List Of LGBT Firsts By Year

This list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) firsts by year denotes pioneering LGBTQ endeavors organized chronologically. Openly LGBTQ people remain a demographic minority in most places. In areas that historically are not known for having (or being friendly to) LGBTQ people who do not remain closeted, a "first" can make it easier for other openly LGBTQ persons to enter the field or for those who are closeted to come out. Openly LGBTQ people being visible in society affects societal attitudes toward homosexuality, bisexuality, and the transgender community on a wider level.

One commonly cited example is Michael McConnell and Jack Baker, the first openly gay couple to apply for a marriage license in 1971. Another is Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to political office in California, becoming the most visible LGBTQ politician in the world in the 1970s, after decades of resistance to LGBTQ people by mainstream culture. Milk encouraged LGBTQ people to "come out of the closet" during his speeches; as a result of his work and his assassination—along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone—thousands of ordinary people did so. In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States".Smith, Raymond, Haider-Markel, Donald, eds., (2002). Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation, ABC-CLIO. , p. 204.

1600s

1672

* ''The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Wälättä P̣eṭros'' (1672) contains the first reference to homosexuality between nuns in Ethiopian literature.

1800s to 1930s

1896

* The first issue of ''Der Eigene'' appeared in Berlin. It was one of the first gay periodicals in the world.

1897

* The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee was formed in Berlin. It was the first LGBT rights organizations in history.. Revised edition published 1995, .

1904

* German journalist Anna Rüling, in a speech to the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, made one of the first known public statements of the social and legal problems faced by lesbians.
* In December, Karl M. Baer became the first transgender person to undergo gender-affirming surgery.

1912

* The first explicit reference to lesbianism in a Mormon magazine occurred when the ''Young Woman's Journal'' paid tribute to "Sappho of Lesbos".

1918

* The publication '' Les Mouches fantastiques'', the first known LGBT periodical in North American history, was launched in Montreal, Quebec by poet Elsa Gidlow and journalist Roswell George Mills.

1919

* The film ''Different from the Others'' was released. It was one of the first sympathetic portrayals of gay men in cinema.

1923

* Elsa Gidlow, born in England, published the first volume of openly lesbian love poetry in the United States, titled ''On A Grey Thread''.

1924

* The Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States (West Third), was established.
* The Society for Human Rights began publication of ''Friendship and Freedom'', the first American gay publication.
* The first issue of ''Die Freundin'' (''The Girlfriend'') was published; it was the first lesbian magazine worldwide.

1927

* ''Wings'' was released and included possibly the first on screen male–male kiss in cinema.

1930s

1931

* In Berlin, Dora Richter was the first known transgender woman to undergo vaginoplasty.
* ''Mädchen in Uniform'' was released and was the first film with a pro-lesbian story.

1936

* Mona's 440 Club, the first lesbian bar in America, opened in San Francisco. Mona's waitresses and female performers wore tuxedos and patrons dressed their roles.

1937

* Hein Vos became the first known gay Dutch Member of the House of Representatives.

1939

* Frances V. Rummell, an educator and a teacher of French at Stephens College, published an autobiography under the title ''Diana: A Strange Autobiography''; it was the first explicitly lesbian autobiography in which two women end up happily together. This autobiography was published with a note saying, "The publishers wish it expressly understood that this is a true story, the first of its kind ever offered to the general reading public".

1940s

1944

* The poet Robert Duncan became the first prominent American to reveal his homosexuality. This occurred when in 1944, using his own name in the anarchist magazine ''Politics'', he wrote that homosexuals were an oppressed minority.

1945

* Hein Vos became the first known Dutch gay Government minister.

1947

* '' Vice Versa'' began publication as the first lesbian-interest publication in the United States.

1950s

* Rina Natan became the first transgender woman in Israel to undergo gender-affirming surgery.

1950

* The Mattachine Society, an early gay rights organization, was founded in Los Angeles by Harry Hay.

1952

* Christine Jorgensen became the first widely known person to have gender-affirming surgery in the United States.
* Patricia Highsmith published the first lesbian romantic novel which does not end badly; ''The Price of Salt''. Its relatively happy ending was unprecedented in lesbian literature.
* ''Spring Fire'', the first lesbian paperback novel, and the beginning of the lesbian pulp fiction genre, was published in 1952 and sold 1.5 million copies. It was written by lesbian Marijane Meaker under the false name Vin Packer, and ended unhappily.
* '' ONE magazine'' published as the first gay men's magazine in the United States. Founded in Los Angeles, it would later transform into an educational institution and then into ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, one of the world's largest and oldest surviving LGBT archives.

1955

* The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) was founded in San Francisco in 1955 by four lesbian couples (including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon) and was the first national lesbian political and social organization in the United States.

1956

* '' The Ladder'', widely considered the first lesbian magazine in the United States, began publication. It was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the US.

1958

* The first gay leather bar in the United States, the Gold Coast, opened in Chicago in 1958. It was founded by Dom Orejudos and Chuck Renslow.
* '' One, Inc. v. Olesen'', 355 U.S. 371 (1958), was the first U.S. Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality and the first to address free speech rights with respect to homosexuality. The Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that the gay magazine '' ONE magazine'' violated obscenity laws, thus upholding constitutional protection for pro-homosexual writing.

1959

* ''South'', the earliest known gay TV drama, was first broadcast in the UK on 24 November 1959. Two other dramas based on the court trials of Oscar Wilde and Sir Roger Casement, who were both charged with homosexuality, were produced a year later.

1960s

1960

* Fannie Mae Clackum and Grace Garner, U.S. Air Force reservists in the late 1940s and early 1950s, became the first people to successfully challenge their discharges from the U.S. military for being gay, although the ruling turned on the fact that there was not enough evidence to show the women were lesbians—rather than that there was nothing wrong with it if they were.
* Nancy Ledins, an ordained Catholic priest, came out as a transgender woman, arguably becoming the first woman and first openly transgender Catholic priest.

1961

* José Sarria became the first openly gay person to run for public office in the United States (San Francisco city-county supervisor).Miller, Neil (1995). Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present, p. 347. New York, Vintage Books. .
* ''The Rejected'', the first documentary on homosexuality broadcast on American television, was first broadcast on KQED TV in San Francisco on 11 September 1961.
* ''Victim'' was the first British film to explicitly name homosexuality and deal with it sympathetically.

1962

* The Tavern Guild, the first gay business association in the United States, was created by gay bar owners in 1962 as a response to continued police harassment and closing of gay bars (including the Tay-Bush Inn raid), and continued until 1995.

1964

* The first photograph of lesbians on the cover of lesbian magazine ''The Ladder'' appeared in September 1964, showing two women from the back, on a beach looking out to sea.
* The June 1964 Paul Welch ''Life'' article entitled ''"Homosexuality In America"'' was the first time a national publication reported on gay issues.
* The Council on Religion and the Homosexual was founded, and was one of the first groups in the U.S. to use the word "homosexual" in its name.

1965

* Vanguard, an organization of LGBT youth in the low-income Tenderloin district of San Francisco, was created in 1965. It is considered the first Gay Liberation organization in the U.S.
* The Council on Religion and the Homosexual held an event where local politicians could be questioned about issues concerning gay and lesbian people, including police intimidation. The event marks the second known instance of "the gay vote" being sought. The first was during the early homosexual emancipation movement in Germany.

1966

* The first lesbian to appear on the cover of lesbian magazine ''The Ladder'' with her face showing was Lilli Vincenz in January 1966.
* In 1966 the first case to consider transidentity in the US was heard, ''Mtr. of Anonymous v. Weiner, 50 Misc. 2d 380, 270 N.Y.S.2d 319 (1966)''. The case concerned a transgender person from New York City who had undergone sex reassignment surgery and wanted a change of name and sex on their birth certificate. The New York City Health Department refused to grant the request, and the court ruled that the New York City and New Jersey Health Code only permitted a change of sex on the birth certificate if an error was made recording it at birth, so the Health Department acted correctly. The decision of the court in ''Weiner'' was affirmed in a case brought by Deborah Hartin, ''Mtr. of Hartin v. Dir. of Bur. of Recs., 75 Misc. 2d 229, 232, 347 N.Y.S.2d 515 (1973)'' and ''Anonymous v. Mellon, 91 Misc. 2d 375, 383, 398 N.Y.S.2d 99 (1977)''.
* The Society for Individual Rights opened the first gay and lesbian community center in the United States.

1967

* Grupo Nuestro Mundo (English: "Our World Group") was formed in Greater Buenos Aires, as the first gay rights organization in Argentina and Latin America.
* Craig Rodwell opens the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors.
* '' The Homosexuals'', a 1967 episode of the documentary television series CBS Reports, was the first network documentary dealing with the topic of homosexuality.

1968

* In the aftermath of the Compton's Cafeteria riot, a network of transgender social, psychological, and medical support services was established, which culminated in 1968 with the creation of the National Transsexual Counseling Unit (NTCU), the first such peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.

1969

* Rev. James Lewis Stoll, M. Div. (January 18, 1936 – December 8, 1994), a Unitarian Universalist minister, became the first ordained minister of an established denomination to come out as gay. He went on to lead the effort that convinced the Unitarian Universalist Association to pass their first-ever gay rights resolution in 1970.
* The Gay Liberation Front was formed in America, and it was the first gay organization to use "gay" in its name.

1960s (year unknown)

* In the late 1960s in New York, Mario Martino founded the Labyrinth Foundation Counseling Service, which was the first transgender community-based organization that specifically addressed the needs of female-to-male transgender people.

1970s

1970

* The Amazon Bookstore Cooperative opened, the first lesbian/feminist bookstore in the U.S. It later became True Colors bookstore (with a labrys acting as the "T",) but has since closed.
* On June 27, 1970, the first gay and lesbian pride parade in the world was held in Chicago, followed by a march in New York City and a parade in Los Angeles on June 28, 1970, to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Today such parades are held annually throughout the world.
* In September 1970, University of Southern California staff member Del Whan taught the first LGBTQ class at USC. Her class, entitled "Social Movement: Gay Liberation" was offered through the Experimental College. It soon evolved into a student group called The Gay Liberation Forum, the first gay and lesbian group on campus. After years of struggle, the group was finally recognized by USC in 1975. It continues today under the name Queer and Ally Student Assembly.
* In 1970, the Task Force on Gay Liberation formed within the American Library Association. Now known as the Rainbow Round Table, this organization is the oldest LGBTQ professional organization in the United States.

1971

* The ''All in the Family'' episode "Judging Books by Covers" features the first LGBT person on primetime TV. Steve, played by Philip Carey, tells Archie he is gay.
* James Michael McConnell (born 1942) and Richard John "Jack" Baker (born 1942) became the first legally married same-sex couple in United States history. Their marriage is also "the earliest same-gender marriage ever to be recorded in the public files of any civil government."
* Jim Morris became the first openly gay IFBB professional bodybuilder.
* In February 1971 Virginia Hoeffding and Del Whan of the Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front opened the Gay Women's Service Center in Echo Park, the first social service center for lesbian women in the country. Their listing in the phone book was the first time the word "Gay" had ever appeared in the directory.
* The University of Michigan became the first college in America to establish an LGBT office.
* In 1971, during a UCLA conference called "The Homosexual in America", Betty Berzon became the first psychotherapist in the country to come out as gay to the public.
* Frank Kameny became the first openly gay candidate for the United States Congress when he ran in the District of Columbia's first election for a non-voting Congressional delegate.
* ''Boys in the Sand'' was the first gay porn film to include credits, to achieve crossover success, to be reviewed by ''Variety'', and one of the earliest porn films, after 1969's ''Blue Movie'' by Andy Warhol, to gain mainstream credibility, preceding 1972's '' Deep Throat'' by nearly a year. It was promoted with an advertising campaign unprecedented for a pornographic feature, premiered in New York City in 1971 and was an immediate critical and commercial success.
* In December, ''Nightride'' by Lee Barton became the first off-Broadway play to discuss a romantic gay relationship.
* The Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, founded in San Francisco in 1971, was the first gay Democratic club of the United States.

1972

* The first gay Democratic political club, the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, was founded by political activist Jim Foster. The first meeting took place in San Francisco on Valentine's day.
* The first gay rights legislation was enacted in America, on March 7, 1972. The East Lansing, Michigan, city council approved by a vote of 4-to-1 an act declaring the city must seek to "employ the best applicant for each vacancy on the basis of his icqualifications for the job and without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex or homosexuality."
* The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan took East Lansing's measure (which was limited to government hiring) further in July, prohibiting discrimination against gays by public and private parties not only in employment but in housing and public accommodations, as well – the first community-wide gay rights legislation in the nation. Ann Arbor's act was spurred by the election to the city council in 1972 of Jerry DeGrieck and Nancy Wechsler, who had run on the Human Rights Party ticket. Both would come out as gay in 1973.
* In July, Jim Foster became the first openly gay delegate to address a major party presidential nominating convention, the Democratic National Convention, held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 10 to July 13.
* Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern endorsed gay rights, the first US presidential candidate in history to do so; as a result, some party stalwarts denounced him.
* In July, William Johnson became the first openly gay person to be ordained in a mainline Protestant denomination, the United Church of Christ.
* Nancy Wechsler and Jerry DeGrieck simultaneously became the first openly lesbian and openly gay male elected officials in the United States. Both were recent graduates of the University of Michigan when they were elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in 1972 as members of the Human Rights Party. They came out at a city council meeting in October 1973 when the Chief of Police was in attendance. An anti-gay attack at a local bar had occurred the night before, which violated the recently passed Human Rights Ordinance, and they wanted to ask the Chief of Police why the police were unaware of the contents of the ordinance.
* Camille Mitchell became the first open lesbian to be awarded custody of her children in a divorce case, although the judge restricted the arrangement by precluding Mitchell's lover from moving in with her and the children.
* Freda Smith became the first openly lesbian minister in the Metropolitan Community Church (she was also their first female minister).
* Madeline Davis became the first openly lesbian delegate elected to a major political convention when she was elected to the Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida. She addressed the convention in support of the inclusion of a gay rights plank in the Democratic Party platform. In 1972 she also, along with Margaret Small, taught the first course on lesbianism in the United States (Lesbianism 101 at the University at Buffalo.) That year she also wrote and recorded ''Stonewall Nation'', the first gay pride anthem, which was produced on 45 RPM record by the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier.
* Jobriath Boone became the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, Elektra Records.
* Australian soap opera ''Number 96'' featured the first openly gay and regular character (played by Joe Hasham) on television anywhere in the world. Hasham's character, Don Finlayson, continued until the show was cancelled in 1978. Both the character and the actor were wildly popular.
* Hawaii became the first state to decriminalize consensual homosexual sex acts between adults, while Delaware became the sixth state in the nation to repeal its sodomy law.
* New York City Mayor John Lindsay issued an anti-bias order protecting city employees from discrimination based on homosexuality. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors banned discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation for both the city and those doing business with the city.
* National Coalition of Gay Organizations called for the repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex of persons entering into a marriage unit and extension of legal benefits of marriage to all persons who cohabit regardless of sex.
* The first gay studies program in the U.S. began at Sacramento State University in California.
* In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the appeal of Baker v. Nelson "for want of a substantial federal question" in a state court case where two men challenged Minnesota's refusal to approve their application for a marriage license. It was the first legal challenge for same-sex marriage.
* In October, Maryland became the first U.S. state to pass a statute banning marriage between homosexual couples
* In November, ''That Certain Summer'' aired on ABC, the first television screenplay to sensitively explore homosexuality through the story of an American housewife (Hope Lange) losing her husband (Hal Holbrook) to a young artist (Martin Sheen).
* The American Psychiatric Association (APA) voted 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its DSM-II (the official list of psychiatric disorders). The APA also passed a resolution urging an end to all private and public discrimination against homosexuals.
* Beth Chayim Chadashim was founded in 1972 as the first LGBTQ synagogue in the world, and the first LGBTQ synagogue recognized by the Union for Reform Judaism.
* A Quaker group, the Committee of Friends on Bisexuality, issued the "Ithaca Statement on Bisexuality" supporting bisexuals. The Statement, which may have been "the first public declaration of the bisexual movement" and "was certainly the first statement on bisexuality issued by an American religious assembly," appeared in the Quaker ''Friends Journal'' and ''The Advocate'' in 1972. Today Quakers have varying opinions on LGBTQ people and rights, with some Quaker groups more accepting than others.
* Twin Peaks Tavern became the first gay bar to have clear windows in San Francisco. Prior to this, its windows were blacked out.

1973

* Sally Miller Gearhart became the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the first women and gender study programs in the country.
* Lavender Country, an American country music band, released a self-titled album. It was the first known gay-themed album in country music history.
* Jim Morris became the first openly gay bodybuilder to win AAU Mr. America overall, most muscular, best arms, and best chest titles.

1974

* The first lesbian kiss occurred on television, on the British BBC drama ''Girl'', between Alison Steadman and Myra Frances.
* Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay or lesbian candidate to win public office in the United States (she won a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, city council). She was elected from the Human Rights Party and replaced Nancy Wechsler, who did not run for re-election.
* Elaine Noble became the first openly gay or lesbian candidate ever elected to a state-level office in America when she was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She had come out as a lesbian during her campaign.
* In December, Allan Spear, a member of the Minnesota Senate, came out. He served almost thirty years, including nearly a decade as President of the Senate.
* Angela Morley became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Academy Award, when she was nominated for one in the category of Best Music, Original Song Score/Adaptation for The Little Prince (1974), a nomination shared with Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and Douglas Gamley.
* In December, the lambda was officially declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.
* The world's first gay softball league was formed in San Francisco in 1974 as the Community Softball League, which eventually included both women's and men's teams. The teams, usually sponsored by gay bars, competed against each other and the San Francisco Police softball team.
* Australian TV series ''The Box'', set in a fictional TV station, introduced two regular gay characters: gay director Lee Whiteman (played by Paul Karo) and lesbian journalist Vicki Stafford (Judy Nunn).

1975

* Minneapolis became the first city in the United States to pass trans-inclusive civil rights protection legislation.
* Clela Rorex clerk in Boulder County, Colorado, issued the first same-sex marriage licenses in the United States, issuing the very first of them to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora, on March 26, 1975. Six same-sex marriages were performed as a result of her giving out licenses, but all of the marriages were overturned later that year.
* A group of twelve women became the first group of women in Japan to publicly identify as lesbians, publishing one issue of a magazine called ''Subarashi Onna'' (''Wonderful Women'').
* In September, the South Australian government was the first government in Australia to decriminalise male homosexuality.

1976

* In 1976 the first case in the United States which found that post-operative transsexuals could marry in their post-operative sex was decided. It was the New Jersey cas
M.T. v. J.T., 140 N.J. Super. 77
355 A.2d 204, cert. denied 71 N.J. 345 (1976). Here the court expressly considered the English '' Corbett v. Corbett'' decision, but rejected its reasoning.
* Tom Gallagher became the first United States Foreign Service officer to come out as gay; he quit the Foreign Service after that, as he would have been unable to obtain a security clearance.
* Patricia Nell Warren's third novel, ''The Fancy Dancer'' (1976) was the first bestseller to portray a gay priest and to explore gay life in a small town.
* ''The Bob Newhart Shows S5E3, ''Some Of My Best Friends Are...'' (1976) was the first TV show with a gay character, played by Howard Hessman, a new member of r. Hartley's group therapy.
* Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was the second state or territory in Australia to decriminalise male homosexuality. The bill had been drafted before South Australia in 1975, but as the ACT did not have self-governance at the time, Canberra relied on the federal government to pass the law.

1977

* On March 26, Frank Kameny and a dozen other members of the gay and lesbian community, under the leadership of the then-National LGBTQ Task Force">National Gay Task Force