It is nearly impossible to create a complete history of the LGBTQIA+ community, but here are some significant historical moments for the community and their fight for equal rights in the United States.
1924
The Society for Human Rights was founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago, becoming the first gay rights organization in America. It was later disbanded due to political pressures. (PBS, 2023)
1950
Harry Hay, a Los Angeles gay rights activist, founded America’s first sustained national gay rights organization, the Mattachine Society. (PBS, 2023)
1952
The American Psychiatric Association lists homosexuality as a “sociopathic personality disturbance” (PBS, 2023).
1955
The first lesbian rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis, was formed in San Francisco. (PBS, 2023)
1966
The National Transsexual Counseling Unit became the first peer-run support and advocacy organization for trans individuals. (PBS, 2023)
1969
The Stonewall Rebellion is credited as America’s first modern LGBT rights movement following a three-day riot between gay youth and police officers in Greenwich Village. (PBS, 2023)
1970
Considered to be America’s first gay pride parade, Christopher St. Liberation Day commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. (PBS, 2023)
1973
The American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. (PBS, 2023)
1979
75,000 people participate in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. (PBS, 2023)
1981
First known case of AIDS. (PBS, 2023)
2015
Obergefell v. Hodges: Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states . (PBS, 2023)
Nevada's LGBTQIA+ community was late to develop. Media coverage of the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969 received little media attention in Nevada. Efforts towards building community first began in 1970 and gained significant momentum.
1970
Cocktail waitress Marge Jacques buys the Club de Paris in January of 1970 and changes its name to Le Café. Le Café functioned as the de facto gay and lesbian community center for Las Vegas, and in 1971 begins publishing Gay Notes from Le Café, the gay community's first publication, compiled by Rafaél Navarré. (HRC Las Vegas, 2019)
1977
ACLU-Las Vegas sponsors a gay rights seminar at the Clark County Library. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1978
ACLU-Las Vegas publishes Las Vegas's first gay community newspaper, Vegas Gay Times. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1979
Nevadans for Human Rights becomes Nevada's first gay rights organization. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1983
Las Vegas' first Gay Pride celebration hosted by the UNLV Gay Academic Union. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1987
Rob Schlegel opens the city's first LGBT bookstore, Bright Pink Literature [later renamed to Get Booked]. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1993
The Gay and Lesbian Community Center opens its doors. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1996
Gays and Lesbians of Color begin meeting bi-weekly at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
David Parks becomes the first openly gay person elected to public office in Nevada. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
1997
First Pride parade in Las Vegas. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
2009
First annual Las Vegas Transgender Health Fair held at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
Las Vegas observes the National Transgender Day of Remembrance. (McBride, Dee, & Ershler, 2009)
2013
Pat Spearman becomes the first openly gay Black veteran to serve in the Nevada State Senate. (Terranella, 2022)
2020
Nevada becomes the first state to protect same-sex marriage in its constitution. If the Supreme Court ever reverses its 2015 landmark decision, same-sex marriages will be protected in the state. (Alonzo, 2020)