Timeline of LGBT+ History in New Orleans
1724
First written reference to homosexuality in New Orleans
1805
Sodomy outlawed in Louisiana
1848
Walt Whitman lives in New Orleans
1848
Gaston Pontalba designs cast-ironwork on Pontalba Buildings
1876
Tony Jackson born
1922
William Spratling moves to New Orleans
1930
George Dureau born
1933
Café Lafitte opens
1939
James Booker born
1940
Frances Benjamin Johnston moves to New Orleans
1946
Tennessee Williams writes A Streetcar Named Desire
1949
Dixie’s Bar of Music relocates to Bourbon Street
1953
Steamboat Club founded
1955
NOPD Superintendent declares homosexuals “Number 1 vice problem”
1958
Krewe of Yuga founded; birth of Gay Carnival
1958
Fernando Rios murdered in Pirate’s Alley
1958
Mayor Morrison creates “Committee on the Problem of Sex Deviates”
1958
Tony Bacino’s raided six times
1960
New Orleans chapter of Daughters of Bilitis founded (year is approximate)
1961
Krewe of Petronius founded
1962
Tee Corrinne attends Newcomb College Institute
1963
John Rechy’s City of Night published
1965
Krewe of Amon Ra founded
1967
Claw Shaw charged in the JFK assassination
1968
Krewe of Armeinius founded
1970
Gay Liberation Front local chapter founded
1971
GLF holds a “Gay-In” at City Park
1971
Barbara Scott runs for House of Representatives
1971
New Orleans Metropolitan Community Church founded
1972
First Southern Decadence party
1972
Tulane University Gay Student Union founded
1973
Up Stairs Lounge arson
1973
Gay People’s Coalition founded
1974
Gay Services Center founded
1975
Gertrude Stein Society founded
1977
Anita Bryant protest and march
1977
Charlene’s opens
1977
Impact founded
1977
Serial killer murders four gay men
1978
Faubourg Marigny bookstore opens
1978
Pink Triangle Alliance hosts city’s first Gay Pride rally
1979
Gayfest founded
1980
Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC) founded
1980
First Gay Pride Parade in New Orleans
1981
First Louisiana State Conference held at the Country Club
1982
Ambush founded
1982
New Orleans chapter of PFLAG founded
1982
New Orleans Gay Men’s Chorus founded
1983
NO/AIDS Task Force founded
1983
Lords of Leather founded
1983
Celebration founded
1985
Lazarus House opens
1987
Krewe of Queenateenas founded
1988
AIDS Memorial Quilt displayed in New Orleans
1989
Forum for Equality founded
1990
ACT UP New Orleans shuts down Loyola Ave. to protest lack of AIDS funding
1991
City Council passes non-discrimination ordinance
1991
Women With a Vision founded
1992
Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans founded
1993
Belle Reve opens
1993
Oz opens
1994
New Orleans Bears and Bear Trappers Social Club founded
1995
Louisiana State Museum sponsors panel on gay and lesbian culture
1997
J.B. Harter’s Encounters With The Nude Male published
1998
Krewe of Mwindo founded
2002
Krewe of Satyricon founded
2002
Cavaliers Motorcycle Club founded
2003
Saints and Sinners Literary Festival founded
2006
GrrlSpot founded
2011
BreakOUT! founded
2012
Last lesbian bar in New Orleans (Rubyfruit Jungle) closes
2012
Renegade Bears of Louisiana founded
2013
Last Call: Dyke Bar History Project founded
2013
Krewe of Narcissus founded
2014
LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana founded
2014
Club New Orleans closes
2014
Louisiana Equality Foundation founded
2015
New Orleans Advocates for GLBT Elders (NOAGE) founded
2016