San Francisco boasts a number of “firsts” for the LGBT movement.

• The nation’s first lesbian bar, and its first national lesbian organization.
• The first gay bar in the country, and perhaps the world, to have plate glass windows.
• The first openly gay candidate for public office.
• The first openly gay man elected to public office.
• The nation’s first gay business association.
• The nation’s first LGBT musical organization.
• The first openly gay or lesbian to face a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, and the first openly gay or lesbian person to be appointed as a U.S. Ambassador.
• The founding of a number of significant international organizations, including the Imperial Court, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and the Gay Games.
• The creation of the rainbow flag, and of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Here, then, is a timeline of some of the City’s gay-related events. Of course, not everything could be included; we’ve tried to focus on some of the more notable highlights.

Through the 50s | The 1960s | The 1970s | The 1980s | The 1990s | The 2000s | The 2010s | 2020s+