This Day in Queer History

On this day in 1979, San Francisco swore in its first openly gay and lesbian police officers, a milestone in the city's commitment to LGBTQ+ representation within law enforcement.

On this day, Manchester activist Margaret Roff became Britain's first openly lesbian mayor. She died two years later in a hotel fire in Nicaragua while part of a women's delegation.

On this day, a federal court struck down the Armstrong amendment, which tried to cut D.C.'s entire budget unless the city exempted religious schools from gay rights protections. The court called it unconstitutional.

On this day, Audre Lorde became the New York State Poet Laureate. The influential African American lesbian poet received the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit from Governor Cuomo. Her impassioned acceptance speech received a standing ovation.

On this day, a group of lesbians protested Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe at a Commonwealth meeting in Auckland after he declared that homosexuals were trying to destroy society.