Notable March events in San Francisco’s LGBTQ history.

Note that most of these events are of specific local LGBTQ interest, though a few nationally significant events are also included along with a few other San Francisco events of more general interest. Please contact us if you know of any other milestones that we should add.

Date	Event
Mar 02, 1982	Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Mar 02, 1991	Lou Sullivan, the first well-known transman to publicly identify as gay and an honoree on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, dies in San Francisco.
Mar 03, 1973	Castro Camera, the camera store owned by Harvey Milk and Scott Smith, opens at 575 Castro Street.
Mar 03, 2002	The San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center first opens.
Mar 04, 1925	Florence Prag Kahn is sworn in as the first Jewish woman elected to Congress in a special election following the death of her husband, becoming the second San Franciscan woman (after Mae Ella Nolan) and the fifth woman in the U.S. to be elected. She continued to be re-elected for five more terms, becoming the first woman to serve on the House Military Affairs Committee.
Mar 07, 1967	On this date in 1877, lesbian author Alice B. Toklas, partner of Gertrude Stein, dies. She is buried next to Stein in Paris.
Mar 07, 1978	Supervisor Harvey Milk serves as Acting Mayor while Mayor George Moscone is out of town, a largely ceremonial function that the Supervisor "milked," calling a press conference to declare himself the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city.
Mar 07, 1988	Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by his drag name Divine and an honoree on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, dies in Los Angeles, California.
Mar 08, 1964	Alcatraz Island is briefly occupied by Native American activists. A longer occupation occurs again in November of 1969.
Mar 08, 2018	David Munoz Diaz, previously convicted of manslaughter of a gay man and attempted arson of gay businesses in the Castro, is arrested for arson and attempted murder when he tries to light a Folsom Street homeless man on fire.
Mar 11, 1979	Disco legend Sylvester sells out the War Memorial Opera House and is awarded the keys to the City by Mayor Dianne Feinstein.
Mar 11, 2004	The California Supreme Court orders San Francisco to stop performing same-sex marriages, which the City had done since Feb. 12.
Mar 13, 2020	San Francisco bars are forced to close to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions extend to other nonessential public businesses in San Francisco on March 17th.
Mar 17, 1912	Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, openly-gay organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, is born in Pennsylvania.
Mar 20, 2019	The Library of Congress selects San Francisco disco legend Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" for induction into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.
Mar 21, 1907	Alcatraz is officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison.
Mar 21, 1963	Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy orders the closure of Alcatraz as a federal prison due to its higher costs, environmental impact on the San Francisco Bay from sewage, and impending maintenance costs from salt water saturation.
Mar 21, 1987	At a competition held in San Francisco, Judy Tallwing McCarthy of Portland, Oregon becomes the first International Ms. Leather.
Mar 22, 1932	Marcus Hernandez, the Bay Area Reporter's leather columnist as Mr. Marcus, is born in Los Angeles.
Mar 23, 1996	The James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library's new main branch is formally dedicated with a ceremony titled "Into the Light."
Mar 23, 2011	Actress Elizabeth Taylor, who had become a powerful advocate for people with AIDS, passes away at the age of 79.
Mar 25, 1985	The Times of Harvey Milk wins Best Documentary at the Academy Awards.
Mar 26, 1882	Oscar Wilde, now honored on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, arrives in San Francisco by train. He stays at the Palace Hotel, and his first lecture is the next day at Platt's Hall.
Mar 26, 1911	Tennessee Williams III (A Streetcar Named Desire), honored on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, is born in Mississippi.
Mar 26, 1977	A delegation of LGBTQ activists, including George Raya of San Francisco/Northern California, meet President Carter's staff to discuss LGBTQ issues. It is the first meeting with LGBTQ representatives to ever be held in the White House.
Mar 28, 1941	Author Virginia Woolf (Mrs Dalloway), now honored on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, commits suicide by drowning.
Mar 30, 1901	Douglas Tilden completes his homoerotic sculpture Mechanics Monument, which can be found at the intersection of Market, Bush, and Battery Streets in San Francisco.
Mar 30, 1992	Lesbian filmmaker Debra Chasnoff of San Francisco wins an Academy Award for the documentary short Deadly Deception.
Mar 31, 1979	A group of 10 to 15 men, including several police officers, assault patrons at the lesbian bar Peg's Place. When the police arrive, they refuse to take witness statements, take sobriety tests of the attackers, or offer medical assistance to the victims.
Mar 31, 1986	The Jon Sims Center for the Performing Arts opens. It is named after Jon Sims, founder of the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band and the SF Gay Men's Chorus.
Mar 31, 2017	Artist/activist Gilbert Baker, who designed and created the first Rainbow Flag in San Francisco in 1978, passes away in his sleep in his New York City home.

Other Months

January ◈ February ◈ March ◈ April ◈ May ◈ June ◈ July ◈ August ◈ September ◈ October ◈ November ◈ December ◈ Current

Submit Changes

If you notice any errors, or wish to submit a new milestone, please use our Contact form.