List of LGBTQ firsts by year

See also: List of the first LGBT holders of political offices for a listing of office-holders by country.

This list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) firsts by year denotes pioneering LGBT endeavors organized chronologically. Openly LGBT people remain a demographic minority in most places. In areas that historically are not known for having (or being friendly to) LGBT people who do not remain closeted, a "first" can make it easier for other openly LGBT persons to enter the field or for those who are closeted to come out. Openly LGBT people being visible in society affects societal attitudes toward homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgenderism on a wider level.

One commonly cited example is Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to political office in California, becoming the most visible LGBT politician in the world in the 1970s after decades of resistance to LGBT people by mainstream culture. Milk encouraged LGBT people to come out during his speeches. As a result of his work and assassination along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone, thousands of ordinary people did. In 2002, Milk was called "the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States".

1800s to 1930s

1856

• The first known reference to lesbians in Mormon history occurred in 1856, when a Salt Lake man noted in his diary that a Mormon woman was "trying to seduce a young girl.

1897

• Scientific-Humanitarian Committee formed in Berlin — first gay rights organization.

1904

• German journalist Anna Rüling, in a speech to the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee in Berlin, makes the first known public statement of the socio-legal problems faced by lesbians.

1912

• The first explicit reference to lesbianism in a Mormon magazine occurred when the "Young Woman's Journal" paid tribute to "Sappho of Lesbos".

1923

• Lesbian Elsa Gidlow, born in England, published the first volume of openly lesbian love poetry in the United States, titled "On A Grey Thread."

1924

• Society for Human Rights — First gay rights organization in the United States(West Third). Published Friendship and Freedom, the first American gay publication.

1931

• In Berlin in 1931, Dora R, born as Rudolph R, became the first known transgender woman to undergo vaginoplasty.

1936

• Mona's 440 Club, the first lesbian bar in America, opened in San Francisco in 1936. Mona's waitresses and female performers wore tuxedos and patrons dressed their roles.

1939

• Frances V. Rummell, an educator and a teacher of French at Stephens College, published an autobiography under the title Diana: A Strange Autobiography; it was the first explicitly lesbian autobiography in which two women end up happily together. This autobiography was published with a note saying, "The publishers wish it expressly understood that this is a true story, the first of its kind ever offered to the general reading public".

1940s

1945

• Hein Vos — First gay member of the cabinet of the Netherlands.

1947

• Vice Versa — First lesbian-interest publication in the United States.

1950s

1952

• Christine Jorgensen (born in 1926 named George William Jorgensen, Jr.) a Euro-American became the first widely known person to have sex reassignment surgery.
• "Spring Fire," the first lesbian paperback novel, and the beginning of the lesbian pulp fiction genre, was published in 1952 and sold 1.5 million copies. It was written by lesbian Marijane Meaker under the false name Vin Packer, and ended unhappily.

1955

• The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) was founded in San Francisco in 1955 by four lesbian couples (including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon) and was the first national lesbian political and social organization in the United States.

1960s

1960

• Liverpool born April Ashley became Britain's first person to undergo sexual reassignment surgery
• Cpls. Fannie Mae Clackum and Grace Garner, U.S. Air Force reservists in the late 1940s and early 1950s, became the first people to successfully challenge their discharges from the U.S. military for being gay, although the ruling turned on the fact that there wasn’t enough evidence to show the women were lesbians — rather than that there was nothing wrong with it if they were.

1961

• José Sarria — first openly gay person to run for public office in the United States (San Francisco city-county supervisor).

1964

• The first photograph of lesbians on the cover of lesbian magazine The Ladder appeared in September 1964, showing two women from the back, on a beach looking out to sea.

1966

• The first lesbian to appear on the cover of lesbian magazine The Ladder with her face showing was Lilli Vincenz in January 1966.
• In 1966 the first case to consider transsexualism in the US was heard, Mtr. of Anonymous v. Weiner, 50 Misc. 2d 380, 270 N.Y.S.2d 319 (1966). The case concerned a transsexual person from New York City who had undergone sex reassignment surgery and wanted a change of name and sex on their birth certificate. The New York City Health Department refused to grant the request, and the court ruled that the New York City and New Jersey Health Code only permitted a change of sex on the birth certificate if an error was made recording it at birth, so the Health Department acted correctly. The decision of the court in Weiner was affirmed in a case brought by Deborah Hartin, Mtr. of Hartin v. Dir. of Bur. of Recs., 75 Misc. 2d 229, 232, 347 N.Y.S.2d 515 (1973) and Anonymous v. Mellon, 91 Misc. 2d 375, 383, 398 N.Y.S.2d 99 (1977).

1967

• Craig Rodwell opens the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors.

1968

• In the aftermath of the Compton's Cafeteria Riot, a network of transgender social, psychological, and medical support services was established, which culminated in 1968 with the creation of the National Transsexual Counseling Unit [NTCU], the first such peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.

1969

• Rev. James Lewis Stoll, M.Div. (January 18, 1936 – December 8, 1994), a Unitarian Universalist minister, is the first ordained minister of an established denomination to come out as gay. He leads the effort that convinced the Unitarian Universalist Association to pass their first-ever gay rights resolution in 1970.

1960s (year unknown)

• In the late 1960s in New York, Mario Martino founded the Labyrinth Foundation Counseling Service, which was the first transgender community-based organization that specifically addressed the needs of female-to-male transsexuals.

1970s

1970

• The Greek letter lambda was selected as a symbol by the Gay Activists Alliance of New York in 1970.
• The first lesbian/feminist bookstore in the U.S. was the Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, which opened in Minneapolis in 1970. It later became True Colors bookstore (with a labrys acting as the "T,") but has since closed.
• On June 28, 1970, the first gay and lesbian pride parades in the world were held simultaneously in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Today such parades are held annually throughout the world.
• In September 1970, University of Southern California staff member Del Whan taught the first LGBTQ class at USC. Her class, entitled "Social Movement: Gay Liberation" was offered through the Experimental College. It soon evolved into a student group called The Gay Liberation Forum, the first gay and lesbian group on campus. After years of struggle the group was finally recognized by USC in 1975. It continues today under the name Queer and Ally Student Assembly.

1971

• In February 1971 Virginia Hoeffding and Del Whan of the Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front opened the Gay Women's Service Center in Echo Park. It was the first social service center for lesbian women in the country. Their listing in the phone book was the first time the word "Gay" had ever appeared in the directory.
• The University of Michigan became the first college in America to establish an LGBT office.
• In 1971, during a UCLA conference called "The Homosexual in America," Betty Berzon became the first psychotherapist in the country to come out as gay to the public.
• December 1971: first off-Broadway play to discuss romantic gay relationship, Nightride by Lee Barton, opens.

1972

• February 14, 1972: the first meeting of the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, founded by political activist Jim Foster, took place in San Francisco, on Valentine’s Day, becoming the country’s first gay Democratic political club.
• The first gay rights legislation enacted in America: March 7, 1972, the East Lansing, Michigan, city council approved by a vote of 4-to-1 an act declaring the city must seek to “employ the best applicant for each vacancy on the basis of his [sic] qualifications for the job and without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex or homosexuality.”
• July 1972, the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan – home to University of Michigan — would take East Lansing’s measure one step further, prohibiting discrimination against gays not only in employment, but housing and public accommodations as well – becoming the first community-wide gay rights legislation in the nation. Ann Arbor’s act was spurred by the election to the city council in 1972 of Jerry DeGrieck and Nancy Wechsler, who had run on the Human Rights Party ticket. Both would come out as gay in 1973.
• July 1972: Jim Foster would become the first gay delegate to address a major party presidential nominating convention, the Democratic National Convention, held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida on July 10 to July 13.
• July 1972: Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern would endorse gay rights, the first US presidential candidate in history to do so; party stalwarts would denounce him.
• John Hospers — first openly gay man to run for president of the United States and first to receive an electoral vote (albeit from a faithless elector).
• William Johnson became the first openly gay person to be ordained in a mainline Protestant denomination, the United Church of Christ.
• Nancy Wechsler became the first openly gay or lesbian person in political office in America; she was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in 1972 as a member of the Human Rights Party and came out as a lesbian during her only term there.
• Camille Mitchell became the first open lesbian to be awarded custody of her children in a divorce case, although the judge restricted the arrangement by precluding Ms. Mitchell's lover from moving in with her and the children.
• Freda Smith became the first openly lesbian minister in the Metropolitan Community Church (she was also their first female minister).
• Madeline Davis became the first openly lesbian delegate elected to a major political convention when she was elected to the Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida. She addressed the convention in support of the inclusion of a gay rights plank in the Democratic Party platform. In 1972 she also, along with Margaret Small, taught the first course on lesbianism in the United States (Lesbianism 101 at the University at Buffalo.) That year she also wrote and recorded "Stonewall Nation," the first gay pride anthem, which was produced on 45 rpm record by the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier.
• Jobriath Boone became the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, Elektra Records.
• Australian soap opera Number 96 features the first openly gay male character (played by Joe Hasham) in an on-going role on Australian television.
• Hawaii would become the first state to decriminalize consensual homosexual sex acts between adults, while Delaware became the sixth state in the nation to repeal its sodomy law.
• New York City Mayor John Lindsay issued an anti-bias order protecting city employees from discrimination based on homosexuality. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors banned discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation for both the city and those doing business with the city.
• National Coalition of Gay Organizations called for the repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex of persons entering into a marriage unit and extension of legal benefits of marriage to all persons who cohabit regardless of sex.
• the first gay studies program in the U.S. began at Sacramento State University in California.
• October 1972: first legal challenge for same-sex marriage; the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the appeal of Baker v. Nelson "for want of a substantial federal question" in a state court case where two men challenged Minnesota's refusal to approve their application for a marriage license.
• October 1972: Maryland becomes the first U.S. state to pass a statute banning marriage between homosexual couples
• November 1972: That Certain Summer aired on ABC, the first television screenplay to sensitively explore homosexuality through the story of an American housewife (Hope Lange) losing her husband (Hal Holbrook) to a young artist (Martin Sheen).
• American Psychiatric Association (APA) voted 13-0 to remove homosexuality from its DSM-II (the official list of psychiatric disorders). The APA also passed a resolution urging an end to all private and public discrimination against homosexuals.
• Beth Chayim Chadashim was founded in 1972 as the world's first lesbian and gay synagogue recognized by the Reform Jewish community.
• A Quaker group, the Committee of Friends on Bisexuality, issued the "Ithaca Statement on Bisexuality", the first public declaration of the bisexual movement and the first statement on bisexuality issued by an American religious assembly.

1973

• Sally Miller Gearhart became the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the first women and gender study programs in the country.

1974

• Kathy Kozachenko — first openly gay or lesbian candidate to win public office in the United States (won a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, city council)
• Elaine Noble became the first openly gay or lesbian candidate ever elected to a state-level office in America when she was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She had come out as a lesbian during her campaign.
• Allan Spear - served almost thirty years in the Minnesota Senate, including nearly a decade as President of the Senate.
• Gay activists in Boston chose the purple rhinoceros as a symbol of the gay movement after conducting a media campaign in 1974. They selected this animal because, although it is sometimes misunderstood, it is docile and intelligent – but when a rhinoceros is angered, it fights ferociously. Lavender was used because it was a widely recognized gay pride color; the heart was added to represent love and the "common humanity of all people."
• In December 1974, the lambda was officially declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1975

• Minneapolis became the first city in the United States to pass trans-inclusive civil rights protection legislation.
• Clela Rorex, a clerk in Boulder County, Colorado, issued the first same-sex marriage licenses in the United States, issuing the very first of them to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora, on March 26, 1975. Six same-sex marriages were performed as a result of her giving out licenses, but all of the marriages were overturned later that year.

1976

• In 1976 the first case in the United States which found that post-operative transsexuals could marry in their post-operative sex was decided. It was the New Jersey case M.T. v. J.T., 140 N.J. Super. 77, 355 A.2d 204, cert. denied 71 N.J. 345 (1976). Here the court expressly considered the English Corbett v. Corbett decision, but rejected its reasoning.

1977

• Anne Holmes became the first openly lesbian minister ordained by the United Church of Christ.
• Ellen Barrett became the first openly lesbian priest ordained by the Episcopal Church of the United States (serving the Diocese of New York).
• The first lesbian mystery novel in America was published; it was Angel Dance, by Mary F. Beal.
• Shakuntala Devi published the first study of homosexuality in India.

1978

Harvey Milk in 1978. Milk was the first openly gay elected politician in California

• Harvey Milk — first openly gay or lesbian candidate elected to political office in California; seventh openly gay/lesbian elected official nationally (third man to be openly gay at time of his election)
• San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corp — world's first openly gay musical group
• Samois, the first lesbian S/M group in the United States, was founded.
• Robin Tyler became the first out lesbian on U.S. national television, appearing on a Showtime comedy special hosted by Phyllis Diller. The same year she released her comedy album, Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom, the first comedy album by an out lesbian.
• Gilbert Baker raised the first Rainbow Flag at San Francisco Pride on June 25, 1978.

1979

• Stephen Lachs — first openly gay judge appointed in the United States (Los Angeles County Superior Court)
• The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights was held in Washington, D.C. on October 14, 1979.

1970s (year unknown)

• Angela Douglas founded TAO (Transsexual/Transvestite Action Organization), which published the Moonshadow and Mirage newsletters. TAO moved to Miami in 1972, where it came to include several Puerto Rican and Cuban members, and soon grew into the first international transgender community organization.

1980s

1981

• Mary C. Morgan became the first openly gay or lesbian judge when she was appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown to the San Francisco Municipal Court.
• Ien Dales - first lesbian member of the cabinet of the Netherlands
• Tennis player Billie Jean King became the first prominent professional athlete to come out as a lesbian, when her relationship with her secretary Marilyn Barnett became public in a May 1981 "palimony" lawsuit filed by Barnett. Due to this she lost all of her endorsements.

1983

• Gerry Studds — first openly gay member of the United States House of Representatives. Admitted a past relationship with a page when confronted in Congress.
• Sally Ride first went into space this year. In 2012 she died, and her obituary revealed that Ride's partner of 27 years was a woman, Tam O'Shaughnessy, a professor emerita of school psychology at San Diego State University and childhood friend, who met Ride when both were aspiring tennis players. Ride had also been married to a man previously. Ride is thus the first known LGBT astronaut.

1984

• Chris Smith — first openly gay MP in the United Kingdom.
• Reconstructionist Judaism became the first Jewish denomination to allow openly lesbian and gay rabbis and cantors.
• On Our Backs, the first women-run erotica magazine and the first magazine to feature lesbian erotica for a lesbian audience in the United States, was first published in 1984 by Debi Sundahl and Myrna Elana, with the contributions of Susie Bright, Nan Kinney, Honey Lee Cottrell, Dawn Lewis, Happy Hyder, Tee Corinne, Jewelle Gomez, Judith Stein, Joan Nestle, and Patrick Califia.

1985

• The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College ordained Deborah Brin as the first openly gay or lesbian rabbi in Judaism.
• Liverpool based soap opera, Brookside, featured the first openly gay character on a British TV series.
• Terry Sweeney became Saturday Night Live's first openly gay male cast member; Sweeney was "out" prior to being hired as a cast member.
• Dmitri Belser and Thomas White became the first openly gay couple to adopt an infant (adoption finalizd in 1987).

1986

• Becky Smith and Annie Afleck became the first openly lesbian couple in America granted legal, joint adoption of a child.

1987

• Barney Frank — first U.S. congressman to come out as gay of his own volition.
• David Norris — first openly gay elected senator in the Republic of Ireland.
• A group of 75 bisexuals marched in the 1987 March On Washington For Gay and Lesbian Rights, which was the first nationwide bisexual gathering. The article "The Bisexual Movement: Are We Visible Yet?", by Lani Ka'ahumanu, appeared in the official Civil Disobedience Handbook for the March. It was the first article about bisexuals and the emerging bisexual movement to be published in a national lesbian or gay publication.

1988

• Svend Robinson — first Canadian Member of Parliament to come out.
• Stacy Offner became the first openly lesbian rabbi hired by a mainstream Jewish congregation, Shir Tikvah Congregation of Minneapolis (a Reform Jewish congregation).

1989

• Dallas S. Drake — first openly gay firefighter (Fire Motor Operator) in the upper Midwest (Burnsville Fire Department, Burnsville, Minnesota).
• Glen Murray — first out gay man elected to a City Council in Canada having not previously held office. Fort Rouge Ward Winnipeg, Canada
• Denmark — first country to legally recognize same-sex registered partnership.
• Ien Dales - first openly lesbian government minister in the Netherlands.

1990s

1990

• Justin Fashanu — first professional Football (Soccer) player ever to identify himself publicly as gay (Swedish footballer Anton Hysén recently [2011] became the second).

1991

• An episode of Fox's Roc (TV series) airing on October 20 ("Can't Help Loving That Man") depicted the first same-sex marriage on U.S. prime time television.
• Dale McCormick became the first open lesbian elected to a state Senate (she was elected to the Maine Senate).
• Sherry Harris was elected to the City Council in Seattle, Washington, making her the first openly lesbian African-American elected official.
• The first lesbian kiss on television occurred; it was on L.A. Law between the fictional characters of C.J. Lamb (played by Amanda Donohoe) and Abby (Michele Greene).
• The first Southern Comfort Conference was held. The Southern Comfort Conference is a major transgender conference that takes place annually in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the largest, most famous, and pre-eminent such conference in the United States.

1992

• Althea Garrison was elected as the first transgender state legislator in America, and served one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives; however, it was not publicly known she was transgender when she was elected.
• The first Dyke March (a march for lesbians and their straight female allies, planned by the Lesbian Avengers) was held in Washington, D.C., with 20,000 women marching.
• The Triangle Ball was held; it was the first inaugural ball in America to ever be held in honor of gays and lesbians.
• Roberta Achtenberg became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate when she was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity by President Bill Clinton.

1994

• Deborah Batts — first openly gay or lesbian United States federal judge (United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
• Liverpool based soap opera, Brookside, broadcast the UK's first pre-watershed lesbian kiss.
• Susan Stryker's essay "My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix" became the first article to be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal by an openly transgender author.

1995

• Georgina Beyer — world's first transgender mayor (Carterton District, New Zealand)
• Rachel Maddow — first openly gay or lesbian American to win an international Rhodes scholarship.
• Harvey Brownstone — first openly gay or lesbian judge appointed in Canada (Ontario Court of Justice)
• Ian Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out to the public as gay.
• Maria Zoe Dunning became the first and only openly gay person allowed to remain on active duty in the U.S. military prior to the end of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
• The International Bear Brotherhood Flag was designed in 1995 by Craig Byrnes. Bear is an affectionate gay slang term for those in the bear communities, a subculture in the gay male community with its own events, codes, and culture-specific identity.

1996

• Michael Kirby — first openly gay judge of the High Court of Australia (appointed February 1996; named his male partner in his 1999 entry in "Who's Who in Australia")
• Bob Brown — first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia (elected March, his term started July)
• South Africa — first country to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution.
• The first lesbian wedding on television occurred, held for fictional characters Carol (played by Jane Sibbett) and Susan (played by Jessica Hecht) on the TV show Friends.

1997

• Ellen DeGeneres was the star of the situation comedy Ellen. In 1997, she came out as a lesbian on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, still in 1997, her TV series character Ellen Morgan also came out as gay in the fourth-season episode "The Puppy Episode", thus making Ellen DeGeneres the first openly lesbian actress to play an openly lesbian character on television.
• Angela Eagle, MP for Wallasey (Merseyside), became Britain's first 'out' lesbian MP
• Evelyn Mantilla came out as America's first openly bisexual state official in 1997 in Connecticut.
• Patria Jiménez became the first openly gay person to win a position in the Mexican Congress, doing so for the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

1998

Jackie Biskupski - first openly gay elected official in Utah, won a seat in the Utah House of Representatives.

• Dana International — first transsexual to win the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Glen Murray — first out gay man to be elected mayor of a major city in the world: Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba (population 700,000).
• Gender identity was added to the mission of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays after a vote at their annual meeting in San Francisco. Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is the first national LGBT organization to officially adopt a transgender-inclusion policy for its work.
• Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay or lesbian non-incumbent ever elected to United States Congress, and the first open lesbian ever elected to Congress, winning Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district seat over Josephine Musser.
• The first bisexual pride flag was unveiled on Dec 5th, 1998.
• Julie Hesmondhalgh first began to play Hayley Anne Patterson, British TV’s first transgender character.

1999

• Georgina Beyer — first transsexual Member of Parliament (elected in 27 November New Zealand general election; representing the Wairarapa electorate)
• Stephen Brady and his partner Peter Stephens – world's first openly gay ambassadorial couple; accompanied by Stephens, Brady presented his credentials as Australian Ambassador to Denmark, to Queen Margrethe II on 15 February 1999
• James Hormel — first openly gay United States ambassador (sworn in June 1999)
• In 1999, the first Celebrate Bisexuality Day was organized by Michael Page, Gigi Raven Wilbur, and Wendy Curry.

2000s

2000

• The Transgender Pride flag, created by transgender woman Monica Helms, was first shown, at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Civil unions were legalized in Vermont (the first state to do so) and Carolyn Conrad and Kathleen Peterson became the first couple in the United States to be civilly united.

2001

Pim Fortuyn

• Libby Davies — first female Canadian Member of Parliament to come out as a member of the LGBT community
• Klaus Wowereit — first elected mayor of Berlin as an openly gay German
• Bertrand Delanoë — first openly gay person to be elected mayor of Paris
• Netherlands — first country to legally recognize same-sex marriage.
• The UK's first ever televised gay wedding was screened live on air from Liverpool's Albert Dock on ITV's This Morning
• San Francisco became the first city in America to cover sex reassignment surgeries for government employees.
• The first memorial in the United States honoring LGBT veterans was dedicated in Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California.
• Helene Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus, from the Netherlands, became the first two women to legally marry.

2002

• Pim Fortuyn — the first openly gay candidate for Prime Minister of the Netherlands, assassinated nine days before election day, his sexual preference not being a motive.
• Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays established its Transgender Network, also known as TNET, as its first official "Special Affiliate," recognized with the same privileges and responsibilities as its regular chapters.
• Per-Kristian Foss — Minister of Finance, acting Prime Minister of Norway, thus being the first openly homosexual head of government in modern times. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, later became the first openly homosexual head of government, on an elected basis, in 2009.
• In 2002 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York the Reform rabbi Margaret Wenig organized the first school-wide seminar at any rabbinical school which addressed the psychological, legal, and religious issues affecting people who are intersex or transsexual.

2003

• Ang Ladlad — the first lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) political party
• David Cicilline — first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital (Providence, Rhode Island)
• Gene Robinson — first openly gay person to be ordained bishop in a major Christian denomination
• On 1 November 2003, Taiwan Pride, the first gay pride parade in the Chinese-speaking world, was held in Taipei, with over 1,000 people attending. It has taken place annually since then, but still, many participants wear masks to hide their identity because homosexuality remains a social taboo in Taiwan. However, the 2010 parade attracted 30,000 attendees and increasing media and political attention, highlighting the growing rate of acceptance in Taiwan. Since 2010, there has also been a pride parade in Kaohsiung, which attracted over 2,000 people.
• In 2003 Reuben Zellman became the first openly transgender person accepted to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he was ordained in 2010.
• In 2003 the Reform rabbi Margaret Wenig organized the first school-wide seminar at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College which addressed the psychological, legal, and religious issues affecting people who are intersex or transsexual.

2004

• Bill Siksay — first openly gay Canadian elected to a first term as Member of Parliament
• Felipe "Alejandra" González Pino — First transgender councilman in Chile (Lampa commune)
• Oras Tynkkynen — first openly gay member of parliament in Finland. Initially appointed as a replacement for an MP who stepped down, was elected to his seat in 2007.
• The first all-transgender performance of the Vagina Monologues was held. The monologues were read by eighteen notable transgender women, and a new monologue revolving around the experiences and struggles of transgender women was included.
• Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon became the first same-sex couple to be legally married in the United States, when San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom allowed city hall to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, all same-sex marriages done in 2004 in California were annulled. After the California Supreme Court decision in 2008 that granted same-sex couples in California the right to marry, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon remarried, and were again the first same-sex couple in the state to marry. Later in 2008 Prop 8 illegalized same-sex marriage in California, but the marriages that occurred between the California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage and the approval of Prop 8 illegalizing it are still considered valid, including the marriage of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. However, Del Martin died in 2008.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in the state of Massachusetts, and Marcia Hams and Sue Shepard became the first same-sex couple to marry in Massachusetts,.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in part of Oregon, as after researching the issue and getting two legal opinions, the commissioners decided Oregon's Constitution would not allow them to discriminate against same-sex couples. The Chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners ordered the clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses. Mary Li of Portland and her partner, 42-year-old Becky Kennedy, became the first same-sex couple to marry in Oregon. However, later that year, Oregon voters passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as involving one man and one woman. The same-sex marriages from 2004 were ruled void by the Oregon Supreme Court.
• James McGreevey, then governor of New Jersey, came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay state governor in United States history. He resigned soon after.
• Bisi Alimi became the first Nigerian to declare his homosexuality on television.

2005

• Bonnie Bleskachek became the first openly lesbian fire chief of a major metropolitan area in the United States (Minneapolis).
• Liverpool Register Office became the UK's first to include a gay couple on the front cover of civil ceremony promotional material
• Transgender activist Pauline Park became the first openly transgender person chosen to be grand marshal of the New York City Pride March, the oldest and largest LGBT pride event in the United States.
• The Simpsons became the first cartoon series to dedicate an entire episode to the topic of same-sex marriage.
• The first European Transgender Council Meeting was held in Vienna.
• Alexandra Billings became the first openly trans woman to have played a transgender character on television, which she did in the 2005 made-for-TV movie Romy and Michelle: A New Beginning.

2006

In 2006 Kim Coco Iwamoto became the first transgender official to win statewide office in Hawaii.

• Chaya Gusfield and Rabbi Lori Klein, both ordained in America, became the first openly lesbian rabbis ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement.
• In the United Kingdom, since 2006 the Pink Jack has been widely used to represent a unique British Gay and Lesbian identity.
• In 2006 Kim Coco Iwamoto was elected as a member of the Hawaii Board of Education, making her at that time the highest ranking openly transgender elected official in the United States, as well as the first openly transgender official to win statewide office.
• Elliot Kukla, who came out as transgender six months before his ordination in 2006, was the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
• Arizona became the first state to reject a ban on same-sex marriage (it would have banned domestic partnerships and civil unions too) although it did accept one in 2008.
• State Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, became Alabama's first openly gay public official when she was elected in 2006.

2007

• Jenny Bailey — the first openly transgender mayor in the United Kingdom.
• Theresa Sparks — first openly transgender police commissioner (San Francisco). In 2003 Theresa Sparks had been the first openly transgender woman ever named "Woman of the Year" by the California State Assembly.
• Jalda Rebling, a German woman born in the Netherlands and ordained in America, became the first openly lesbian cantor ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement.
• From 2007 to 2008 actress Candis Cayne played Carmelita Rainer, a transgender woman having an affair with married New York Attorney General Patrick Darling (played by William Baldwin), on the ABC prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money. The role made Cayne the first openly transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character in prime time.
• Joy Ladin became the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution (Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University).
• On 29 November, the first foreign gay wedding was held in Hanoi, Vietnam between a Japanese and an Irish national. The wedding raised much attention in the gay and lesbian community in Vietnam.
• Amaranta Gómez Regalado (for México Posible) became the first transsexual person to appear in the Mexican Congress.
• Ellen DeGeneres became the first open lesbian to host the Academy Awards.
• Ventura Place in Studio City was renamed Dr. Betty Berzon Place in her honor, making it the first street ever officially dedicated to a known lesbian in California.

2008

Rachel Maddow in August 2008

• Rachel Maddow — first openly gay or lesbian anchor of a major prime-time news program in the United States, hosting The Rachel Maddow Show on U.S. cable network MSNBC.
• Silverton, Oregon elected Stu Rasmussen as the first openly transgender mayor in America.
• Angie Zapata, a transgender woman, was murdered in Greeley, Colorado. Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and committing a bias-motivated crime, because he killed her after he learned that she was transgender. This case was the first in the nation to get a conviction for a hate crime involving a transgender victim. Angie Zapata's story and murder were featured on Univision's Aqui y Ahora television show on November 1, 2009.
• The first ever U.S. Congressional hearing on discrimination against transgender people in the workplace was held, by the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
• At the request of a lesbian couple (Kitzen and Jeni Branting), the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast adopted a law recognizing same-sex marriage. Tribal law specialists said the Coquille may be the first tribe to sanction such marriages.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Connecticut, and state Rep. Beth Bye and her girlfriend Tracey Wilson became the first same-sex couple to marry in Connecticut.
• Angela Eagle, MP for Wallasey (Merseyside), became the first female Member of Parliament to enter a civil partnership
• Kate Brown was elected as the Oregon Secretary of State in the 2008 elections, becoming America's first openly bisexual statewide officeholder.
• Stu Rasmussen — first openly transgender person elected mayor in the United States (Silverton, Oregon)
• Jan Hamilton, formerly Parachute Regiment Captain Ian Hamilton, became the first UK officer to complete gender reassignment from male to female.

2009

In 2009 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became the Prime Minister of Iceland and thus became the first openly gay head of government in modern times.

• Eva Brunne became the first lesbian bishop in the world and the first bishop of the Church of Sweden to be in a registered same-sex partnership.
• Lesbian and Gay Band Association — first LGBT-represented contingent marching in a U.S. presidential inaugural parade. The parade on January 20 was in celebration of Barack Obama's incoming administration.
• Jared Polis — first male U.S. congressperson to be openly gay when first elected to office
• Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir — Prime Minister of Iceland, and the first openly homosexual head of government in modern times. (On an elected basis, in contrast to Per-Kristian Foss, who was briefly acting Prime Minister of Norway in 2002.)
• Carol Ann Duffy — first openly lesbian or gay Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom.
• Alejandro Freyre and José María di Bello — first same-sex marriage in Latin America.
• Gareth Thomas — first openly gay professional rugby player still playing the game.
• Annise Parker was elected as the first openly gay or lesbian mayor of Houston, Texas.
• Diego Sanchez became the first openly transgender person to work on Capitol Hill; he was hired as a legislative assistant for Barney Frank. Sanchez was also the first transgender person on the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Platform Committee in 2008.
• Barbra “Babs” Siperstein was nominated and confirmed as an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee, becoming its first openly transgender member.
• Kitzen and Jeni Branting married in the Coquille Indian tribe's Coos Bay plankhouse, a 3-year-old meeting hall built in traditional Coquille style with cedar plank walls. They were the first same-sex couple to have their marriage recognized by the tribe, of which Kitzen was a member.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Iowa, and Shelley Wolfe and Melisa Keeton became the first lesbian couple (and the second same-sex couple) to marry in Iowa.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Vermont, and Claire Williams and Cori Giroux became one of the first same-sex couples to marry in Vermont (others including them married the moment same-sex marriage was legalized).
• Guido Westerwelle became the first openly gay foreign minister and vice chancellor of Germany.
• All My Children featured daytime TV's first lesbian wedding.
• Simone Bell became the first African-American lesbian elected to serve in a U.S. state legislature.
• In September 2009, Vandy Beth Glenn delivered the first United States Congress testimony (before the House of Representatives) from an openly transgender witness, urging passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
• In October 2009, LGBT activist Amy Andre was appointed as executive director of the San Francisco Pride Celebration Committee, making her San Francisco Pride's first openly bisexual woman of color executive director.
• Dylan Orr became the first openly transgender presidential appointee in America, when he was appointed as special assistant in the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy.

2010s

2010

• Annise Parker — first openly gay mayor of a major (population over 1 million) U.S. city (Houston)
• Sharon Lubinski — first openly gay United States Marshal
• Steven Davies - first openly gay international cricketer
• Guinness World Records recognized transgender man Thomas Beatie as the world's "First Married Man to Give Birth."
• Amanda Simpson became the first openly transgender woman presidential appointee in America when she was appointed as senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
• Kye Allums became the first openly transgender athlete to play in NCAA basketball. He was a transgender man who played on George Washington University's women's team.
• Victoria Kolakowski became the first openly transgender judge in America.
• Mary Glasspool became the first openly lesbian bishop ordained by the Episcopal Church of the United States (serving the Diocese of Los Angeles).
• Mary Albing became the first openly lesbian minister ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving the Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer on the south side of Minneapolis.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in the District of Columbia, and Sinjoyla Townsend and Angelisa Young became the first same-sex couple to marry in the District of Columbia.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in New Hampshire, and Linda Murphy and Donna Swartwout became one of the first same-sex couples to marry in New Hampshire (others including them married the moment same-sex marriage was legalized).
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Argentina, the first Latin American country in doing so
• Hollyoaks, produced and filmed at the Liverpool based Lime Pictures studios, became the first ever British soap opera to introduce a teenage transsexual storyline
• The Liberal Democrats became Britain’s first major political party to formally endorse same-sex marriage at their Liverpool party conference
• Phyllis Frye became Texas’s first openly transgender judge.
• Chai Feldblum, who was openly lesbian, became the first openly LGBT person to serve on the EEOC.

2011

• The Suquamish tribe of Washington legalized same-sex marriage on August 1, 2011, following a unanimous vote by the Suquamish Tribal Council. At least one member of a same-sex couple has to be an enrolled member of the tribe to be able to marry in the jurisdiction.
• Dominic Hannigan and John Lyons — first openly gay members of Dáil Éireann.
• In the Polish parliamentary election, 2011, Anna Grodzka is elected as the first transgender member of the Polish Sejm, and the first in European history, and Robert Biedroń is elected as Poland's first openly gay male member of the Sejm.
• Ruth Davidson - first openly gay leader of a major British political party
• Elio Di Rupo - first openly gay Prime Minister of Belgium, second openly homosexual head of government in Europe.
• Chaz Bono appeared on the 13th season of the US version of Dancing with the Stars in 2011. This was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.
• Harmony Santana became the first openly transgender actress to receive a major acting award nomination; she was nominated by the Independent Spirit Awards as Best Supporting Actress for the movie Gun Hill Road.
• Courtney Mitchell and Sarah Welton, both from Colorado, were married in Nepal's first public lesbian wedding ceremony, although the marriage was not legally recognized in Nepal.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in New York state, and Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd became the first same-sex couple to be married in New York state.
• Liverpool born Anton Hysén came out as Sweden's first openly gay male footballer and the second openly gay high-level footballer in the world, ever
• Liverpool, England recognises gay quarter with rainbow street signs
• Rachel Isaacs was the first openly lesbian rabbi ordained by the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary ("JTS"), which occurred in May 2011.
• Brenda Sue Fulton was named to the West Point Board of Visitors, making her the first openly gay member of the board that advises the Academy.
• Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of California and Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles became the first same-sex couple chosen to share the first kiss upon a U.S. Navy ship's return.
• Brooke (last name withheld) was hired as the New York Fire Department's first openly transgender employee.
• Greg Meyer becomes the first openly queer individual to win one of America's National Debate Championships, the American Parliamentary Debate Association's National Championship.
• Miss New York, Claire Buffie, became the first Miss America contestant to campaign for the Miss America title on a gay rights platform.
• Jaiyah “Johnny” Saelua became the first openly transgender international footballer to play in the World Cup when she took the field for American Samoa in Oceania’s first round of World Cup qualifiers for Brazil 2014.
• A resolution submitted by South Africa requesting a study on discrimination and sexual orientation (A/HRC/17/L.9/Rev.1) passed, 23 to 19 with 3 abstentions, in the UN Human Rights Council on June 17, 2011. This is the first time that any United Nations body approved a resolution affirming the rights of LGBT people.

2012

In 2012 Kyrsten Sinema became the first openly bisexual person elected to the U.S. Congress.

• Katie Ricks became the first open lesbian ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
• Air Force Col. Ginger Wallace became the first known out member of the U.S. military to have their same-sex partner participate in the pinning ceremony tradition that had been reserved for spouses and family members. Her partner of 10 years, Kathy Knopf, pinned colonel wings on Wallace days after the two attended President Obama's State of The Union address as a guest of the First Lady.
• Navy Chief Elny McKinney and Anacelly McKinney became the first known same-sex couple to marry on a U.S. military base. They were wed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego.
• President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president officially in favor of same-sex marriage.
• Barney Frank became the first sitting member of Congress to be married to a same-sex spouse.
• Sally Ride's obituary reveals that she had been in a 27-year sexual relationship with Tam O’Shaughnessy making her the first known LGBT person to have served as an astronaut.
• Liverpool was the first city in the world to officially mark IDAHO with a programme of free events.
• Ullet Road Unitarian Church, Liverpool, hosted the first UK civil partnership on religious premises.
• Liverpool Football Club became the first Premier League club to take a stand against homophobia and be officially represented at a UK 'Pride' event at Liverpool Pride.
• In 2012, at a ceremony in Arlington, Army Reserve officer Tammy Smith became the first openly gay, active duty general in American history. Smith was promoted to brigadier general at a private ceremony at the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
• Kylar Broadus, founder of the Trans People of Color Coalition of Columbia, Missouri, spoke to the U.S. Senate in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. His speech was the first-ever U.S. Senate testimony from an openly transgender witness.
• The D.C. Office of Human Rights created America’s first government-funded campaign to combat anti-transgender discrimination.
• Taiwan's first same-sex Buddhist wedding was held for Fish Huang and her partner You Ya-ting, with Buddhist master Shih Chao-hui presiding over the ritual.
• The first lesbian Super PAC, LPAC, was created to represent the interests of lesbians in the United States, and to campaign on LGBT and women's rights issues.
• Tammy Baldwin was elected as the first openly lesbian or gay U.S. Senator.
• Kyrsten Sinema was elected to the House of Representatives, becoming the first openly bisexual member of Congress in American history. She represents Arizona's 9th Congressional district.
• Mary Gonzalez became the first state representative to come out as pansexual.
• Stacie Laughton became the first openly transgender person elected as a state legislator in United States history. She was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature. In 1992 Althea Garrison had been elected as a state legislator, serving one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, but it was not publicly known she was transgender when she was elected.
• San Francisco voted to become the first U.S. city to provide and cover the cost of sex reassignment surgeries for uninsured transgender residents.
• Mark Pocan was elected in Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District, becoming the first openly gay candidate who will follow an openly gay member of the U.S. Congress (in this case Tammy Baldwin).
• Sean Patrick Maloney became the first openly gay candidate elected to represent New York in Congress.
• Mark Takano became the first openly gay person of color to win election to the U.S. House. He was elected to represent California’s 41st Congressional District.
• Josh Boschee was elected as North Dakota's first openly gay legislator.
• Stephen Skinner was elected as West Virginia's first openly gay state legislator.
• Jacob Candelaria was elected as New Mexico's first openly gay male state legislator.
• Brian Sims became Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator who was out when he was elected.
• After Brian Sims was elected but before he took office, Rep. Mike Fleck came out as gay, making him Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator.
• David Richardson was elected as Florida's first openly gay state legislator.
• Colorado Democrats elected Mark Ferrandino as the first openly gay House speaker in state history.
• Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote. Maine was the very first state to do so, followed by Maryland.
• The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy was held for a young lieutenant and her partner (Ellen Schick and Shannon Simpson) at the Old Cadet Chapel in West Point’s cemetery.
• Kate McKinnon became Saturday Night Live's first openly lesbian cast member; Danitra Vance never disclosed her sexual orientation publicly, but was revealed to be a lesbian when she died.
• The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel at West Point (not to be confused with the Old Cadet Chapel) was held for Brenda Sue Fulton and Penelope Dara Gnesin. Fulton was a veteran and the communications director of an organization called Outserve, which represents actively serving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender military personnel.
• The first same-sex couple became engaged in the White House (Ben Schock and Matthew Phelps).
• The Right Reverend Doctor Gary Paterson - August 2012 - Elected Moderator of the United Church of Canada, becoming the first openly gay leader of a major Christian denomination.
• City Councilmember Marlene Pray joined the Doylestown, Pennsylvania council in 2012, though she resigned in 2013; she was the first openly bisexual office holder in Pennsylvania.
• On 28 June 2012 Diana King declared "Yes I am a Lesbian" to her fans from her official Facebook page, thus becoming the first Jamaican artist to ever publicly come out.
• California became the first state to sign a ban on therapy that claims to convert gay people into heterosexual. The California law, enacted in 2012, is as of 2013 held up in federal courts on first amendment grounds.
• Orlando Cruz became the world's first professional boxer to come out as gay.
• On September 18, 2012, Berkeley, California became what is thought to be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals. The Berkeley City Council unanimously and without discussion declared Sept. 23 as Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day.
• Emily Aviva Kapor, who had been ordained privately by a Conservadox rabbi in 2005, began living as a woman in 2012, thus becoming the first openly transgender female rabbi.
• Rainbow Jews, an oral history project showcasing the lives of Jewish bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender people in the United Kingdom from the 1950s until the present, was launched. It is the United Kingdom's first archive of Jewish bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender history.
• In November 2012, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against JONAH (a Jewish ex-gay organization), Goldberg, and Downing on behalf of Unger, Levin, two other participants, and two of the participants' mothers for fraudulent practices which are illegal under New Jersey's consumer protection laws. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted that the lawsuit is "groundbreaking" insofar as it is the first time a conversion therapy provider has been sued for fraudulent business practices.

2013

• Barack Obama mentioned the word "gay" and the issue of gay rights for the first time in a speech at the U.S. presidential swearing in; specifically, he did so in his inaugural address.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota and Rhode Island, and by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in the state of Washington, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, and the Santa Ysabel Tribe.
• Kathleen Wynne became the first openly LGBT premier of a Canadian province, namely Ontario, after defeating Sandra Pupatello in the third round of voting of the Ontario Liberal party's leadership race on January 26, 2013. Sworn in on February 11, 2013, she is the party's first openly LGBT leader and Ontario's first female premier.
• Robbie Rogers announced he was gay on February 15, 2013, becoming the only male fully capped international association footballer to do so.
• Chris Anderson of Chattanooga, Tennessee, became the first openly gay elected official to win a contested election in Tennessee.
• Jason Collins on April 29, 2013, became the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay.
• Rep. Mark Pocan's spouse Philip Frank became the first same-sex spouse of a federal lawmaker to officially receive a House spouse ID. In 2009, Marlon Reis, the spouse of Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), was issued a congressional spouse ID, but later card services told him that he had been given the designation accidentally.
• Autumn Sandeen, a U.S. veteran and transgender woman, received a letter from a Navy official stating, “Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female effective April 12th, 2013.” Allyson Robinson of Outserve declared, "To our knowledge, this is the first time that the Department of Defense has recognized and affirmed a change of gender for anyone affiliated, in a uniformed capacity — in this case a military retiree."
• For the first time, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decided to allow the same-sex spouse of a military veteran to be buried in a U.S. national cemetery. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki gave permission for retired Air Force officer Linda Campbell, 66, to bury the ashes of her same-sex spouse Nancy Lynchild at Williamette National Cemetery in Oregon.
• The first same-sex kiss ever on a Eurovision stage occurred at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest when Krista Siegfrids, who sang "Marry Me", ended her semi-final performance by kissing one of her female dancers.
• Dr. Saul Levin was named on May 15, 2013 as the new chief executive officer and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, making him the first known openly gay person to head the APA.
• Ukraine had its first gay pride march, which was held in Kiev.
• Robbie Rogers joined the Los Angeles Galaxy, making him the first openly gay male athlete to compete in Major League Soccer.
• Rehana Kausar and Sobia Kamar, both from Pakistan, became the first Muslim lesbian couple to get married in a civil ceremony in the United Kingdom.
• Fallon Fox came out as transgender, thus becoming the first openly transgender athlete in MMA history.
• Jallen Messersmith of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., came out and is believed to be the first openly gay player in U.S. men's college basketball.
• Guy Erwin became the first openly gay bishop to be elected to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA); he was elected to the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA.
• France legalized same-sex marriage and adoption, and Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau became the first couple to have a legal same-sex marriage under the new law.
• Major General Patricia “Trish” Rose became the first openly lesbian two-star general in the U.S. Air Force, and the highest ranking openly gay officer in the entire U.S. military at the time.
• The Bi Writers Association, which promotes bisexual writers, books, and writing, announced the winners of its first Bisexual Book Awards. An awards ceremony was held at the Nuyorican Poets Café.
• Kristin Beck, formerly Chris Beck, came out as the first openly transgendered retired Navy SEAL.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Nitza Quiñones Alejandro to a federal judgeship, making her the first openly gay Latina to hold such a post.
• Cason Crane became the first openly gay man to summit Mount Everest.
• U.S. Air Force Under Secretary Eric Fanning took over as acting secretary of the U.S. Air Force, becoming the highest ranking openly LGBT official at the Department of Defense; he is openly gay.
• The Director's Guild of America elected Paris Barclay as its first black and first openly gay president.
• Julian Marsh and Traian Povov become the first married gay couple to have a green card application approved, in this case for Julian Marsh.
• A married lesbian couple in Colorado became the first to receive a marriage-based green card, making Cathy Davis the first same-sex spouse to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
• Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier became the first same-sex couple to be married in California since Proposition 8 was overturned.
• Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Welsh Secretary David Jones, became the first MP in Britain to come out as bisexual.
• Maureen Le Marinel became the first openly lesbian union president elected in Britain. She was elected to the presidency of Unison, one of Britain's largest trade unions.
• Same Love, a hit single from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, became the first Top 40 song in the U.S. to promote and celebrate same-sex marriage.
• For the first time, the California Department of Education's list of recommended books for grades Pre-K-through-12 included a book with a transgender theme, I Am J by Cris Beam.
• The first UFC match between two openly-gay fighters, Liz Carmouche and Jessica Andrade, was held.
• Benjamin Medrano was elected as the first openly gay mayor in Mexico's history, being elected mayor of the township of Fresnillo.
• Although same-sex marriage is illegal in Pennsylvania as of July 2013, in that month Loreen Bloodgood married Alicia Terrizzi, making them the first same-sex couple to marry in Pennsylvania; the Montgomery County register of wills, D. Bruce Hanes, had said that his office would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
• Although same-sex marriage is illegal in Pennsylvania as of August 2013, in that month Mayor John Fetterman officiated the first same-sex marriage in Allegheny County, between John Kandray and Bill Gray.
• California enacted America's first law protecting transgender students; the law, called the School Success and Opportunity Act, declares that every public school student in California from kindergarten to 12th grade must be “permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”
• Darren Young (real name: Fred Rosser) became the first active professional wrestler to come out as gay.
• Master Sgt. Angela Shunk and her wife, Tech. Sgt. Stacey Shunk, became the first same-sex couple to receive an assignment together under the U.S. Air Force’s Join Spouse program.
• Jennifer Pritzker came out as transgender in 2013 and thus became the world's first openly transgender billionaire.
• On Celebrate Bisexuality Day, the White House held a closed-door meeting with almost 30 bisexual advocates so they could meet with government officials and discuss issues of specific importance to the bisexual community; this was the first bi-specific event ever hosted by any White House.
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first member of the U.S. Supreme Court to officiate a same-sex wedding.
• Movie director Kim Jho Gwang-soo and his partner Kim Seung-hwan became the first South Korean gay couple to publicly wed, although it was not a legally recognized marriage.
• Harvey Milk was chosen as the first openly LGBT political official to be featured on an American postage stamp.
• Carol McCrory and Brenda Clark became the first same-sex couple to have their marriage application accepted by Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Resigner, which makes them the first same-sex couple to have their marriage application accepted in the South.
• Andy Herren became the first openly gay winner of the Big Brother reality show.
• The first gay pride parade in Montenegro was held.
• The first gay pride week in Curacao was held.
• The first Indo-American lesbian wedding was held. It was held in Los Angeles.
• The first televised Romanian same-sex wedding was held. It was between two men, and was done on the reality show Four Weddings and a Challenge.
• The Portland Trail Blazers became the first NBA team to support same-sex marriage.
• Todd Hughes became the first openly gay U.S. circuit judge.
• The first United Nations ministerial meeting on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals was held. Representatives from the US, France, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, New Zealand and the EU, along with executive directors of Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, reaffirmed their commitments to working together to end discrimination and violence towards the LGBT community. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay delivered remarks [press release] commending the LGBT community and praising the fact that, "many countries have embarked on historic reforms—strengthening anti-discrimination laws, combating hate crime against LGBT people and sensitizing public opinion."
• New Jersey held its first legal same-sex marriages.
• Rabbi Deborah Waxman was elected as the President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. As the President, she is believed to be the first woman and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first female rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; RRC is both a congregational union and a seminary.
• A six-year-old girl named Luana, who was born a boy, became the first transgender child in Argentina to have her new name officially changed on her identity documents. She is believed to be the youngest to benefit from the country’s new Gender Identity Law, which was approved in May 2012.
• Q Radio, which went on the airwaves in September, claims to be India’s first radio station which caters to the country’s lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.
• Jennifer Finney Boylan was chosen as the first openly transgender co-chair of GLAAD's National Board of Directors.
• On 31 October 2013, Paris Lees became the first openly transgender panellist to appear on the BBC's Question Time programme, drawing praise from commentators who included former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and the Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman.
• Stephen Alexander, of Rhode Island, became the first high school coach to come out publicly as transgender.
• Nikki Sinclaire came out as transgender, thus becoming the UK’s first openly transgender Parliamentarian.
• San Francisco's first Project Homeless Connect for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people was held.
• Kevin Rudd becomes the first Prime Minister of Australia to openly support same-sex marriage.
• Lucy Vallender converted to Islam, thus becoming the United Kingdom's first openly transgender Muslim woman.
• Mark C. Goldman became the first openly gay president of the American Conference of Cantors, a Reform Jewish organization.
• Ben Barres became the first openly transgender scientist in the US National Academy of Sciences in 2013.
• On November 1 Audrey Gauthier was elected president of CUPE 4041, representing Air Transat flight attendants based in Montreal. She thus became the first openly transgender person elected president of a local in Canada.

2014

In 2014 Carlos Bruce became the first openly gay member of Congress in Peru.

• The first same-sex marriage at the Rose Parade was held, for Aubrey Loots and Danny LeClair.
• The marriage of Giuseppe Chigiotti and Stefano Bucci became the first overseas same-sex marriage to be legally recognized in Italy; the two were married in New York in 2012.
• Berlin, Germany unveiled the world's first cemetery for lesbians.
• Umma Azul was the first child of a lesbian couple to be baptized by the Catholic Church in Argentina.
• Conner Mertens, Willamette University's kicker, became the first active college football player to come out as LGBT; he came out as bisexual.
• Meghan Stabler became the first openly transgender woman to be named Working Mother magazine's Working Mother of the Year.
• Good Luck Charlie on The Disney Channel became the first TV show on a child-targeting network to feature a same-sex couple (the characters' names were Susan and Cheryl).
• Starkville became the first city in Mississippi to pass a resolution supporting the LGBT community; the resolution states that the city does not condone discrimination of any kind, including any against its citizens for their sexual orientation or gender identity.
• The Bisexual Resource Center, based in Boston, Massachusetts, declared March 2014 as the first Bisexual Health Awareness Month, with the theme "Bi the Way, Our Health Matters Too!"; it included the first social media campaign to address disparities in physical and mental health facing the bisexual community.
• Queen Elizabeth II praised the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard for their 40-year history making it the first time the Crown has ever publicly supported the LGBT community. They received a comment from the Queen saying: “Best wishes and congratulations to all concerned on this most special anniversary.”
• Toni Atkins was elected as the first openly lesbian speaker of the California Assembly.
• Judith Levy was confirmed by the Senate as the first openly lesbian federal judge in Michigan.
• Gypsy Vered Meltzer was elected to the City Council in Appleton; as such he became the first openly transgender elected official in Wisconsin.
• Anna Guillot and Chrissy Kelly, who were married in New York in 2012, became the first same-sex couple in Mississippi to create a public record of their marriage, which they did by paying to record their marriage license from New York at the Rankin County Chancery Clerk’s Office in Brandon, Mississippi. However, this did not give their marriage legal standing in Mississippi.
• Emilia Maria Jesty, daughter of a lesbian couple, was the first child born in Tennessee to have a woman listed on the birth certificate as her "father."
• UMass basketball player Derrick Gordon came out, thus becoming the first openly gay player in Division I college men's basketball.
• Jeremy Pemberton married Laurence Cunnington, and thus Pemberton became the first priest in the Church of England to defy the Church's ban on gay clergy marrying.
• Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams and thus became the first openly gay player to be drafted into the National Football League.
• The world's first homoerotic stamps were produced in Finland, celebrating one of the country's most famous artists - Tom of Finland. Art critic Estelle Lovatt says "the stamps are a 'great statement' given that the country bans gay marriage".
• In March 2014, same-sex marriage was legalized in Michigan, and Glenna DeJong and Marsha Caspar became the first same-sex couple married in Michigan; however, later that year the overturning of Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage was indefinitely stayed.
• In May 2014, same-sex marriage was legalized in Arkansas, and Kristin Seaton and Jennifer Rambo became the first same-sex couple married in Arkansas: later that year, same-sex marriage in Arkansas was suspended by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
• In May 2014, same-sex marriage was legalized in Oregon, and Deanna Geiger and Janine Nelson became the first same-sex couple to marry in Oregon.
• The U.S. Naval Academy Chapel's first-ever same-sex wedding was held for David Bucher, a 49-year-old Academy graduate who works at the Pentagon, and partner Bruce Moats.
• Costa Rica flew the gay pride flag at their presidential palace; the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said the organization believed it was the first time the gay pride flag had been flown from the offices of a head of state in the Americas.
• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to give survivor benefits to the first-known same-sex war widow, Tracy Dice Johnson, whose wife Donna Johnson died in a suicide bombing attack in 2012.
• Laverne Cox was on the cover of the June 9th, 2014 issue of Time, and was interviewed for the article “The Transgender Tipping Point" by Katy Steinmetz, which ran in that issue and the title of which was also featured on the cover; this makes Cox the first openly transgender person on the cover of Time.
• Both lesbian parents were listed on their children's birth certificates in Australia, which is the first time an Australian birth certificate indicates that both members of a same-sex couple were the legal parents of a child at birth.
• Best Bi Short Stories, the first book of its type, was published; it was edited by Sheela Lambert, who contributed the story Memory Lane.
• Cyprus' first ever gay pride parade draws several thousands of participants.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Pennsylvania.
• Carlos Bruce came out and thus became the first openly gay member of Congress in Peru.
• Same-sex marriage was legalized in Wisconsin, but later that year same-sex marriages in Wisconsin were put on hold while the ruling striking down the state's ban on such unions was appealed.
• Idaho's same-sex marriage ban was declared unconstitutional, but another court stayed the ruling.
• The United Church of Christ filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage, which is America’s first faith-based challenge to same-sex marriage bans; the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Alliance of Baptists joined the lawsuit later that year.
• Lynne Brown was appointed as the first openly gay cabinet minister in South Africa, which also makes her the first openly gay person to be appointed to a cabinet post in any African government.
• Zakhele Mbhele became the first openly gay person to serve in South Africa's parliament, which also makes him the first openly gay black member of parliament in any African nation.
• Maite Oronoz Rodríguez became the first openly gay person to be nominated for a seat on Puerto Rico's Supreme Court and was confirmed for the seat later that year.
• Darrin P. Gayles became the first openly gay African-American man to be confirmed as a U.S federal judge.
• The book Bisexuality: Making the Invisible Visible in Faith Communities, the first book of its kind, was published. It is by Marie Alford-Harkey and Debra W. Haffner.
• Transgender Studies Quarterly, the first non-medical academic journal devoted to transgender issues, began publication in 2014, with Susan Stryker and Paisley Currah as coeditors.
• Petra De Sutter became the first openly transgender person to serve in Belgium's Parliament, specifically its Senate.
• Britain's first Jewish lesbian marriage was held for Nicola Pettit, who is Jewish, and her girlfriend Tania Ward, in a ceremony which contained Jewish elements. They married in Brighton Town Hall, in southern England, and then had their union blessed by a rabbi. It was the first same-sex wedding involving a Jewish person since the same-sex marriage Act came into force.
• Toni Atkins served as acting governor of California for a day after Governor Jerry Brown left for a trade mission to Mexico, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom flew to the east coast for a Special Olympics appearance, and Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg was in Chicago for personal business. She thus became California's first openly gay governor on that day.
• Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy in an acting category: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black.
• Yein Kai Yee and Sutpreedee Chinithigun, both British citizens, were married at the British Embassy in Vietnam, thus becoming the first same-sex British couple to marry in Vietnam.
• The Transgender Trends panel was the first panel on that subject ever held at San Diego Comic-Con.
• Gordon Stevenson and Peter Fraser, a dual Australian/British citizen, were the first to be married in Australia under British same-sex marriage laws; they were married at the British consulate in Sydney, Australia.
• The first Jewish boat participated in the Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade. Dana International was on the boat, as well as the Fokkens twins (Louise Fokkens and Martine Fokkens), who are famous in the Netherlands for having worked 50 years as sex workers in Amsterdam’s Red Light District before their retirement earlier in 2014. Marianne van Praag, a Reform rabbi from The Hague, was the only rabbi aboard.
• The first Moroccan boat participated in the Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade.
• Cosmopolitan magazine, a women's magazine, offered sex advice to lesbians for the first time in its history.
• Pascal Tessier, a 17-year-old from Chevy Chase, Md., became the first known openly gay Boy Scout to be an Eagle Scout.
• The 100 block of Turk Street was renamed Vicki MarLane after trans activist Vicki Marlane; this was the first time in San Francisco history for a street to be named after a transgender icon.
• The United Church of Christ was the first religious denomination to be a major sponsor of the Gay Games, as a fourth-tier silver sponsor of Gay Games 9.
• The Cleveland Foundation was the first presenting sponsor in the history of the Gay Games.
• Edward Sarafin, a backup offensive lineman at Arizona State, became the first active Division I football player to come out as gay.
• Florida based bank C1 Financial became the first publicly listed bank in the United States to have an openly gay CEO (Trevor Burgess) when its stock became available to trade in August 2014.
• The San Francisco Police academy graduated its first publicly reported transgender police officer, Mikayla Connell.
• Chris Mosier became the first openly transgender man inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
• BBC2 commissioned Britain’s first transgender sitcom, called Boy Meets Girl, which follows the developing relationship between Leo, a 26 year-old man and Judy, a 40 year-old transgender woman.
• Maria Walsh came out as gay after being crowned the Rose of Tralee, thus becoming the first openly gay Rose of Tralee.
• Mills College became the first single-sex college in the U.S. to adopt a policy explicitly welcoming transgender students.
• Mauricio Ruiz became the first serving member of the Chilean armed forces to announce he was gay.
• Canadian-based writer and illustrator Eiynah wrote Pakistan's first anti-homophobia children's book, "My Chacha Is Gay"; she first wrote it online and had it released in print in 2014.
• Hong Kong held its first international symposium on LGBTI rights.
• For the first time in Italian history, a court granted permission for the adoption of a child living with a gay couple. The child was the biological daughter of one of the women in the couple, and her partner was allowed to legally become her co-parent through adoption. The couple had been living together in Rome since 2003, and the decision was taken by Rome's Juvenile Court.
• The memorial honoring LGBT people persecuted by the Nazis in Tel Aviv, the first specific recognition in Israel for non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust, was unveiled in 2014.
• The 5th European Transgender Council Meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary – the first such conference to take place in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Mount Holyoke became the first Seven Sisters college to accept transgender students.
• Mikie Goldstein became the first openly gay man to be ordained as a Conservative Jewish Rabbi. Later that year he became the Israeli Conservative movement’s first openly gay congregational rabbi with his installation as spiritual leader of its synagogue in Rehovot (Congregation Adat Shalom-Emanuel).
• Monica Wehby aired the first campaign ad for American national office featuring a same-sex couple (Ben West and Paul Rummell).
• Kinnon MacKinnon became the first openly transgender man to earn a gold in powerlifting at the Gay Games in the 2014 Games.
• ICEIS Rain became the first openly two-spirit person to perform at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.
• Jim Ferlo came out as gay, thus becoming the Pennsylvania Senate's first openly gay legislator.
• Padmini Prakash became India’s first openly transgender television news anchor.
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed two lawsuits against companies accused of discriminating against employees on the basis of gender identity; these lawsuits were the first Title VII action taken by the federal government on behalf of transgender workers. The lawsuits were filed for Amiee Stephens and Brandi Branson, both transgender women.
• The UN Human Rights Council adopted a second resolution related to sexual orientation and gender identity on September 26, 2014. It passed by a vote of 25-14 and is the first time in the Council’s history that it adopted a resolution on LGBT rights with the majority of its members.
• In 2014 California became the first state in the U.S. to officially ban the use of trans panic and gay panic defenses in murder trials.
• In 2014 Virginia becomes the first state in the Southeastern United States to legalize Same-Sex Marriage.
• Luisa Revilla Urcia became the first openly transgender person elected to a public office in Peru when she won a seat on the local council in La Esperanza in the province of Trujillo in northwestern Peru.
• In 2014 Laura Davis Danforth became the first openly LGBTQ person to be appointed Head of School at a boarding school in North America. She and her wife, Paula Chu, will be the first same-sex couple living in a head's house at a boarding school when they officially join the Masters School (NY) community in 2015.
• The Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Board approved the first transgender student-athlete to play in a winter sport in Arizona.

See also

• History of bisexuality
• History of lesbianism
• LGBT history
• List of the first LGBT holders of political offices
• List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender sportspeople
• List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
• List of transgender people
• List of LGBT rights activists
• Bisexual American history
• Gay men in American history
• Lesbian American history
• Transgender American history
• Timeline of LGBT history

Bibliography

• Gallo, Marcia M. Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement. California: Seal Press, 2007. ISBN 1580052525
• Ochs, Robyn and Rowley, Sarah. Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, second edition. Massachusetts: Bisexual Resource Center, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9653881-5-3
• Tobin, Kay and Wicker, Randy. The Gay Crusaders. New York: Paperback Library, 1972; Arno, 1975 ISBN 0-405-07374-7
• Stryker, Susan. Transgender History. California: Seal Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1580052245