Rochester LGBTQ+ Together maintains this timeline to preserve and honor our Rochester LGBTQ+ history, making it more available to, accessible for, and inclusive of all of our local community. We seek to preserve our history; raise awareness and educate; and celebrate our contributions, unique stories and shared experiences.
Note: Please know that this is a work in progress and will continue to be updated with both past and present-day information. If you find an error or major omission, please email information and source materials to roclgbtqtogether@gmail.com to request updates.
This timeline is dedicated to the late Evelyn Bailey, Rochester LGBTQ+ Historian, colleague and friend.
The 1940s
March 5, 1943
An article in the University of Rochester Campus Time describes the upcoming production of the play “That Does It” by Quilting Club, an all-male student theatre group known for satirical sketches and drag performances. It quotes a faculty member who describes the production as “a homosexual exhibition.” All male and female characters in the plays that the Quilting Club produces are played by men, which holds implications of homosexuality at that time. This tradition of drag and blurry boundaries of gender appears in theatrical settings long before open discussion of sexuality.
June 1946
Eastman School of Music expels student William Flanagan for being gay. His transcript with the Office of the Registrar confirms his enrollment for three years, from September 1943 until June 1946, and ends with a succinct comment indicating “recommended to discontinue” by the administrative committee. Former classmate and friend Charles Strouse (Class of 1947) mentions this in his speech as ESM Commencement Speaker on May 18, 2003. This is the first acknowledgement, on the record, of an Eastman School of Music student’s expulsion for being gay.
Late 1940s
A short-lived bar on Rochester’s South Avenue called The Oasis has a back room where men frequently dance with each other, an illegal act which is very rare in any public establishment at this time. There was always fear of a plainclothes police officer catching and arresting same-sex dance partners.
The 1950s
1950s
By the 1950s, Eastman Kodak Company has a number of gay male employees who, although not “out” by today’s standards, do not keep their sexual orientation secret. Two examples are partners Earl Kage and Hamilton “Bud” Driggs, who share a home on Lafayette Park and a country estate in the Bristol Hills. After attending University of Rochester and serving abroad in the U.S. Army as a WWII photographer, Kage heads Camera Research at Kodak, where he works for 44 years. He receives the Culture and Arts Civic Award from Rochester Chamber of Commerce (1987) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts and Cultural Council (1989) in recognition of his arts patronage. Driggs, a talented silversmith and professional photographer, works at Kodak for 30 years as head of Exhibits and Displays, following employment at University of Rochester’s Atomic Labs. He assists Kage in setting up a photographic studio in Rochester.
1951
J. Ernest Du Bois, a graduate of East High School and University of Rochester, becomes one of the first Black employees of Bausch & Lomb and then, most notably, the first Black Rochester City School District high school teacher in 1951. He later works in banking before returning to teaching at the School Without Walls. Dubois is a member of the Emmanuel Covenant Church and Asbury First United Methodist Church and active in local community groups, including FIGHT (Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today), the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), and the Urban League. He keeps his teaching career and gay identity separate, remaining in the closet at work.
November 15, 1955
A play review is published in the University of Rochester’s Campus Times student newspaper about a Rochester performance of Tea and Sympathy. The play, written by Robert Anderson, tackles issues of homophobia, bullying and rigid masculinity at an all-male private school, as a student is accused of being homosexual due to his lack of interest in sports and preference for more “sensitive” pursuits.
March 17, 1958
Pre-Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ scene in Rochester remains underground, with a persistent environment of fear and secrecy. An FBI report says, “the following places are gathering spots for homosexuals in Rochester”: Martin’s Tavern (12 Front St.), Nite Cap Tavern (393 Court St.), Dick’s Tavern (14 Front St.), Peg and Larry’s Tavern (19 Front St.), RDGA (Franklin Sq.).
The 1960s
1960s
Under Chief William Lombard, the Rochester Police Department has a special “morals squad.” Part of their job is to suppress homosexual behavior, including the raiding of bars and restaurants, patrolling of public parks, and arresting of LGBTQ+ people. Policewoman Joan V. Mathers who heads the Morals Squad also compiles a list at least 300 known homosexuals, who are tracked, include written records, photographs, and vehicle license plates. There are at least 119 arrests under the sodomy statue from 1958 to 1963. LGBTQ+ people live in constant fear of imprisonment and blackmail.
1961
Rochester Spa and Body Club opens at 109 Liberty Pole Way. It is an all-male health, social and fitness club located downtown Rochester, NY. In this time period, gay spas and bathhouses emerged as vital, often semi-clandestine, social and sexual spaces, providing a refuge from criminalization.
January 1962
NYS Liquor Authority charges three Rochester gay bars — Patsy’s Grill, Dick’s Tavern and Martin’s Restaurant — following a year-long investigation in which “the SLA sent its agents in inconspicuous dress into the bars as a result of public complaints,” and “after observing conditions.” The reports accuse the establishments of “permitting ‘open and notorious’ homosexual activity without action to curb or halt the practices.” Within months, SLA cancels liquor licenses for all three. Dr. G Harold Warnock, Monroe County Deputy Health Director, responsible for tracking venereal disease, is happy to see the gay bars shut down. He tells the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper that “there were other areas in the city ‘just about as bad’ as Front Street,” and brands homosexual activity as “a contributory cause of spreading infection.”
March 31, 1962
An FBI report with a listing of “homosexual and lesbian hangouts” in Rochester, NY includes Martin’s Grill (12 Front St.), Patsy’s Grill (279 Allen St.), Dick’s Tavern (63 State St.), Peg and Larry’s Tavern (47 Front St.), the Manager Hotel (26 Clinton Ave. S.), and several downtown men’s rooms, notably the Rochester Public Library (115 South Ave.), the Baptist Temple Building (14 Franklin St.), Waldorf Cafeteria (10 E. Main St.), Sibley’s Department Store (228 E. Main St.), Edward’s Department Store (144 E. Main St.), the Greyhound Bus Depot (320 Andrews St.), and the Blue Valley Bus Terminal (83 South St.). It also identifies River Boulevard along the railroad tracks, the Broad and Court Street Bridges, and Maplewood Park as additional cruising spots.
Mid-1960s
Front Street becomes the target of urban renewal. The Kenneth B. Keating Federal Building, First Federal Plaza, and the Genesee Crossroads Park are built over the sites of many of the city’s former bars catering to gay and lesbian patrons.
1964
Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle newspaper runs a four-part series by Pat Ziska called “The Outcasts,” examining the gay scene in the city. The Rochester Police Department’s Morals Squad kept a list of “known homosexuals” at the time, according to the article, which also called gay people predatory, perverts and deviants. It showcases the pervasive homophobia of the time and is an ugly campaign against the national movement to relax laws against homosexuals.
Fall 1967
The University of Rochester handbook includes a policy banning sexual aberration, which includes homosexuality, among other behaviors.
October 24, 1969
Graduate Student Paul Walker leads popular discussions in a University of Rochester course, featuring taboo topics of the time, such as gender roles, homosexuality, “transsexuality,” and more.
The 1970s
May 8, 1970
Larry Fine, one of the founders of the Gay Liberation Front, places a classified ad in the University of Rochester’s Campus Times. The ad, which reads, “TAKE HEART BROTHERS, Gay Lib is coming!”, foreshadows the soon-to-be-formed LGBTQ+ student organization.
October 3, 1970
The Gay Liberation Front, a precursor of The Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley (GAGV), hosts its first announced meeting on the University of Rochester campus with a simple announcement in a late September issue of the Campus Times: “UR Gay Liberation Front will hold an interest meeting… Open to all people who believe that realization of basic civil rights for all minority groups must come from organized effort.” Held in Todd Union, it includes guest speakers from Cornell University Student Homophile League, Ithaca’s chapter of the National Gay Liberation Front, and Buffalo’s chapter of the national Mattachine Society. The Campus Times reports attendance of “approximately 100” in its Dec. 13, 1970 issue.
Fall 1970
Bob Osborn, Larry Fine, and a small, committed core of students from the River Campus and the Eastman School successfully petition Student Activities for official recognition; establish an office in Todd Union; set up a small library of books and other resources related to gay issues; and create a speakers bureau, in which members offered themselves as educational ambassadors, speaking before classes and local organizations.
January 1971
With the help of a typewriter, a mimeograph machine, and a hand stapler, the University of Rochester Gay Liberation Front founds and begins publication of The Empty Closet, an LGBTQ+ periodical. The first issue is pamphlet-sized, and following issues are single sheets with news and information about meetings and other community concerns of the time. Jay Baker is the first editor. The GAGV takes control of the EC in 1973; it expands its coverage and becomes a biweekly four page newsletter. In December 1975, it expands to a thicker, eight page format. It eventually becomes a monthly full newspaper and then a glossy colorized magazine.
March 14, 1971
Gay liberation activists, including those from Rochester and Western NY, participate in the first statewide LGBTQ+ rights march on Albany.
May 14, 1971
In a Letter to the Editor entitled “Gay Freedom” and published in the University of Rochester’s Campus Times, Eastman School of Music students reveal the homophobic harassment, torment, and threats of blackmail, exposure to parents, and expulsion that gay students suffer under Flora Burton, dean of students. They claim to have been oppressed and unable to fight back against ignorance, superstition and fear, but must have freedom over their own bodies and be free to love.
May 16, 1971
The Rochester Gay Liberation Front organizes the first public Pride event in Rochester: a “gay-in” at Genesee Valley Park, which includes a picnic, volleyball game and women’s touch football game. About 300 people attend.
October 1971
The Rochester Gay Liberation Front celebrates its first anniversary by throwing a festival. Among the festivities is a workshop with Barbara Gittings and a talk by Jill Johnston. The celebration is not only for the members of GLF but for the whole University community to see a more visible and multifaceted community.
1972
The first annual Miss Gay Rochester drag pageant is held. It becomes the nation’s oldest-running regional drag beauty pageant, which continues through today.
1972
Since the majority of its members were non-students, the Gay Liberation Front leaves the University of Rochester campus. By the spring of 1973, GLF members voted to form two autonomous organizations: an all-student University of Rochester GLF, led by undergraduate officers, located on the River Campus, and retaining recognition and funding from Student Activities; and an organization for people in the greater Rochester community.
July 16, 1972
Organizers hold the first annual Gay Community Picnic in Genesee Valley Park, a tradition that continues for more than 50 years through the present day. The inaugural event serves as a fundraiser for the Gay Alliance. Today, the event is known as the ROC Pride Picnic.
1972 – 1973
Without the protection of tenure, high school social studies teacher Tim Mains invites five guest speakers from University of Rochester’s Gay Liberation Front to speak to his class. “It wasn’t even my idea,” Mains says, “my students requested it.” The actions makes him a visible and controversial figure. In the years that followed, he use this visibility and his own writing skills to challenge the media, confront political candidates, and garner national attention on behalf of the LGBTQ community. He also joined the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, and later became its president.
February 14, 1973
Green Thursdays begins broadcasting on WCMF-FM Rochester (96.5Mhz). Founder, producer, and host Bruce Jewell pitched the program under the FCC’s fairness doctrine to create airspace for discussion of gay issues. It was the first gay-focused radio program in Rochester and one of the first such programs in the nation. Green Thursdays alternated with Lesbian Nation, hosted by Patti Evans, which began broadcasting in 1973 or 1974. Robert “Bob” Crystal took over as host of Green Thursdays in 1974. Select broadcasts of Green Thursdays are archived in the UR Library RBSCP digital collection.
April 8, 1973
Due to a rift that develops between the gays and lesbians in the Rochester GLF, the women split off and found Gay Radical Organization for Women (GROW) and move into their first office in the Genesee Co-op building at 713 Monroe Ave. GROW later becomes the Lesbian Resource Center, an affiliate group under the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, and is active until the 1990s.
1973
Arnie Pegish and three other men open a bar together at 1065 E. Main St. at Goodman St. Originally calling it Fernand’s, they quickly rename it The Bachelor Forum within three months. Due to urban renewal, the bar relocates to its current location at 670 University Ave. in the Neighborhood of the Arts in 1989. Celebrating it’s 50th anniversary in 2023, it was Rochester’s oldest surviving gay-owned and gay-operated bar until it’s closure on January 1, 2026.
June/July 1973
With the help of some gay lawyers and others, the newly named men’s group Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (GAGV) officially incorporates and moves into its first office in an unheated warehouse at 812 Brown St. At the time, the idea is that the Alliance would become an umbrella organization for other LGBTQ+ groups.
November 1973
Closeted LGBTQ+ activist and political organizer Margaret “Midge” Costanza runs for an at-large seat on Rochester City Council and wins in a landslide, becoming the city’s first woman councilmember. The recipient of the largest number of votes traditionally was named mayor; however, the council chooses a man for the post, instead naming Costanza vice-mayor, a largely ceremonial position, in January 1974. She later becomes the first woman to serve as an assistant to the president during the Carter administration and sets up the first-ever White House meeting with gay activists.
April 1974
Rochester Police Chief Gordon Urlacher meets with the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. This proved to be the first step toward the establishment of a permanent police liaison for the LGBTQ+ community, which still exists to this day.
September 30, 1974
Transexuals and Transvestites Unite!, organized by Sandra Pierce, host their first meeting at 366 Grand Avenue Apt 3. The support and social group for transexual women and crossdressers is the first group of its kind in Rochester. (The term transgender did not yet exist at this time.)
1974
Midtown Tower was revolutionary when it debuted and became the in-spot. It housed Top of the Plaza restaurant, a hotel and offices and booked top acts like The Glenn Miller Band. In the mid 70s, a group of gays and lesbians, frustrated with second-class citizenship, stage a protest there: First, they pretend to be heterosexual couples, dining and dancing. Then, on cue, the seven couples switch and dance with same-sex partners.
Mid 1970s
Green Thursday, a pioneering LGBTQ+ radio program in Rochester, NY, premieres. It covers covered topics related to LGBTQ+ rights, community support, and interviews with activists. It is now featured in the University of Rochester’s “Shoulders to Stand On” archive, which documents local LGBTQ+ history through audio recordings and interviews.
Mid – Late 1970s
A gay task force coordinates efforts to repeal sodomy laws and circulates petitions to the NYS Legislature; contacts local psychiatrists to prevent returning gays to “sick” category; and investigates employment discrimination. (Note: Until the New York Supreme Court struck down state sodomy laws in People v. Onofre in 1980, two consenting, same-sex adults in NY could be imprisoned for having consensual sexual relations. It was not until 2003 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that all state sodomy laws were unconstitutional nationwide.).
Early 1975
Dignity-Integrity/Rochester, a local LGBTQ faith community focused on the struggle for justice in church and society, begins meeting at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (now the Church of St. Luke and St. Simon Cyrene, affectionately known as “Two Saints”) in Downtown Rochester. Dignity-Integrity is the first combined chapter of the national organizations of Dignity/USA (Roman Catholic) and Integrity, Inc. (Episcopal), two faith-based organizations that advocate for LGBTQ+ issues within their respective denominations. Dignity-Integrity serves many LGBTQ+ Rochesterians of faith during the 1980s and 1990s, including several notable activists, and remains active today.
1975
Gary Sweet founds The Avenue Pub, now Rochester’s second oldest gay bar, at 522 Monroe Ave. The bar is affectionately called the “gay Cheers” by both employees and patrons alike.
October 1976
Two professional therapists begin a transvestite and transsexual support group, organized by the Gay Brotherhood of Rochester, a subgroup of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). [Image: The University of Rochester]
1977
GAGV applies for government funding through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) to hire more staff. City Councilman Charlie Schiano challenges the application, worrying that funding would promote homosexuality, which causes the Rochester Community Chest to withdraw its offer to administer the grant. The Rochester Urban League steps in in their place, and the grant is reconsidered and approved. The City Council votes 8 to 1 in favor, with Schiano the only opposition. GAGV becomes the first Rochester LGBTQ+ organization to receive federal funding. The municipal and federal recognition is empowering and affirming.
Fall 1978
When she visits Rochester, the GAGV holds “The Rally for Rights” at Genesee Crossroads Park, a protest of anti-gay activist and singer Anita Bryant’s campaign of bigotry against gays. Speakers include feminist author Kate Millett and gay activist Leonard Matlovich, a gay man who had been discharged from the Army. Millett calls Rochester the “spiritual capital of the gay movement,” while Matlovich encourages attendees to “Say it out loud, Gay and Proud”! Approximately 1,000 people attend to support gay rights, some even coming from out of state. The event is notable for receiving local media coverage.
October 14, 1979
Local Rochester activists, including Tim Sally, travel to Washington, D.C. to attend the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The rally draws between 75,000 and 125,000 LGBTQ+ activists and allies to demand equal civil rights and urge the passage of civil rights legislation.
The 1980s
1981
Pauline Giraldo, Dr. Horace Lethbridge, and Tim Sally found Families & Friends of Gays/Rochester, the local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Other previous attempts to form a local chapter disband or fail. [Image: Rochester PFLAG]
October 19, 1981
After the Rochester GLF disbands in 1980, University of Rochester students work to form a new gay group called the Gay Academic Union to fill the absence. In November 1982, the Student Association Appropriations Committee votes to fund the new student organization. The Gay Academic Union later changes its name to the Gay and Lesbian Association on September 26, 1983 and then Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Friends Association (GLBFA) in April 1989. It undergoes one final name change to Pride Network on January 31, 2002 in order to be more inclusive of all LGBTQ+ identities. [Image: The University of Rochester]
November 7, 1982
Community members organize Rochester’s first annual Day of Remembrance to raise awareness about the persecution and murder of and remember the gay and lesbian victims of the Holocaust. The event is held at St. Luke’s Church.
November 1982
The RGMC is formed by five friends: David Knoll, Bob Olsowski, Kent Peterson, Ken Setera, and Nicholas Williams. It begins with 18 members and eventually becomes one of the oldest LGBTQ+ organizations in New York State. [Image: Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus]
February 23, 1983
The University of Rochester’s Gay Academic Union announces its new phone service called the Gay Connection. GAU members staff the hotline to assist anyone in need of information or support related to gay issues.
1983
The Presbytery of the Genesee Valley forms a task force called CREATE*: Justice for Lesbian & Gay Persons to promote social justice issues affecting lesbians and gay men.
1983
The non-profit organization AIDS Rochester Inc. forms with Jackie Nudd serving as its first president. Its mission is to provide advocacy, education and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families.
May 1, 1983
Rochester’s LGBTQ+ community hosts one of the city’s first AIDS fundraisers at Friar’s Inn when the federal government wouldn’t even say the word. Organized by Alan Davidson, Dr. Don Scalea, Sue Cowell, and Tim Sally, the event raises $2,100 in just four hours, with all donations supporting the AIDS clinic at Strong Memorial. [Poster: Ramon Santiago]
May 7, 1983
The Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus (RGMC) holds their first concert – simply called “Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus in Concert” – at Calvary Street St. Andrews Church.
September 1983
Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce President Thomas T. Mooney refuses to rent the Chamber’s banquet facilities to the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley because he believes the community “does not condone the philosophy or morality that the Alliance espouses.” His denouncement of the GAGV and homosexuality triggers the campaign for a Rochester anti-discrimination civil rights ordinance.
Fall 1983
Rochester Historical Bowling Society forms as a safe space for gays and lesbians to congregate, meet others, and have a fun, social outlet. Today, it continues to welcome new LGBTQ+ members of all ages, genders, orientations, and skill levels. The league begins at Marcel’s Olympic Bowl on Scottsville Rd., eventually moving to Panorama Lanes, Clover Lanes on Monroe Ave., Empire Lanes in Webster, and then to Radio Social today.
December 1983
Service providers and stakeholders establish the Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS (RATFA) after the first cases of AIDS are diagnosed in Monroe County. The goals of the advisory board is education of high-risk groups, health professionals, and the general public.
December 27, 1983
Rochester City Council approves an anti-discrimination ordinance banning discrimination in city hiring and the provision of city services to the public on the basis of “sex, age, race, creed, and sexual orientation.” It is the first anti-discrimination measure adopted in the City and makes Rochester one of the few cities to offer such protections at this time.
1984
Following the precedent set by the City of Rochester, Kodak adds “sexual orientation” to its Equal Employment Opportunity policy. Xerox follows suit in 1990. Such protections for LGBTQ+ people were in contrast with the popular unfit-for-employment narrative of the time and helped facilitate LGBTQ+ workplace activism in Rochester. [Image: Eastman Kodak Co.]
1985
Dr. Horace Lethbridge, a therapist, starts Transvestites Anonymous (TVA) support group, which functions out of the Wellesley Counseling Center at 31 Wellesley St. in Rochester. In September 1989, the group reforms and rebrands as the Crossdressers (CD) Network.
November 5, 1985
Tim O. Mains is elected to Rochester City Council by just 11 votes, becoming the city’s first openly gay councilmember and the first openly gay person elected to public office in New York State. He serves in the office for 20 years until 2005 when he unsuccessfully runs for mayor.
May 25, 1987
Two gay rights activists, Andrew Allocco and Matthew Fleig lead a ‘kiss-in’ at Durand Eastman Park on the shores of Lake Ontario. It is a protest of their treatment by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies, who kicked them off the beach for embracing and kissing a year earlier on Memorial Day 1986. Alloco, Fleig and their supporters say that their high-profile activism puts strain on their relationships with their families; Alloco’s family even faces harassment in the community.
February 22, 1988
Dr. Frank Lilly, a member of the Presidential Commission on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, gave a talk to the University of Rochester community. Lilly was the only openly gay member of the commission.
April 16, 1988
ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) stages a major demonstration during the Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate at Eastman Theater. The presence of protestors caused the candidates – Senator Al Gore (D-TN), Reverend Jesse Jackson and Governor Michael Dukakis (D-MA) to deal with the issue of AIDS in questioning during the televised debate. Speaking to the stigma and misinformation, Gore says, “I think the kind of fear we have of AIDS right now is irrational.” Jackson explains that AIDS is not a gay disease and says we must invest to find a cure. Dukakis speaks about the continued unfair discrimination against and irrational fear of those living with HIV/AIDS.
1988
The Rochester Victory Alliance – a committed group of experienced, local pioneers passionate about developing an HIV vaccine – opens their doors. They are one of the first five such research clinics focused on HIV vaccine research in the world. RVA works closely with the community to inform and educate on HIV prevention. and participates in many events throughout the year to engage folks interested in our work.
April 8-15, 1989
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Friends Association sponsors the University of Rochester’s first Gay Pride Week, an annual tradition which would continue for decades to come. On April 13, 1995, the GLBFA wrote an article revealing campus intolerance. Many posters for gay pride week were defaced or torn down and alleged anti-gay graffiti was drawn in the tunnels. [Image: The University of Rochester]
May 20, 1989
The Names Project Quilt brings AIDS Quilt panels to Rochester, which are displayed in the gymnasium at Monroe Community College. The small portion of the Quilt fills most of the floor, with walkways around each group of panels, as well as covering the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Large crowds come to view the moving record of lives lost to AIDS; many wept openly. The AIDS Quilt was created to “show the impact of the AIDS epidemic in human terms.”
June 28, 1989
The first Rochester Pride Parade – co-sponsored by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (GAGV) – takes place on the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in NYC. It begins at 8:15pm and proceeds from Genesee Crossroads Park, up Main St. to the Liberty Pole, culminating in a rally, which ends about 10:30pm. Out gay City Councilmember Tim Mains gives a speech on the history of Stonewall. 300-400 participants march, carrying violet and red balloons and banners bearing slogans such as “Come Out and Be Free” and chanting rhymes promoting gay rights. By 1991, the Parade is 1,000+ strong and moves to Park Avenue. In 2024, it moves to South Avenue.
1989
Community Health Network is established as a community-based clinic to care for people living with HIV/AIDS. In 1990, Community Health Network becomes a Ryan White Grantee, ensuring that finances are never a barrier to receiving care. In 2005, Community Health Network re-brands as AIDS Community Health Center.
The 1990s
1990
The Greater Rochester AIDS Interfaith Network (GRAIN) incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to support and improve coordination of local faith-based ministries responding to the AIDS epidemic. Although many religious denominations in the U.S. remained hostile to AIDS victims and LGBTQ+ rights, the local churches and synagogues affiliated with GRAIN played a vital role in supporting AIDS victims and helping to create the AIDS Remembrance Garden. GRAIN formally merged with the AIDS Remembrance Garden in 1997.
June 1990
The GAGV hosts an open house for their new community center on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Elton St. A fundraising campaign had begun in November 1989, allowing for the purchase of the building.
February 1991
William “Bill” Callahan writes an article in Empty Closet proposing the creation of a living memorial to celebrate the lives of local people who died of AIDS. He has the idea for the park after finding a memorial plaque on a lilac bush in Highland Park, which he visits while grieving his partner who died of AIDS. Callahan joins Jane Howe and Marian Sunderland, whose sons also died of AIDS, to organize the memorial in partnership with GRAIN. They establish the AIDS Remembrance Garden at Highland Park, a place to honor loved ones who died from AIDS and anyone fighting the disease. In 2024, a new state grant will help restore the garden and complete the project’s original vision, with benches, more foliage, and the names of those who have died.
August 30 – September 1, 1991
Leigh Andrews and Marsha Leonard of Pyramid Arts Center (now Rochester Contemporary Art Center) organize the Pink Flamingos & Purple Hearts: 1991 Gay & Lesbian Convention at Holiday Inn Downtown. The event features live entertainment, dances, a banquet, speakers and panels, over 40 workshops, and a gay film festival (a precursor to The Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival, organized by Larry Champoux). The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley sponsors the event. [Image: The Empty Closet]
October 1991
A group of gay and gay-friendly naturalists form a private social group called Hosting Upstate Nude Guys (HUNG). In 1996, the club changes its name to Rochester Male Naturists (ROMANS).
1991
Rochester’s Downtown United Presbyterian Church appoints Rev. Jane Spahr to be its co-pastor, making her the first openly lesbian Presbyterian minister in the United States. The congregation knows of Spahr’s sexual orientation but is more interested in her compassion, pastoral experience and powerful Sunday sermons. When the national Presbyterian Church revokes Spahr’s installation as a pastor in 1992 due to its exclusion of openly homosexual ministers from office, DUPC hires her as an evangelist to spread the good news about sexual diversity with the aim of changing the denomination’s policy. She becomes one of the most articulate and passionate spokespersons in the country on behalf of the spiritual, religious and civil justice for the LGBTQ+ community.
1992
The Monroe County Legislature quietly approves the plans for the creation of the AIDS Remembrance Garden in Highland Park. In September, the guiding committee approves a final plan for the landscaping.
1992
Employees at two of the largest employers in the City of Rochester form LGBTQ+ employee groups: Gay and Lesbians at Xerox (GALAXe) and the Lambda Network at Kodak (LNAK). In 1993, they co-host their first annual Holiday Gayla, a celebration for the Rochester Gay & Lesbian Business Community.
1993
GRAIN begins recording the names of local individuals who died of AIDS in the Book of Life. The duty of caring for the Book of Life passes on to the chair of the AIDS Remembrance Garden and later the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. The Book of Life is currently housed in the Local History and Genealogy Division of the Rochester Public Library as part of the AIDS Remembrance Garden Records collection. The AIDS epidemic claims more than 400 lives in greater Rochester.
1993
Established under fiscal sponsor Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley and with support from Rochester Lesbian and Gay Political Caucus, Larry Champoux founds and organizes The Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival – which eventually becomes present-day ImageOut. It’s first film festival is a well-attended event and features 100 films and videos across 18 programs. Deb Price, a national columnist who wrote about lesbian and gay issues, attends the opening reception. [Image: ImageOut]
May 13, 1993
Over 200 people of all ages and races attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the AIDS Remembrance Garden in Highland Park. Bishop Matthew Clark of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester read the names in the Book of Life as part of the ceremony. The first three trees planted in the 1.5 acre garden represent hope, healing, and remembrance. The AIDS Remembrance Garden guiding committee continues fundraising and landscaping for the garden until 2004.
October 9, 1993
Sponsored by Lambda Network at Kodak, nationally syndicated lesbian newspaper columnist Deb Price gives a speech, “There’s a Price to Be Heard!” at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church, a fundraising event for LNAK.
April 12, 1994
Rochester City Council adopts Ord. No. 94-89, establishing a domestic partnership registry and legalizing domestic partnerships within the city limits. Domestic partnership benefits were also extended to city employees. The Domestic Partnership Registration Law is not enacted in New York State until 1998, four years later.
October 1994
The Riverview: A Lesbian Place, a locally-produced documentary short film about Rochester’s lesbian bar The Riverview (affectionately known as “The Riv”), premieres at the second annual Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Participants point to The Riverview as a multipurpose sanctuary. Many women regard the bar as a place to relax and socialize with other women; others see it as a daily or weekly respite from the straight world – a home away from, or in lieu of, straight home life. As a bar that emerged in the early 1970s, during the post-Stonewall era of second wave feminism and gay liberation, the Riv is also remembered as a location of political organization. It screens again in 2019 at the Out Alliance Community Center as part of Shoulders To Stand On and ImageOut’s LGBTQIA+ Archival Film Series.
1994
The Flower City Pride Band forms. Marching with Pride, they are an all-volunteer community band open to adult LGBTQ+ and allied musicians. FCPB performs popular music from the 1950’s through today’s hits to bring fun and enjoyment to all ages at community events throughout the greater Rochester area. [Image: Flower City Pride Band]
1995
Xerox extends partial benefits to the domestic partners of its employees. In 1997, Kodak follows suit, extending full benefits to the domestic partners of its employees. [Image: Xerox]
1995
The Rochester Transgender Organization (RTO) forms in Rochester, NY. In December 2001, FTM Group forms as a sub-group of the original organization. In 2005, Rochester Transgender Organization changes their name to Rochester Trans Group and, in 2013, to the Trans Alliance of Greater Rochester.
July 1996
Rochester’s Pride celebration expands with the addition of a same-day Pride Festival that immediately follows the Pride Parade. Over the years, the Pride Festival is held in several locations, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square and the Auditorium Theatre parking lot. In 2016, it becomes the first festival that the City of Rochester ever approves to be held at Cobb’s Hill Park, a greener, more accessible and larger venue. In 2024, Rochester Pride Festival moves again to Beikirch Park (Highland Park). [Photo: The Empty Closet]
1996
The Men of Color Health Awareness Project (The MOCHA Center) opens. Their mission is to improve the health and wellness of LGBTQ+ communities of color and work to educate Black and Latino men about living a sex-positive life. Over the years, their mission and the people they work with has grown. In 2016, they merged with Trillium Health and turn into a community health center that offers both community and health in equal amounts, providing a safe place to network, socialize, and address any health issues folks face. [Image: The MOCHA Center Rochester]
February 27, 1997
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Friends Association sponsors the University of Rochester’s first annual Drag Show. One of the performers is Aurora Borealis, a U of R Take-Five Scholar.
March 1, 1997
Bishop Matthew Clark works with local Catholic parents of LGBTQ+ youth to establish Rochester’s Diocesan Catholic Lesbian and Gay Family Ministry, with programs to educate Catholic leaders and pastoral ministers in the diocese on LGBTQ+ issues. In 1997, the diocese organizes a mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral to welcome lesbian and gay people, their families and supporters. 200 people are expected at the 1,100 seat cathedral. Over 1,300 show up, filling standing room space and spilling out into the street. Traditionalist Catholics protest the event. In 2016, Trillium Health presents Bishop Clark with their Community Partner Award for his important allyship and groundbreaking work for people living with AIDS and the LGBTQ+ community
1998
Out & Equal chooses Rochester to host the sixth Out & Equal nation conference on LGBTQ+ workplace issues, affirming Rochester, Xerox and Kodak as national role models of LGBTQ+ workplace equality.
September 1998
The internet age arrives! The GAGV joins the world wide web and launches its first website, which includes agency contact information and a community calendar.
September 12, 1998
The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley hosts the first “GAGV Day at Seabreeze,” a fun outing to the local amusement park for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The event continues annually to the present-day with names changes to “Gay Day at Seabreeze,” “Q Day at Seabreeze,” and “Pop-Up Pride Day at Seabreeze.”
October 1998
The University of Rochester gathers in mourning for Matthew Sheppard, a gay college student who was brutally beaten and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming. The vigil is well attended and led by Vice President and University Dean of Students Paul Burgett.
The 2000s
2001
Kodak protects its employees against gender identity discrimination by adding “gender identity” to its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy. [Image: Eastman Kodak Co.]
December 1, 2000
PeaceArt International Inc. presents “Living, Learning, Loving: A World AIDS Day Concert,” at Rochester
School of the Arts. Performances are given by the RIT/NTID Deaf Dance Company and its director,
Thomas Warfield; Shirley Allen, associate professor in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s
Department of Cultural and Creative Studies; and Jerald Creer, a fourth-year NTID/RIT social work student.
Proceeds will benefit orphans with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The event continues annually for more than a decade.
June 2001
Rochester becomes the first city in New York State to pass local laws that protect transgender residents from discrimination. Rochester City Council passes a new human rights and non-discrimination ordinance, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and financing, based upon several factors, including gender identity and expression as protected classes. This sets the direction for strong LGBTQ+ rights in the Rochester community.
November 2001
Rochester elects Bill Pritchard as the second openly gay member of Rochester City Council. He previously served as GAGV Board President (1994-1995), head of the local gay political caucus, and legislative aide to the first openly gay Rochester City Councilmember Tim Mains. He and his partner are also the first to register for domestic partnership in the City of Rochester.
2003
Shoulders To Stand On begins to document, preserve, and share Rochester’s LGBTQ+ history as a project of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. Evelyn Bailey, a lesbian activist and self-taught historian, would lead the project until her death in 2022. Under her guidance, volunteers and contractors collected and inventoried numerous historic materials and archival collections that were donated to permanent repositories such as the University of Rochester, the Rochester Medical Museum, and the Rochester Public Library. Projects undertaken by Shoulders To Stand On include collecting oral histories from local LGBTQ+ activists, digitizing back issues of The Empty Closet, and producing a 90-minute documentary on Rochester’s LGBTQ+ history. [Image: Shoulders To Stand On]
2003
The Lambda Network at Kodak (LNAK) partners with Out & Equal staff to deliver its first training program on creating a safe work environment for transgender employees. The same year, Kodak Global Diversity releases their “Guidelines for Employees Who Are Transitioning” with support from the LNAK HR-Partnership Team. [Image: Lambda Network at Kodak]
April 2004
The GAGV administrative office, Youth Center and Empty Closet office move to the Auditorium Center building. The Gay Alliance Youth program greatly expands during this time with the addition of a large meeting space dedicated to youth meetings.
April 29, 2004
Long-time LGBTQ rights advocates Anne Tischer and Bess Watts are the first same-sex couple to be refused a marriage license in Rochester. As front page news and a public act of civil disobedience, they symbolically marry anyway in Washington Square Park and their pastor Reverend Jim Mulcahy of Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church officiates. Years of grassroots organizing follow, culminating in their founding of Equality Rochester and local chapters of Marriage Equality New York and Pride at Work AFL-CIO.
January 12, 2005
The NYCLU files a lawsuit on behalf of Patricia Martinez, a Monroe Community College employee in Rochester, New York, who was denied health insurance benefits for her spouse, Lisa Ann Golden. The couple, who married in Canada in 2004, argues that the denial violated their rights. In 2008, an appeals court rules in Martinez v. County of Monroe that New York must recognize valid, out-of-state same-sex marriages for benefits purposes, a landmark decision. [Image: NYCLU]
2006
Harry B. Bronson and his husband John White-Bronson open The Pride Connection, an LGBTQ+ coffeehouse and café at 746 South Ave. in Rochester’s South Wedge neighborhood. It eventually becomes known as Equal=Grounds Coffee House. In December 2023, Monique Chatman purchases the business and renames it Equal Grounds Community Café as a nod to the business’ status as a safe haven for multiple communities. [Image: The Empty Closet]
June 3, 2006
The Gay Alliance Youth Program hosts the Big Gay Prom at the GAGV Youth Center (875 E. Main St., first floor). The event is meant to celebrate and provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth until school proms are truly welcoming and inclusive. The Big Gay Prom, eventually renamed the Big Queer Prom, becomes an annual tradition, as an alternative to fill the space left for kids who don’t feel comfortable taking themselves or their date to their actual high school prom.
July 1, 2006
Kodak updates its worldwide employee benefits to include coverage for procedures, services, and supplies for gender affirming care. [Image: Eastman Kodak Co.]
July 13, 2008
Rainbow Pride flags are displayed inside and outside of Rochester City Hall to commemorate Rochester Pride Week for the very first time.
2009
Equality Rochester (EROC), a grassroots organization to advocate for full LGBT equality, forms in Rochester, NY. EROC aligns with Marriage Equality New York in pursuing civil marriage access for same-sex couples at the state level, believing the right to marry is the “brass ring” insuring the bulk of civil rights equity. EROC also collaborates with and supports other local, state and national LGBT organizations operating on behalf of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
The 2010s
January 1, 2010
In 2010, AIDS Rochester and Community Health Network merge, becoming AIDS Care. In 2013, AIDS Care re-brands as Trillium Health – broadening its services to include primary care, while retaining its legacy as an infectious disease specialty clinic and healthcare provider serving LGBTQ+ communities.
February 1, 2010
Pandora Boxx becomes the first Rochester-area drag queen to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race, placing 5th during the show’s second season. Two more Rochester drag performers later appear on the program: Darienne Lake (4th Place, Season 6) and Mrs. Kasha Davis (11th Place, Season 7). Boxx was inspired to do drag after watching Lake perform in Rochester and made their own drag debut there at the gay bar Infinity.
Early 2010
Four local LGBTQ+ couples – Pat & Lisa, Omar & Peter, Rosemary & Sandra and Dave & Roger – compete in The Nearly Wed Game, Equality Rochester’s updated version of the classic TV game show, which highlights an evening devoted to expanding community awareness of the status of marriage equality for same-sex couples.
April 15, 2010
Unable to file jointly, same-sex couples face discrimination on Tax Day. LGBTQ+ couples pay far more in taxes but are denied significant benefits like Social Security survivors benefits, Medicaid chronic care spousal protections and spousal exemption from inheritance tax. Equality Rochester members host an “Unfair Gay Tax Day” protest outside of the Federal Building in Rochester and then a fun-filled “Unhappy Hour” at 140 Alex Bar & Grill afterward.
May 22, 2010
Equality Rochester organizes the first “Linked by Love” LGBTQ+ visibility Mall Walk to advocate for support of marriage equality. Over 30 participants – same-sex couples, family members, friends and supporters – don messaged t-shirts and stroll through The Marketplace Mall in Henrietta, NY to call attention to the fact that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and couples are linked by love to each other, to family, friends and the community at large.
August 2010
Peter Vaillancourt begins the Trans Action Group (TAG), a grassroots organizing group to further the political agenda of transgender people in Rochester. The group works with the New Students for a Democratic Society to promote a number of issues, but dissolves after a year.
September 11, 2010
Organizers launch the Ride for Pride, a fundraiser for The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. The first annual cycling event has 18 riders, who together raise about $4,000, and continues to grow subsequent years. In 2017, the event’s most successful year, it has 75 riders and raises $63,000. The goal of the event is to raise funds and awareness for the Gay Alliance and to have a fun, successful outing with friends.
September 26, 2010
For the first time, Rochester joins the annual statewide marches coordinated by Marriage Equality New York (MENY) to highlight the need for equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples. Over 300 participants carry a rainbow of umbrellas as they cross the International Bridge over the Genesee River. The march is followed by a community festival of games, desserts and live music at Crossroads Park.
November 2, 2010
Harry B. Bronson is elected to the New York State Assembly. He is the first openly gay assemblymember to represent Monroe County and is the first openly gay member of the New York State legislature from upstate New York.
2010
Shoulders To Stand On completes one of its initiatives: the project of digitizing back issues of The Empty Closet, the greater Rochester community’s LGBTQ+ periodical since the 1970s. All issues are now available to the public online within University of Rochester River Campus Libraries Digital Collections. [Image: The Empty Closet]
February 8, 2011
Marriage Equality Day in Albany draws over 350 advocates from across the state, including 2 busloads from Rochester and Buffalo. The day highlights among the need among attendees for grassroots efforts on the ground back home, prior to an anticipated marriage equality vote in the spring.
June 25, 2011
Marriage equality passes through the New York State legislature and is signed into law by the Governor Andrew Cuomo on June 24, 2011. The following day, Rochester marriage equality activists, advocates and supporters celebrate together in Washington Square Park.
July 16, 2011
The annual ROC Pride Parade celebrates the recent passage and signing into law of the Marriage Equality Act in New York State the prior month. The marriage contingent leads the Pride Parade in a place of honor with representatives from a dozen organizations who actively contributed to the successful passage of the Marriage Equality Act. Local marriage equality activists Anne Tischer and Bess Watts serve as Grand Marshals. They’re all joined by Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy, a former mayor of the City of Rochester. [Photo: Braden C. Reese]
July 24, 2011
NY Marriage Equality takes effect. Locally, 39 same-sex couples receive marriage licenses at Rochester City Hall and Brighton Town Hall. Some start lining up as early as 6:00am, waiting for doors to open at 1:00pm. Judges volunteer their services so couples can waive the 24 hour waiting period and marry immediately, which 10 pairs choose to do. Equality Rochester and Pride at Work AFL-CIO organize the day’s festivities, including flowers, bubbles, cake, professional photography, wedding favors, and music. Cheering supporters join the celebration. [Photo: Kracke Photography]
September 6, 2011
Maur DeLaney founds Genesee Valley Gender Variants (aka GVGV or GV²), a social meet-up group for gender expansive people centered on the Genesee Valley area of upstate New York and their allies. They welcome all gender identities, all gender presentations, and all sexes and begin weekly meetings held at Equal Grounds Coffee House.
July 11, 2012
Shauna Marie O’Toole organizes a new Trans event during ROC Pride: The Good, The Bad and the Funny, an open mic night for the Trans, non-binary and gender expansive community to tell their stories in a safe environment, held at Equal Grounds Coffee House.
2012
ImageOut publishes the first volume of ImageOutWrite, an LGBTQ+ and allied literary journal. This special collection of poetry and prose by 23 contemporary writers celebrates ImageOut’s 20th Anniversary. Pieces vary from concepts as diverse as a little boy pope, whose papal throne is constructed of mayapple blossoms, to a little girl angel, whose hair exposes a town’s ugly secret. This collection provides glimpses into the shared experiences and creative musings of the wordsmiths among us. [Image: ImageOut]
December 16, 2012
ImageOut brings legendary queer filmmaker John Waters to Rochester with his “A John Waters Christmas” show, in celebration of the film festival’s 20th anniversary. The actor and director also receives the ImageOut ImageMaker Award on stage at the Hochstein Performance Hall.
June 26, 2013
Marriage Equality USA hosts a Rally for National Equality in Washington Square Park to celebrate two Supreme Court rulings related to marriage equality. Speakers include Rochester Mayor Tom Richards, NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, NYS Assemblymember Harry Bronson, Brighton Town Supervisor Bill Moehle, Rochester City Councilmember Matt Haag, MOCHA Executive Director Bruce E. Smail, Courtney Michie of Empire State Pride Agenda, local activists Pam Barres and Todd Plank, and GAGV Executive Director Scott Fearing. More than 250 attend. [Photo: Ove Overmyer]
July 19, 2013
A very large, 6-strip rainbow Pride flag flies over Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square in downtown Rochester for the very first time. The flag would fly here again in 2014, 2014, and 2021-2024. It would also hang off of a fire truck in front of Rochester City Hall during the ROC Pride Week opening ceremony in 2018 and 2019. [Photo: Braden C. Reese]
October 2013
Shoulders To Stand On has its world premiere at the ImageOut: The Rochester LGBTQ+ Film Festival. It later airs on WXXI Public Television in June 2014. The documentary film celebrates the brave LGBTQ+ folks who had the courage to step out of the closet, allowing their voices to be heard, in the tradition of a city whose history is firmly grounded in freedom and equality for all. [Photo: ImageOut]
Early 2014
Susanna Speed and Sady Fischer co-found Ambush Rochester, a monthly bar-hopping event for LGBTQ+ women, their friends and allies. The idea originates with Ambush Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. The event is largely organized out of necessity due to the lack of bars and other spaces for LGBTQ+ women in Rochester, NY at this time. [Image: Ambush Rochester]
January 2014
Rochester activist Jason Robert Ballard creates FTM Magazine, one of the first publications to address and give visibility to transmasculine people. The next year, an image of model Aydian Dowling, posing like rocker Adam Levine, becomes a viral sensation. In 2017, the magazine reopens as an online media platform. [Image: FTM Magazine]
May 17, 2014
Mayor Lovely Warren announces at the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Spring Dinner that the City of Rochester will add transgender health care benefits for employees and their families enrolled in the city medical plan. Under the new coverage, effective January 1, 2015, city employees are eligible to receive gender affirming care services, such as medical and psychological counseling, hormone therapy and cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries. The initiative, approved by the city’s Labor Management Healthcare Committee in April, is part of a plan spearheaded by City Councilmember Matt Haag to raise the city’s Municipal Equality Index, which measures cities’ LGBT policies and inclusiveness.
May 22, 2014
Entercom fires Kimberly & Beck, hosts of The Breakfast Buzz on the local WBZA-FM 98.9 radio station. After the City of Rochester announces that employees could access gender-affirming care through insurance, they verbally attack the Transgender community and out a local Trans child. Sponsors withdraw and an international petition against them gains support. They are fired again in 2020 by iHeartMedia for making racist and anti-Black comments on the air on 95.1 FM. [Image: Entercom]
July 19, 2014
The first ever official transgender float participates in the Roc Pride Parade. It’s a joint effort by several regional trans organizations, including: The Q Center from Syracuse, NY, Genesee Valley Gender Variants from Rochester, NY), Trans Alliance of Greater Rochester (TAGR), and the Transgender Alliance of Central New York.
June 26, 2015
All over the country, LGBTQ+ Americans celebrate the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. In Rochester, around 200 people gather in front of the Bachelor Forum. The Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus sings “America the Beautiful” and “Going to the Chapel,” while the crowd joins in. Then, everyone recites the pledge of allegiance. Speakers include marriage equality activists Todd Plank and Anne Tischer, KaeLyn Rich (NYCLU), NYS Assemblymember Harry Bronson, Bruce Smail (The MOCHA Project), Emily Henninger (TAGR), and attorney Jennifer Gravitz. At City Hall, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren raises the rainbow Pride flag.
December 2015
The Gay Alliance moves to 100 College Ave. and opens a new 6,000 square foot LGBTQ Resource Center, which houses offices, meeting spaces, the Library & Archives, the David Bohnett Computer Center, and the art gallery Gallery Q. The new site gives the agency a “street-level presence” to increase accessibility and visibility. The new center was announced in June 2015 on the 46th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The space closes in May 2020 at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
January 4, 2016
Rainbow ROC radio program, originally hosted by Brian Hurlburt, premieres on WAYO 104.3 FM. The show focuses on LGBTQ+ and allied music as well as talk of and interviews about current events and local LGBTQ+ community issues.
June 17, 2016
In solidarity with the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL (June 12, 2016) and with the entire LGBTQ+ community, the Dryden Theatre announces a “Summer of Solidarity” film series that includes seven landmark films from the George Eastman Museum archives dealing with LGBTQ+ themes. The series is organized by George Eastman Museum in partnership with Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, ImageOut, and The MOCHA Center/Trillium Health. The series is sponsored by Trillium Health, and admission to all screenings is free.
August 18-21, 2016
A small group of organizers – including Adrian Elim and Tamara Leigh – plans, fundraises, and hosts the first official Rochester Black Pride festival in Rochester. Elim had hosted a series of black-centered parties and a cookout at the beach during Rochester Pride weekend the previous year. [Images: Rochester Black Pride]
February 2017
The first edition of the Trans at Rochester “Handbook for Transgender People Navigating Social, Administrative, and Medical Gender Transition at the University of Rochester” is published. [Image: The University of Rochester]
July 16, 2017
Memorial Art Gallery hosts it’s first public Pride Family Fun Day, in collaboration with the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley. The event, which is free and open to all, includes arts and crafts, songs of unity from Thomas Warfield, and an outdoor performance by Aerial Arts of Rochester. It becomes an annual public favorite, eventually called Pride Celebration Day, and held in partnership with Rochester LGBTQ+ Together. [Photo: Memorial Art Gallery]
October 11, 2017
The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley hosts a “Coming OUT Block Party” inside their Resource Center and out on College Avenue on National Coming Out Day to unveil their new, more inclusive organization name: Out Alliance.
December 30, 2017
Blackfriars Theatre launches Drag Story Hour with Mrs. Kasha Davis, presented in partnership with The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. The free program features inclusive children’s stories read by the drag queen – with books focusing on themes of acceptance, love, identity and diversity- as well as a dance party and craft activity. It teaches love and acceptance, gives strength to kids who see themselves differently, and serves as a resource for parents who need support or want to learn more. The event eventually becomes Imagination Station with Mrs. Kasha Davis.
January 2018
Rowan Collins becomes the first openly Trans editor of The Empty Closet magazine, produced by Out Alliance. His first issue is February 2018. He also serves as Education & Communications Coordinator for the organization.
March 24, 2018
Shoulders To Stand On hosts the first Anthony Mascioli Rainbow Dialogues, a annual program to demonstrate how LGBTQ+ history and archival documents are relevant today and contextualize LGBTQ+ life in Rochester against the backdrop of local and national social justice issues. It grows out of a partnership between Out Alliance and Rochester Public Library to preserve LGBTQ+ history. LGBTQ+ archival collections are transferred to Central Library’s Local History & Genealogy Division to ensure long-term preservation and public access. These collections – one of the largest LGBTQ+ archives in New York State – provide the intellectual foundation for the Rainbow Dialogues. [Image: Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County]
July 2018
After years of denied requests and mounting public pressure, Monroe County finally displays the LGBTQ+ Pride flag outside of Monroe County Office Building for the very first time. For some statewide perspective: the Pride flag isn’t flown over the New York State Capitol until June 2022 by proclamation of Governor Kathy Hochul.
July 19, 2018
Shoulders To Stand On hosts the first LGBTQ Historic Walking Tour: “Resistance in the 70’s: Have We Come Full Circle?”, in partnership with The City of Rochester, Human Rights Campaign, The Landmark Society of Western NY, The New York State LGBT Health & Human Services Network, and Out Alliance. On this walking tour, attendees discover the story of the LGBTQ Resistance movement that took place in the 100 – Acre Tract, Rochester’s oldest “neighborhood.”
July 24, 2018
The Rochester City Council unanimously approves legislation to ban conversion therapy in the city. Mayor Lovely Warren and Councilmember Mitch Gruber jointly proposed the local action. Carol Ebersole-Weiss (Human Rights Campaign Western & Central NY), Assemblymember Harry Bronson (NY-138), Elaine Spaull (The Center for Youth), and Jeff Myers (Out Alliance) are also present.
August 12, 2018
Reece Diamond and Diamond Strength Entertainment organize the first Mr. & Miss Diamond Strength Pageant. Tanisha Iman, Miss International Plus 2017, hosts the event. Nigel Lestat and Alicia Michael are respectively crowned Mr. & Miss Diamond Strength.
September 8, 2018
The Out Alliance hosts a multi-faceted grand opening of their new, larger attached Community Center space at 100 College Avenue. The event includes a “Furry and Fabulous” Pet Pride Fashion Show, drag performances, Piano Bar with Bob Dietch, a Library book sale and giveaway, raffle baskets, a dance party and more!
October 22, 2018
The kick-off event to pass the Gender Expression Non-discrimination Act (GENDA) in New York State begins in Rochester City Hall. Speakers include Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, NYS Assemblymember Harry Bronson, Rochester Councilmember Mitch Gruber, Out Alliance Executive Director Jeff Myers and Education & Communications Coordinator Rowan Collins and Trillium Health’s Dr. William Valenti. The bill – which adds gender identity and gender expression to the state’s human rights and hate crimes laws as protected classes; bans discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on gender identity and gender expression; and provides enhanced penalties for bias-motivated crimes – is first introduced in 2003, but does not pass and become law until January 2019.
November 2018
Tamara Leigh becomes the first Black editor of The Empty Closet magazine, produced by Out Alliance. Her first issue is December 2018/January 2019. She also serves as Director of Operations and Public Relations for the organization from 2018-2020.
November 16, 2018
Flower City Queens hosts a release party at Bachelor Forum for the first-ever calendar featuring some of Rochester’s best known drag performers of the time, including Mrs. Kasha Davis, Darienne Lake, Aggy Dune, Miss Deelicious, Wednesday Westwood, DeeDee Dubois, and many others. Half of the proceeds benefit The Center for Youth’s By Their Side, a safe haven for LGBTQ+ homeless youth. [Image: Flower City Queens]
2018
Brittan Hardgers founds Next Generation Men of Transition (NGMT), a resource, advocacy and support organization for men of the Trans experience. They break barriers, make history and stand on visibility for all Trans masculine folks. They host group meetings in-person in Rochester, NY as well as online via Zoom. [Image: Next Generation Men of Transition]
April 6 – July 20, 2019
Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County hosts the opening reception of “Stonewall: 50 Years Out,” an exhibit that explores the role of Rochester in the LGBTQ civil rights movement and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. The exhibit is curated by Rochester City Historian Christine Ridarsky and community partners, and the reception is sponsored by the Out Alliance. [Image: Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County]
June 8, 2019
With the “Stonewall: 50 Years Out” exhibit as a backdrop, the Rochester Black Pride Collective hosts “Black Glamour: A Met Gala Affair.” The event is a fundraiser for the Rochester Black Pride festival. They also debut the brand-new Rochester Black Pride flag at the event. Inspired by Philadelphia’s Pride flag, this one includes black and brown stripes as well as the trans pastels; all of the colors are arranged in stacked chevrons with the text “Free To Be Me” in the top black triangle.
June 2019
Three icons of Rochester’s drag community are in the national spotlight: Mrs. Kasha Davis, Darienne Lake and Pandora Boxx are all featured on the cover of the Juen (National Pride Month) issue of New York Magazine as part of a piece on the most powerful drag queens in the United States of America. [Image: New York Magazine]
July 2, 2019
Rochester Red Wings, our community’s Minor League Baseball team, host their first-ever Pride Night at Frontier Field, in partnership with the Out Alliance. The event draws nearly 10,000 attendees. [Image: Rochester Red Wings]
July 12, 2019
Henrietta, NY hosts its first ever Pride Flag-raising Ceremony. Drag Queen Samantha Vega emcees the family-friendly event on the Henrietta Town Hall lawn, which includes food trucks, lawn games, community organization tabling, and a kid’s craft table.
November 1, 2019
After the closure of Tilt in 2018, Rochester’s Roar night club becomes the city’s newest LGBTQ-owned bar/entertainment venue and hosts their grand opening weekend. The venue features a wide array of entertainment, including drag, DJs, live music, square dancing, and more! Their slogan is “Something for Everyone.” [Image: Roar]
December 17, 2019
Next Generation Men of Transition produces a photoshoot with seven men of shared trans experience. They wear shirts bearing the phrase “I Chose Me to Survive” and are featured on the cover of the January 2020 The Empty Closet magazine. NGMT Founder Brittan Hardgers says, “Today’s photoshoot was built in order to remind all men of transition that we are survivors!”
The 2020s
January 18, 2020
Rochester Americans (Amerks), our community’s American Hockey League team, host their first-ever Pride Night at Blue Cross Arena, in partnership with the Out Alliance. [Image: Rochester Americans]
June 26, 2020
Cori Moquette becomes the first openly Transgender graduate from Rochester School for the Deaf. On May 30, the Out Alliance hosts a pandemic era, socially distanced motor vehicle parade to celebrate the occasion.
June 28, 2020
In the tradition of the Stonewall Riots and on the event’s anniversary, the former Out Alliance staff organize and host “The 1st Pride was a Riot!: A Stonewall Anniversary March & Rally for Black Lives Matter” in Rochester. The event starts at The Spirit Room bar and ends with a rally at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square.
July 17, 2020
Rochester LGBTQ+ Together forms. The grassroots, volunteer-run organization is a community support and social group for members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and allies in Rochester and Monroe County, New York. It forms after the shuttering of Out Alliance and during the height of the pandemic, out of a growing need for programming and resources in and for the area’s LGBTQIA2S+ community. What starts as a small closed Facebook group quickly grows to include expansive community programming, events and more. [Image: Rochester LGBTQ+ Together]
July 18 & 19, 2020
When all sorts of arts and crafts fairs began canceling due to the Covid-19 pandemic, local LGBTQ+ artisans organize and participate in the first annual Queer Handmade Yardsale. The first event is outdoors on Shaftsbury Rd. in Brighton and requires masking. The art sale quickly evolves into Queer Handmade Rochester Organization, which now hosts well-attended annual summer and winter sales with dozens of local LGBTQ+ vendors selling a wide variety of goods. [Image: Queer Handmade Rochester]
September 2020
Former Empty Closet editor Tamara Leigh forms Blaque/OUT Magazine, where she serves as editor. It’s a platform to highlight everything beautiful about Black Queer and Trans culture, tell the stories other news outlets won’t tell, and share the activists, educators, artists, entrepreneurs, celebrities, news and information that our community needs and deserves. [Image: Blaque/OUT Magazine]
September 6, 2020
Rochester Rainbow Riders forms. They are an informal group for LGBTQIA+ people who organize bicycle rides in and around Rochester, NY throughout the season and talk about bike-related stuff. They also host an annual Pride Ride during Rochester Pride Week. [Image: Rochester Rainbow Riders]
October 2020
Javannah Davis founds WAVE Women Inc. W.A.V.E. (Wellness, Advocacy, Visibility & Empowerment) is an affirming and safe space, specifically for Black women of the Trans experience. The organization becomes a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit in September 2021. [Image: WAVE Women Inc]
2020
Rainbow Seniors ROC forms. Although a new organization, their roots go back through many iterations of LGBTQ+ senior groups in Rochester. Some members today belonged to earlier groups like OMEGA which evolved into Rainbow Seniors, Rainbow SAGE and finally SAGE Rochester under the Out Alliance umbrella. When the Out Alliance to suspends operations, a core of former SAGE leaders decides to return to an “independent” agency model to ensure that seniors are always the highest priority. They now operate as an incorporated, independent 501c3 nonprofit: Rainbow Seniors ROC Inc. [Image: Rainbow Seniors ROC]
2020
The Arnett House – a residence dedicated to providing housing and supportive services to LGBTQ and trafficked homeless youth, opens its doors. The residence was donated to The Center for Youth in 2018 and underwent extensive renovations, ensuring the residential program can provide uninterrupted support 24/7 365 days a year. Up to 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ – while only making up 7% of the greater youth population. [Image: The Center for Youth]
January 27, 2021
Rochester LGBTQ+ Mutual Aid forms to assist local LGBTQIA2S+ community members in need within Rochester and Monroe County, NY. Taking the motto “We keep us safe” to heart, the group collectively provides financial assistance for rent, utilities and transportation; information and resource sharing; item exchanges; and grocery shops for food assistance. Now known as Greater Rochester LGBTQ+ Mutual Aid, it maintains three separate community support funds. [Image: Greater Rochester LGBTQ+ Mutual Aid]
February 1, 2021
Though he ultimately fails to win the election, Brittan Hardgers – founder of Next Generation Men of Transition – makes history when he announces his campaign as the first Black, openly Transgender candidate for Rochester City Council.
June 2021
The Village of Pittsford hangs the Pride Flag outside of village hall for the very first time. The Town of Pittsford, however, refuses to do the same at town hall, stating that the Pride flag being hung at the recreation center and library is enough.
June 14, 2021
The Village of Fairport passes a motion recognizing the month of June as LGBTQ Pride Month. For the first time ever, they fly the Pride flag at Village Hall throughout June “to inspire equity, create alliances, celebrate diversity, and establish a
safe environment in our community.”.
June 27, 2021
Organizers host the first Pride Parade & Festival in Pittsford, NY. The event is sponsored by Pittsforward, an organization that promotes community conversations about race and diversity, and The SafeZone Initiative, a local small business that provides LGBTQ+ trainings and education. It starts with a flag-making activity, followed by a parade, and then speakers and entertainers at the gazebo.
July 16, 2021
A new group, Juice Box ROC, hosts their inaugural fun, inclusive dance party, “Rochester Pride 2021 Dance Party,” at Photo City Music Hall. A portion of the proceeds benefit MOCHA Center Rochester.
November 2, 2021
Voters elect Stanley Martin, making them the first Black, openly Queer, Non-binary person to serve in Rochester City Council. They host a Community Swearing-In Ceremony on January 3, 2022 on the steps of Rochester City Hall.
December 2, 2021
James Patrick Smith is sworn in as the 70th Mayor of the City of Rochester, becoming the first openly gay person to hold the office. Serving as the Deputy Mayor since 2019, he assumes the chief executive office when the sitting mayor resigns. Smith serves for only one month until the new mayor-elect takes office. His oath of office is administered by Joanne Winslow, associate justice of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, a pioneering member of Rochester’s LGBTQ+ community.
January 27, 2021
Rochester LGBTQ+ Together’s website, www.Rochester.lgbt, goes live. It includes local LGBTQ+ Business & Resource Directories. Later, they add program pages, community events calendars, a Rochester Relocation Guide, and other information and resources for the LGBTQ+ and allied community of greater Rochester and Monroe County.
March 6 – June 19, 2022
Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster, the first major exhibition devoted to the University of Rochester’s vast collection of HIV/AIDS-related posters, opens at Memorial Art Gallery. The exhibition features 165 of the over 8000 posters from 130 countries assembled by collector, physician, and medical historian Dr. Edward C. Atwater, who generously donated the entire collection to the University’s River Campus Libraries’ Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation beginning in 2007. Today it comprises one of the largest collections of its kind in the world.
June 14, 2022
Monroe County honors longtime LGBTQ+ activist, educator and historian Evelyn Bailey, with County Executive Adam Bello officially proclaiming it “Evelyn Bailey Day.” She also receives a certificate of special recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives. Bailey joined the Gay Alliance in 1985 and held numerous leadership roles at the organization up until her passing in July 2022.
November 15, 2022
Next Generation Men of Transition premieres “Remember Me Now” at The Avenue Blackbox Theatre. The documentary film, produced by Brittan Hardgers, chronicles the visibility, empowerment, and lived experiences of TGNC lives.
March 2023
Recognized as a “key site associated with Rochester’s LGBTQ+ history,” the University of Rochester’s Todd Union, former home of the Rochester Gay Liberation Front, is recommended by NYS’s Board for Historic Preservation to be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places and Gov. Kathy Hochul announces the board’s approval of the site, which makes the property eligible for various public preservation programs, grants, and services.
April 15, 2023
A drag story hour organized by Pittsford CommUNITY brings out drag performers to read age appropriate stories of acceptance, kindness and love to children at Book Culture in Pittsford. After controversy, the event brings out supporters who create a “wall of love” to protect attendees, though only four protestors ultimately show up. The original plan is to hold the event at the town-owned Pittsford Community Center, until Town Supervisor Bill Smith claims he receives several complaints. The town tries to charge organizers $8,500 in security fees, but relents after backlash from the community, legislators, and the NYCLU. Organizers decide to move to the bookstore and keep those plans despite the turnabout. [Photo: Gino Fanelli / WXXI News]
April 25, 2023
The New Pride Agenda and New York Transgender Advocacy Group present New York State’s first ever TGNCNBI (Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Intersex) Advocacy Day in Albany. Attendees include representatives from Next Generation Men of Transition and WAVE Women Inc. from Rochester. [Image: New Pride Agenda]
June 28, 2023
On the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Rochester LGBTQ+ Together hosts the First Annual Greater Rochester Community Stonewall Remembrance Vigil and Solidarity Rally at the AIDS Remembrance Garden in Highland Park. Speakers include community members, organization leaders and politicians.
June 28, 2023
After a three year hiatus, the Out Alliance reopens, rebranding to the Rochester Rainbow Union & Lilac Library and hosting a grand opening at a new Prince St. location.
November 12, 2023
Local Rochester drag king Tayler Mayde wins the Mr. Gay United States M.I. pageant, part of The Gay United States Pageantry System, in Dayton, Ohio.
February 25, 2024
Roar night club hosts the first annual Mr. & Miss Roar Pageant at 621 Culver Road. Chintz McMahon and Lucida Brite are respectively crowned Mr. and Miss Roar.
February 26, 2024
Following the bullying and death of non-binary youth Nex Benedict in Oklahoma, community organizers host “Honoring Nex Benedict: Community Gathering and Vigil” to honor Nex and voice support for local LGBTQ+ youth. Next Generation Men of Transition, Genesee Valley Gender Variants, Rochester LGBTQ+ Together, WAVE Women Inc., The Lab: Creative Resource Center, and Free the People Rochester partner to support the event, which includes a gathering on the steps of Rochester City Hall, followed by a vigil at The Lab. Many local trans youth share their stories about the bullying they experience at school and in their communities. [Photo: Braden C. Reese / Rochester LGBTQ+ Together]
June 2024
Initiated by newly-elected Councilmember Kevin Berry, the first out LGBTQ+ member of the Town Board, Penfield, NY flies the Pride flag for the first time outside of Penfield Community Center. Barry also reads a proclamation at the June 5 meeting of the Town Board. He insists that the flag be flown visibly outdoors, rather than displayed indoors and hidden away, which he equates with being in the closet. He wants young people to see Penfield as a safe, accepting place to live.
November 15, 2024
Rainbow Seniors ROC hosts the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at their new community center, located in the strip mall in the rear of the Village Gate Square complex. Organization leadership and local elected officials cut the ribbon after brief remarks from outgoing Board President Beth Bloom. [Photo: Braden C. Reese / Rochester LGBTQ+ Together]
November 23, 2024
Drag Me To The Stage hosts the first annual Rochester Queer Arts Festival. The first event, held at ARTISANworks, includes vendors, drag sale, food, cash bar, music and performances. The following year, the event moves to Village Gate Square to better accommodate its growing size. [Image: Rochester Queer Arts Festival]
January 11, 2025
With LGBTQ+ couples feeling a renewed sense of urgency to tie the knot after the recent presidential election, First Universalist Church of Rochester, First Unitarian Church of Rochester, and Universalist Church of Canandaigua jointly host the Big Gay Wedding, wedding ceremonies free of charge, at First Universalist. Many LGBTQ+ couples participate.
April 13, 2025
The community hosts a celebration of life event at First Unitarian Church for Katelynn Rinnetta “Kat” Benoit, a Trans youth who commits suicide at Rochester School of the Arts. Attendees fill the space with beautiful flowers and speakers – including family, friends, and classmates – share powerful words and cherished memories. The most powerful messages are that Kat’s life mattered and how we must all do everything possible to protect LGBTQ youth in our community. [Photo: Braden C. Reese / Rochester LGBTQ+ Together]
May 17 – October 26, 2025
Seeing & Being Seen: LGBTQ+ Visions of Rochester celebrates the diverse, intersectional identities and experiences within the Greater Rochester LGBTQ+ community and spotlights both our shared and unique Queer and Trans existence, from celebration to struggle. With this exhibition, ImageOut and the George Eastman Museum honor the strength and resiliency of LGBTQ+ people, showcasing their unique individualism and enduring bravery. The exhibition, in GEM’S community gallery Gallery Obscura, is composed of submissions from regional artists.
June 30, 2025
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti – which affirmed Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors – community organizations, community organizers and community members gathered for Proud & Free: United for Trans Power Rally at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square in Rochester, NY to show up for Trans people and say that Trans rights are not up for debate.
August 26, 2025
Rochester’s City Council unanimously passed enhanced sanctuary city protections, codifying its commitment into city law and expanding support for immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and reproductive rights, prohibiting discrimination and limiting inquiries into immigration status for most city services, though this faced recent federal challenges and requires city contractors and businesses to comply with anti-discrimination mandates.
September 2025
The Avenue Pub – founded by Gary Sweet in 1975 and currently owned by Peter Mohr – celebrates it’s 50th anniversary as Rochester’s “Queer Cheers.” Sadly, the business would permanently shutter its doors about two months later.
November 4, 2025
The Town of Penfield elects Kevin Berry as Town Supervisor, making him Monroe County’s first openly LGBTQ+ supervisor. Berry officially assumes office on Thursday, January 1, 2026, beginning his one-year term, and is formally sworn in during a ceremony held on Friday, January 2, 2026 at Penfield Town Hall.
November 2025
Rochester’s newest LGBTQ-owned bar and event space, Flora, opens at 190 Monroe Avenue. Events include RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing party, trivia nights, karaoke nights, and rotating live DJs (from JuiceBox, Sole Rehab, Circle Back and more) providing music for the dance floor on weekends!
November 23, 2025
Pastor Phillipa Phaneuf of North Chili United Methodist Church, wearing a rainbow patterned stole, comes out to her congregation as a transgender woman during services. Phaneuf finds the church and congregation to be very supportive. A recording of the sermon goes viral, causing the story to make national headlines.
June 1, 2026
The Town of Webster, NY hosts an official LGBTQ+ Pride event, raising the Pride flag outside of town hall, where it is set to fly for the entire month, and also reading a Pride Month proclamation – both for the first time ever. Town Supervisor Alex Scialdone, who leads the effort, says, “This town belongs to everyone who calls it home.” [Photo: Town of Webster, NY]
June 4, 2026
After public pressure, the Webster, NY Town Board votes 3-2 in favor of only allowing the U.S. and NYS flags to be flown on town property. The Pride flag is lowered and removed on the morning of Friday, June 5. A series of community protests follow, urging elected officials to understand the consequences of their actions and reconsider the decision. [Photo: WHEC News10NBC]
September 5, 2026
Next Generation Men of Transition organizes and hosts Rochester’s 1st ever Trans Pride Fest at The International Plaza. The events brings together Trans and Gender-expansive talent, community, visibility, connection and unapologetic joy under the theme “Where Trans Pride Takes Center Stage.” The family of Sam Nordquist presents NGMT’s Brittan Bowick-Hardgers with the inaugural Sam’s Legacy Award. [Photo: Matthew Burke / Rochester LGBTQ+ Together]
Source Materials include:
The Advocate: “Trans pastor says she’s ‘surrounded by loving kindness’ after coming out to New York congregation” (December 4, 2025)
Auntie Podcast with Mrs. Kasha Davis: “How Drag Story Hour got started in Rochester, NY” (May 16, 2024)
CITY Magazine: “City Council leans progressive with two new members” (November 2, 2021)
CITY Magazine: “Empty Closet archived” (October 10, 2012)
CITY Magazine: “Kimberly and Beck are off the air. But for how long?” (June 3, 2020)
Democrat & Chronicle: “City to add transgender health benefits” (May 17, 2014)
Democrat & Chronicle: “Gay pride celebrations to include decades of history in Rochester” (July 18, 2013)
Democrat & Chronicle: “Video captures previously hidden gay community history” (June 3, 2014)
Democrat & Chronicle (via Legacy.com): “Earl Kage Obituary” (June 24, 2008)
Democrat & Chronicle (via Legacy.com): “Hamilton ‘Bud’ Driggs Obituary” (November 23, 2008)
DrBillValenti.com Blog: “Bishop Clark gave us a boost when we needed it most” (January 25, 2025)
Equality Rochester BlogSpot (2010 – 2013)
Flower City Queens: “The Herstory of Drag & its Place in Rochester” (November 9, 2018)
Gay Alliance Library & Archives: “Forging Alliances: Rochester’s LGBT Story” Timeline
George Eastman Museum: Seeing & Being Seen
George Eastman Museum: “Summer of Solidarity” Film Series (June 17, 2016)
ImageOut
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund: “Historic LGBTQ Election Night Victories; U.S. Will Have 1000+ LGBTQ Elected Officials for First Time” (November 3, 2021)
Local History Rocs Blog: “More than One Month is Pride Month in Rochester, NY” (July 11, 2024)
Lost Womyn’s Space BlogSpot: “Riverview Bar” (September 26, 2011)
Memorial Art Gallery: Up Against The Wall
National Park Service: Todd Union
New Ways Ministry: “Bishop Matthew Clark: A Pastoral Heart, An Open Mind, A Listening Ear” (February 7, 2023)
Next Generation Men of Transition
NYCLU: “NYCLU Files Same-Sex Benefits Lawsuit on Behalf of Rochester Woman” (January 13, 2005)
Out Magazine: “From ‘Garbage Plates’ to glam, celebrating Rochester, NY’s drag scene” (September 24, 2024)
Rainbow Seniors ROC
Remembering the Lambda Network at Kodak
RIT Digital Institutional Repository: “R.I.T. News & Events” (December 14 2000)
Rochester Beacon: “Smith becomes Rochester’s 70th mayor” (December 2, 2021)
Rochester LGBTQ+ Together
Shoulders To Stand On Blog [DELETED]
Spectrum News 1 Rochester: “Amid drag story hour debate, Rochester organizer implements non-violent protest training” (April 15, 2023)
Spectrum News 1 Rochester: “The history of Pride in Rochester” (July 19, 2022)
Spectrum News 1 Rochester: “Hometown Pride: History of Rochester Pride” (July 13, 2018)
Spectrum News 1 Rochester: “Rainbow Flag Raised Outside Rochester City Hall” (June 26, 2015)
Spectrum News 1 Rochester: “1st Transgender Student Graduates from Rochester School for the Deaf“
This Week at Eastman: “Oct 7-13, 2024: National Coming Out Day at Eastman” (October 7, 2024)
Trans Rochester Speaks
University of Rochester Libraries: LGBTQ+ History at the University of Rochester (2025)
University of Rochester River Campus Libraries Digital Collections: Campus Times
University of Rochester River Campus Libraries Digital Collections: The Empty Closet (1971 – 2020)
UPI Archives: “Gay ‘kiss-in’ protests police action” (May 26, 1987)
WAVE Women Inc.
WHEC News10NBC: “Rochester church hosts free wedding ceremonies for LGBTQ+ couples” (January 6, 2025)
WHEC News10NBC: “Town of Webster celebrated start of Pride Month by raising pride flag outside town hall” (June 1, 2026)
WHEC News10NBC: “Webster Town Board votes 3-2 to remove Pride flag from Webster Town Hall, community reacts” (June 4, 2026)
WXXI News: “Black Lives Matter organizers look to convert their popularity to political power” (February 6, 2021)
WXXI News: “‘Wall of love’ shields Pittsford drag story hour” (April 15, 2023)
13WHAM: “Brighton, Henrietta commemorate Pride Week” (July 12, 2019)
13WHAM: “New LGBT center opens in new era of acceptance” (December 13, 2015)
13WHAM: “Penfield’s first Democratic town supervisor since 1983 takes office” (January 2, 2026)
13WHAM: “Radio hosts Kimberly and Beck fired following racist remarks on air” (June 3, 2020)
13WHAM: “Rochester drag queens featured on cover of NY Magazine” (June 10, 2019)
13WHAM: “Sam Nordquist’s family honors his life at Rochester’s first Trans Pride Festival” (September 5, 2026)
