Notable events this month 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.
Today in San Francisco’s LGBTQ History
No Events
This Month in San Francisco’s LGBTQ History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Apr 01, 1971 | Bob Ross and Paul Bentley publish the first issue of the Bay Area Reporter. |
| Apr 01, 1982 | The San Francisco AIDS Foundation opens their first office at 520 Castro Street. |
| Apr 01, 1998 | Coretta Scott King, MLK's widow, calls on the civil rights movement to support LGBT rights. |
| Apr 02, 1974 | Bisexual activist Robert Opel streaks naked on stage at the Academy Awards. Years later, Opel is tragically murdered in a robbery attempt at Fey Way Studios, his gallery of male erotica on Howard Street in San Francisco. |
| Apr 03, 1942 | Anthony F. DeBlase, also known as Fledermaus, a leather/SM writer and creator of the leather pride flag, is born. |
| Apr 03, 2003 | Mary Morgan is appointed by Governor Gray Davis to the San Francisco Superior Court. She served on the SF Municipal Court from 1981 to 1993, where she was the first open LGBTQ judge in the country. |
| Apr 03, 2023 | Heklina, creator of the long-running drag show Mother (originally Trannyshack) and one-time co-owner of Oasis SF, is found dead in London by Peaches Christ. The two were there to perform in Peaches' parody show, "Mommie Queerest." |
| Apr 04, 1928 | Poet and author Maya Angelou is born in St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of 16, she became San Francisco's first Black female streetcar operator. |
| Apr 05, 1997 | American poet Allen Ginsberg, who wrote "Howl" is San Francisco and is now honored on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, dies in New York City. |
| Apr 07, 1872 | Marie Equi, an honoree on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, is born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. |
| Apr 07, 1912 | Harry Hay, a founder of the Mattachine Society and the Radical Faeries, is born in England. |
| Apr 07, 1987 | Democratic activist Nancy Pelosi defeats gay Supervisor Harry Britt to be the Democratic nominee in a special election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Sala Burton's death. Pelosi is elected in the June 2nd runoff. |
| Apr 08, 1882 | Oscar Wilde, now honored on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, departs San Francisco after a two week visit during which he gave several lectures, toured Chinatown, visited the Bohemian Club, and toured San Jose. |
| Apr 09, 2020 | Phyllis Lyon, the pioneering activist who cofounded the first lesbian rights organization in the United States with her partner and future wife, Del Martin, passes away in San Francisco at the age of 95. |
| Apr 10, 1910 | The Gangway opens in the Tenderloin. The bar, which closed in 2016, claimed at the time to be the City's first and oldest gay bar. |
| Apr 11, 1978 | Mayor George Moscone signs what is at the time the most sweeping gay rights law in the country banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations in the private sector. The ordinance by Supervisor Harvey Milk passed by a 10-1 vote, with only Dan White voting against it. |
| Apr 12, 1975 | Josephine Baker, an honoree on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, dies in Paris, France. |
| Apr 13, 1964 | The D'Oak Room on Divisadero at Oak, which opened in February of 1962, hosts an Academy Awards party. It is believed to be the first LGBTQ bar to advertise an Oscars viewing party. At the Oscars, Judy Garland sang a medley of Cole Porter songs in tribute to the gay composer who died the previous October. |
| Apr 13, 1976 | In an effort to liberalize the department, San Francisco Police Chief Charles Gain urges LGBTQ police officers to come out and show that gays can be good cops. |
| Apr 14, 1980 | Kile Ozier throws an Academy Awards viewing party for friends in San Francisco that grows into the Academy of Friends, one of the biggest Oscar-related fundraising events in the world. |
| Apr 15, 1850 | The City of San Francisco is formally incorporated. |
| Apr 15, 1931 | Sally Gearhart, a San Francisco State professor would become the first open LGBTQ professor to be granted tenure at any university, is born in Pearisburg, Virginia. |
| Apr 15, 2006 | The Big Gay Frat House hosts their first fundraiser, a benefit for the SF Fog rugby team, with performances by Varla Jean Merman and a full monty strip show by some of the rugby players. The event raises over $12,000. |
| Apr 17, 1919 | Chavela Vargas, an honoree on Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk, is born in Costa Rica. |
| Apr 18, 1906 | A 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault at 5:12 a.m. kills 3,000 people and destroyed 80% of the City through the tremors and subsequent fires. |
| Apr 18, 1980 | The first known public debate in the world on lesbian sadomasochism is held in San Francisco. |
| Apr 18, 1997 | John Semerau runs into his old friend, Andrew Cunanan, at the Midnight Sun in the Castro. Nine days later, Cunanan commits his first of five murders that culminates with the assassination of Gianni Versace. |
| Apr 21, 2001 | The 400-block of Castro Street is closed off for a memorial for Philip Turner, owner of Daddy's bar (now 440 Castro). |
| Apr 22, 1998 | Gay businessman Mark Leno is sworn in as San Francisco's newest Supervisor. He was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown to replace Susan Leal, who resigned to become Treasurer of SF. |
| Apr 22, 1999 | Alan Selby, the Mayor of Folsom Street and founder of Mr. S Leather, becomes a U.S. citizen twenty years after moving to San Francisco from London in 1979. |
| Apr 22, 2014 | The SF Board of Supervisors votes to rename the block of Turk Street where Aunt Charlie's Lounge is located after legendary trans performer Vicki Marlane. |
| Apr 23, 1909 | Charles Warren Stoddard, believed to be San Francisco's first gay author, dies in Monterey, California. |
| Apr 24, 1980 | San Francisco resident Ken Horne is the first U.S. person officially recognized to have a disease that would later be named AIDS. |
| Apr 24, 2013 | San Francisco Pride announces that Chelsea Manning has been selected in absentia as Community Grand Marshall. The Board President vetoes the selection two days later on the grounds that Community Grand Marshall position is reserved for someone local. |
| Apr 26, 2000 | Vermont became the first state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples. |
| Apr 27, 1953 | President Eisenhower signs Executive Order 1050 banning homosexuals from working for the federal government. |
| Apr 30, 1877 | Lesbian author Alice B. Toklas, partner of Gertrude Stein, is born in San Francisco. |
| Apr 30, 1997 | Ellen Degeneres comes out on her television show, Ellen. |
| Apr 30, 2001 | The SF Board of Supervisors passes Supervisor Mark Leno's ordinance to extend transgender-specific medical coverage, including gender reassignment surgery, to city employees. |
| Apr 30, 2004 | Theresa Sparks becomes the first transgender police commissioner in San Francisco and the U.S. |
| Apr 30, 2015 | The Lexington Club, the City's last dedicated lesbian bar, closes. A plaque recognizing it outside of the former bar was dedicated in 2016. |
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. Please note that we are looking for exact dates, including the month, day, and year of the event. Milestones can include dates of birth or death for significant LGBTQ celebrities, dates that an LGBTQ bar opened or organization was founded, inaugural dates of LGBTQ events, and any other dates of LGBTQ significance that seem historically noteworthy.
Recent Comments