List of LGBT firsts by year

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

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is the Prime Minister of Iceland and the first openly gay head of government in modern times.

This list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) firsts by year denotes pioneers in various endeavors organized chronologically. Openly LGBT people remain a demographic minority in most cultures. 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".

1897

• Scientific-Humanitarian Committee — first gay rights organization

1950s

1955

• Daughters of Bilitis — first lesbian rights organization.

1960s

1961

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

1967

• Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore — first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors.

1970s

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)

1975

• Elaine Noble — first openly gay or lesbian candidate elected to a state legislature in the United States (Massachusetts state legislature)

1978

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

• Harvey Milk — first openly gay person to be elected to political office in California
• San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corp — world's first openly-gay musical group

1980s

1980

• David McReynolds — first openly gay man to run for president of the United States

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.

1984

• Chris Smith — first openly gay MP in the United Kingdom.

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.

• Gary Miller — first openly gay man to be elected to an elementary school board

1988

• Svend Robinson — first Canadian Member of Parliament to come out

!989

• Glen Murray — first out gay man elected to a City Council in Canada having not previously held office. Fort Rouge Ward Winnipeg, Canada

1990s

1990

• Justin Fashanu — first professional Football (Soccer) player to identify himself publicly as gay.

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.

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

1997

• Ellen DeGeneres — first openly gay star of a prime-time television series in the United States. DeGeneres was star of the situation comedy Ellen. In 1997, she came out as a lesbian on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her TV series character Ellen Morgan also came out as gay in the fourth-season episode "The Puppy Episode".

1998

• 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 700,000 people capital of Manitoba.

1999

• Tammy Baldwin — first U.S. congressperson of either gender to be openly gay or lesbian when first elected to office
• 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)

2000s

2001

• 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.

2002

• Jim McGreevey — first openly gay governor in the United States (state of New Jersey); came out as part of resignation announcement, due to political scandal.

2003

• 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

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.

2005

• Bonnie Bleskachek — first openly lesbian fire chief of a major metropolitan area in the United States (Minneapolis), dismissed for sexual harassment.

2007

• Jenny Bailey — the first transgender mayor in the United Kingdom.
• Theresa Sparks — first transgender police commissioner.

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.

2009

• 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
• Stu Rasmussen — first openly transgender elected mayor in the United States (Silverton, Oregon)
• Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir — Prime Minister of Iceland, and the first openly gay head of government in modern times
• Carol Ann Duffy — first openly gay Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
• Alejandro Freyre and José María di Bello — first gay marriage in Latin America.
• Gareth Thomas — first openly gay professional rugby player still playing the game.

2010s

2010

• Annise Parker — first openly gay mayor of a major (population over 1 million) U.S. city (Houston)

See also

• Timeline of 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