This Day in Queer History

On this day, police arrested five Gay Activists Alliance members for staging a sit-in at Republican headquarters demanding fair employment from Governor Rockefeller. They became known as the Rockefeller Five.

On this day in 1970, Myra Breckinridge debuted, starring Mae West and Raquel Welch in a provocative adaptation of Gore Vidal's novel about a gay man who transitions and takes on Hollywood.

On this day in 1971, the Gay Activists Alliance held a candlelight march to New York City Hall to support a bill adding sexual orientation to the city's Human Rights Law. Light against darkness.

On this day, 2,000 people marched for gay rights in Sydney. Police revoked their permission, arrested marchers, and outed them in newspapers, sparking what became the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

On this day in 1984, Rev. Herman Verbeek of the Netherlands took office as the first openly gay member of the European Parliament, bringing queer representation to one of Europe's most powerful legislative bodies.

On this day in 1990, Queer Nation activists distributed the manifesto 'Queers Read This' at New York's Pride march. Headlined 'I Hate Straights,' the incendiary broadsheet heralded a new wave of militant queer activism.

On this day, the first Gay Pride march in Asia was celebrated in the Philippines. A continent of billions saw its first public declaration that queer people exist, belong, and refuse to be invisible.

On this day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed same-sex marriage into law, more than doubling the number of Americans living in states where marriage equality was recognized.

On this day in 2016, President Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument to LGBTQ+ rights, encompassing Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn, and the streets where the 1969 uprising began.