri | NRHP | - | 2020 | Episcopal church that hosted the first LGBT advocacy group in Missouri | [22] |
Walt Whitman House | Camden | New Jersey | NRHP NHL | Federal | October 15, 1966 | House of Walt Whitman from 1884 till death | [13] | |
Whiskey Row Historic District | Louisville | Kentucky | NRHP HD | Federal | June 4, 2010 | 105 West Main Street was The Downtowner, a gay bar, from 1975 to 1989 | [23] | |
Williams Building | — | San Francisco | California | - | - | - | The Williams Building, 689-93 Mission St, was the national headquarters of the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis | [24] |
The Women's Building | San Francisco | California | SFDL | Local | - | The Women's Building was founded in 1971 among others, by San Francisco lesbian leader Roma Guy, featured in the ABC mini-series "When We Rise". | [25] | |
Pink Saturday is a street party held the Saturday night before San Francisco Pride in San Francisco's Castro district. It coincides with the annual Dyke March in San Francisco.
Technical Sergeant Leonard Phillip Matlovich was an American Vietnam War veteran, race relations instructor, and recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He was the first gay service member to purposely out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays, and perhaps the best-known openly gay man in the United States of America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk. His fight to stay in the United States Air Force after coming out of the closet became a cause célèbre around which the gay community rallied. His case resulted in articles in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, numerous television interviews, and a television movie on NBC. His photograph appeared on the cover of the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, making him a symbol for thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and gay people generally. Matlovich was the first named openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. newsmagazine. According to author Randy Shilts, "It marked the first time the young gay movement had made the cover of a major newsweekly. To a movement still struggling for legitimacy, the event was a major turning point."
The Bay Area Reporter is a free weekly LGBT newspaper serving the LGBT communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the largest-circulation LGBT newspapers in the United States, and the country's oldest continuously published newspaper of its kind.
OutNow Newsmagazine, also known as ON and ON Magazine was a monthly lifestyle magazine that targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members of the gay community in the San Francisco Bay Area. OutNow had been published since 1992 from its headquarters in San Jose, California, in the Silicon Valley.
Wanda Alston was an American feminist, LGBT activist, and a government official. She was born in Newport News, Virginia.
The GLBT Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of archival materials, artifacts and graphic arts relating to the history of LGBTQ people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California.
Since the late 20th century, annual marches, protests or gatherings have been held around the world for transgender issues. They often take place during the time of local Pride parades for LGBTQ people. These events are frequently organized by trans communities to build community, address human rights struggles, and create visibility.
Gilbert Baker was an American artist, designer, activist, and vexillographer, best known as the creator of the rainbow flag.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) 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.
The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains one of the most prominent symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) activism and events in the world.
Maud's was a lesbian bar at 937 Cole Street in San Francisco's Cole Valley neighborhood which opened in 1966 and closed in 1989. At the time of its closing, which was captured in the film, Last Call at Maud's, it was claimed to be the oldest lesbian bar in the United States. Its history, documented in the film and other media, spanned almost a quarter-century of LGBTQ events.
Felicia Elizondo was an American transgender woman with a long history of activism on behalf of the LGBT community. She was a regular at Gene Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco during the time of the Compton's Cafeteria riot, a historic LGBT community uprising.
A lesbian bar is a drinking establishment that caters exclusively or predominantly to lesbian women. While often conflated, the lesbian bar has a history distinct from that of the gay bar.
The GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance, sometimes GAPA, is a 501(c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization that was incorporated in February 1988 in San Francisco, California, as a social support group for gay and bisexual Asian Pacific Islander (API) men. It engages in direct social, cultural and political advocacy, with a vision of "a powerful queer and transgender Asian and Pacific-Islander (QTAPI) community that is seen, heard, and celebrated," and a mission "to unite our families and allies to build a community through advocacy, inclusion, and love."
In Washington, D.C., LGBT culture is heavily influenced by the U.S. federal government and the many nonprofit organizations headquartered in the city.
The Castro Sweep was a police riot that occurred in the Castro District of San Francisco on the evening of October 6, 1989. The riot, by about 200 members of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), followed a protest held by ACT UP, a militant direct action group responding to the concerns of people with AIDS.
The Fallon Building, also known as the Carmel Fallon Building, is a historic mixed-use building built in 1894 and located in the Castro District of San Francisco, California. It is the home of the San Francisco LGBT Center since 2002.
The Paper Doll Club, also known as Paper Doll, was an LGBTQ bar and supper club in operation from 1949 to 1961, and located at the corner of Cadell Place and Union Street in the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is believed to be one of the earliest lesbian bars in the city.
The Uptown Tenderloin Historic District is a historic district located in the Tederloin neighborhood of San Francisco, California, U.S.. It has 408 contributing buildings and covers roughly a 33-city block radius in downtown San Francisco. The Uptown Tenderloin Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 5, 2009, for architecture and social history.
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