The GLBT Historical Society

06/19/2026

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth — reflecting on the progress made in the fight for freedom and equality for all, and recommitting to all of the work that remains ahead.

You can explore some of this history through our Black Voices and Activism resource: photographs, audio files, video recordings highlighting personal stories and diverse activism within the LGBTQ community.

Visit: https://www.glbthistory.org/primary-source-set-black-voices-activism

06/18/2026

We went live with California Live's Berlin Fisher to talk Directory of Dreams, the latest exhibition at the GLBT Historical Society Museum — which we're thrilled to share has been extended by popular demand through Sunday, July 19!

Watch: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/california-live/celebrating-pride-with-a-visit-to-the-glbt-historical-society-museum/3905580/

Check out this interview with our Director of Exhibitions & Public Programs Elena Gross, then plan your Pride Month visit to the museum: glbthistory.org/dreams

The GLBT Historical Society Museum has launched Directory of Dreams, a new archival exhibition charting the self-sustaining le***an economies that shaped the Bay Area from 1970 to 1995. The exhibition offers an intimate look at how these visionary women pooled resources to create vital spaces of res...

06/05/2026

Join us at the newly renovated Castro Theatre for Built This City: An SF Pride Variety Spectacular — a one-night celebration of 50 years of q***r San Francisco, hosted by Peaches Christ and Honey Mahogany. Presented by San Francisco Pride & Peaches Christ Productions, the evening features performances honoring the long legacy of q***r activism, art, and entertainment that Built This City. Don't miss it!

The Society is proud to have contributed archival materials to the performance, uplifting our shared history during this bold, brilliant celebration.

Learn more & get your tickets — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/built-this-city-an-sf-pride-variety-spectacular-tickets-1986449703537

06/04/2026

⭐ Today is Give OUT Day — a national day of giving dedicated to celebrating and uplifting LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations doing vital work for the communities they serve.

For over 40 years, the GLBT Historical Society has preserved and shared LGBTQ+ history, arts, and culture — an act of defiance against the forces that seek to erase our community.

🎉 Double Your Impact Today! Thanks to the incredible generosity of longtime supporter Rick Brown, every membership and donation made through June 30th will be matched up to $20,000.

🏳️‍🌈 This Pride Month, make a tax-deductible gift to ensure that LGBTQ+ history — our history — remains accessible to all.

Visit glbthistory.org/pride or follow the link in our bio to learn more.



Photo: Volunteers hoist one of the two original rainbow flags created for San Francisco Gay Freedom Day 1978. Photograph by James McNamara, courtesy of Mick Hicks.

06/03/2026

✨ Opening June 6! San Francisco has long stood at the vanguard of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports, transforming a history of exclusion into a powerful legacy of defiant belonging.

"Play, Protest, Pride: San Francisco's Q***r Sports Legacy" is a new exhibition co-organized by Pride House SF, the SF LGBT Center , and the GLBT Historical Society, that traces a movement forged through sports teams and athletic clubs, highlighting two of San Francisco's most storied organizations: the San Francisco FrontRunners and the San Francisco Spikes Soccer Club. San Francisco's q***r sports scene was never just about the game. For many, it was the first place they truly belonged.

🎉 On view at the SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market St, launching this Saturday with the Center's Block Party! Plan your visit today: glbthistory.org/exhibitions



📸 Upper Left Photo: Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence vs Leather Title Holders Softball Game. Photo by Timothy Wong. GLBT Historical Society.
📸 Right Photo: Gay Games 2, Man and Woman with Medals on the Field. Photo by Robert Pruzan. GLBT Historical Society.
📸 Lower Left Photo: 1990 SpikesSF Team Photo, courtesy of SpikesSF.

06/02/2026

It's Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈 This June, we invite you to uplift and celebrate the rich, dynamic history of our beautiful, diverse community. Explore thousands of digitized photos, videos, audio files, and other historic resources online, or plan a visit to explore our museum and archives!

This Is Your History — learn more at glbthistory.org.



📷 Upper Left: Drag queens smile and wave on a float at the 1980 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade; photograph by Crawford Barton, Crawford Barton Collection (1993-11), GLBT Historical Society.
📷 Lower Left: A couple embraces at the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade; photograph by Elaine Gay Jarvis, Elaine Gay Jarvis Photographs (2018-90), GLBT Historical Society.
📷 Upper Right: Le***an pioneers Phyllis Lyon (1924–2020) and Del Martin (1921–2008) stand with gay activist and performer José Sarria (1922–2013) at the 1989 San Francisco International Le***an and Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1989; photographer unknown, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Papers (1993-13), GLBT Historical Society.
📷 Lower Right: Trans men marching in the San Francisco International Le***an and Gay Freedom Day Parade, ca. early 1990s; photograph by Allan Bérubé, Allan Bérubé Papers (1995-17), GLBT Historical Society.

05/26/2026

You're invited! Join us this Thursday for a FREE after-hours reception honoring Blake Cedric, the artist behind this year's Juanita More's Pride Party artwork.

Toast with us at this Pride Month kick-off, explore our latest exhibition, Directory of Dreams, and mix and mingle with your community — all while supporting the GLBT Historical Society, this year's beneficiary of Juanita's annual Pride Party & fundraiser.

📆Thursday, May 28
🕓5pm–7pm
📍GLBT Historical Society Museum

Space is limited — don't miss it!

Learn more about the artist & get tickets to this special event: www.glbthistory.org/events/blake-cedric

05/22/2026

Today is Harvey Milk Day. As the first openly gay elected official in California, Harvey figures prominently in our archival collections, which contain materials illuminating the life of this iconic figure of LGBTQ+ history: campaign flyers, personal letters, photographs, and ephemera that offer a deeper connection and insight into the man who forever changed a movement.

As Pride Month approaches, there is no better moment to reflect on his legacy and what his advocacy and optimism mean for our fight today.

Explore our archival holdings and discover the history that continues to inspire: glbthistory.org/primary-source-set-harvey-milk.



📷 Header: Supervisor Harvey Milk in a white t-shirt during a parade. Crawford Wayne Barton Collection (1993-11), GLBT Historical Society.
📷 Lower: Harvey Milk addressing a crowd from the stage, 1978 San Francisco Gay Day Parade. Marie Ueda Papers (2006-12), GLBT Historical Society.
📷 Poster: Tribute poster to Harvey Milk. GLBT Historical Society Poster Collection, No. 0028.

05/20/2026

Digital Collection Spotlight: The Victoria Schneider Papers document Schneider's lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco and her engagement with the public during the case.

Explore this collection and others at glbthistory.org/digital-collections

In 1997, inters*x activist and s*x worker Victoria Schneider successfully sued the city after being unlawfully strip searched during her booking at the San Francisco County Jail. Her papers — including letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera — are now available through our digital collections, digitized in partnership with the Digital Transgender Archive.



📷 Photo 1: Victoria Schneider walking in a parade on San Francisco's Market Street, presumably a Pride event. She holds a flag for the s*x workers' organization Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE). Victoria Schneider Papers, GLBT Historical Society.

📷 Photo 2: An article from the San Francisco Examiner about the arrest and court case of inters*x s*x worker Victoria Schneider. Victoria Schneider Papers, GLBT Historical Society.

05/03/2026

🌈 Pride began as a protest. The first march in San Francisco was explicitly political — a direct response to police violence and state persecution. Fifty years later, it had floats sponsored by banks, tech companies, and beer brands. In recent years, the climate has shifted, and our community has come under renewed attack across the country, with many companies retreating from their embrace of the rainbow.

Join Unspeakable Vice's Shawn Sprockett, along with Suzanne Ford (Executive Director of SF Pride), Elizabeth Hudy (Founder of The Peach Fuzz), Laura Thomas (Senior Director at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation & Society Board Member), and others to be announced, for an in-conversation event at the GLBT Historical Society Museum.

The panel will ask the question that activists have been raising since the 1970s: what does it mean when your liberation becomes a marketing strategy?

🏳️‍🌈 Selling The Rainbow: When The Market Adopts & Drops A Movement
📅 Thursday, May 21st at 6:30pm
📍 GLBT Historical Society Museum
🎟️ $15 General Admission | Free for Society Members!

Get tickets today — glbthistory.org/events.