(Find this document and other artifacts at our online archives.) In October 1971, local gay bar Lost and Found opened its doors for the first time – into a storm of controversy. Protesting Lost and Found’s discriminatory admissions policy, a coalition of local organizations picketed the new club. This flyer, […]
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(Jack Nichols holding picket sign at 1st protest at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 1965. Find this photo and other historical artifacts in our online archives.) Fifty years ago, on July 4, 1965, activists first convened in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to demand equality for lesbians and gays. This first of five “Annual Reminders” […]
Listen to the panel. Couldn’t make it to our June 16 public panel discussion “Lost Lesbian Spaces?” You can now find the full audio recording and accompanying images on our online archives. The Rainbow History Project partnered with LC-GLOBE to present the lunchtime panel “Lost Lesbian Spaces” at the Library Congress. […]
(Listen here.) In celebration of this morning’s Supreme Court ruling, which recognized same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, we invite you to listen to Madeline Davis’s 1971 gay liberation song, “Stonewall Nation,” as recorded on the local gay radio program Friends. 44 years ago, Davis first proclaimed through this song that “the […]
Looking for a crash course in the history of local gay and lesbian organizing? We invite you to explore our new online exhibit “‘Gay is Good’: Gay and Lesbian Organizing in DC, 1961-1975”: “Gay is Good”: DC-based gay rights activist Dr. Franklin Kameny coined this slogan in the 1960s to […]
(Find this document and other artifacts at our online archives.) In this undated manuscript, perhaps from the early ‘70s, lesbian activist Eva Freund reflects on the turbulent experience of lesbians in the Women’s Movement. As the Movement came to be associated with lesbianism in the 1960s, its leadership balked. “Those inside the Movement,” Freund explains, […]
This spring, the Rainbow History Project recognized a dozen Community Pioneers: individuals whose persistent efforts have established and sustained LGBTQ community in the D.C. area. Profiles of this year’s Pioneers (as well as previous awardees) are now available in our online exhibit. You can also view (and download) a pdf booklet containing […]