This interactive exhibition offers an incomplete timeline of LGBTQ history, along with an invitation to add personal memories and recollections to the display.

Learn about our acquisition of the original 1978 rainbow flag.

Volunteers hoist one of the two original rainbow flags created for the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. A segment cut from this flag was donated to the GLBT Historical Society in April 2021. Photograph by James McNamara, courtesy of Mick Hicks.

Donate to help us preserve and share LGBTQ history.

Jiro Onuma (1904–1990, center) and friends in San Francisco, California, ca. 1935; photographer unknown, Jiro Onuma Papers (2000-27), GLBT Historical Society.

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A couple on a porch, ca. 1950; photographer unknown, Collection of Lesbian Photos (2008-01), GLBT Historical Society.

You can adopt one of 10 archival collections when you become a member!

Dive into our digital collections, including photos, videos, audio recordings and documents.

Third World Gay Caucus contingent, San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, 1977; photograph by Marie Ueda, Marie Ueda Collection (2006-12), GLBT Historical Society.

Curated by Roslyn Banish, this powerful exhibition features 16 evocative portraits and first-person testimonies from individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Taken from Banish’s groundbreaking project and book Focus on Living, these photographs shed light on the human experience of the epidemic, emphasizing resilience, community, and advocacy. The exhibition highlights the diverse voices of people from different backgrounds and explores themes of stigma, survival, and transformation, offering a compassionate look at lives impacted by HIV/AIDS.