In conjunction with WorldPride 2025 the Rainbow History Project is creating an exhibit on the evolution of Pride: “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.” This is the fourth in the series of 10 articles about the project. In this article, we discuss the activism and significant political organizing in the Black Lesbian and Gay community during the 1970s.
During the mid-20th century, private Black male social clubs provided the foundation for social and political organizing. During the 1970s, many gay Black activists such as ABilly S. Jones-Henin, Carlene Cheatam, and Phil Pannell were growing politically active in the District. In 1978, ABilly S. Jones co-founded with Darlene Garner the first openly known political and advocacy organization to represent the African-American community — the National Coalition of Black Gays (NCBG). Speaking about Black organizing in 1979, Jones-Henin said in a 2001 Rainbow History Project panel discussion that “[1979] … was the beginning of a Black, lesbian, gay, political movement with a structure.”
Discussions to hold a march on Washington for gay rights began in 1973, however plans were not solidified until after the assassination of Harvey Milk. An organizing conference was held in Philadelphia from Feb. 23-25, 1979. Organized by a diverse coalition, including leaders from the Black lesbian and gay community, the march demanded equal rights, including comprehensive legislation, repeal of anti-LGBTQ laws, and fair custody rights for LGBTQ parents.
“The need for lesbian and gay involvement in the political process of the United States is an imperative that we cannot ignore,” wrote activist Brandy Moore in the souvenir program for the event. “The March on Washington will provide an opportunity which will give us that involvement and allow for an education of our supporters and friends on Capitol Hill and in the White House.”
As part of the programming, the NCBG organized the first-ever National Conference of Third World Lesbians and Gays. Held at Howard University’s Harambee Hall, from Oct. 12-15, the Third World Conference convened gay BIPOC activists in a safe space to discuss their unique experiences with multiple types of discrimination. Not just homophobia in society, but also racism, misogyny, xenophobia, capitalism, and other ills both outside and inside in the LGBTQ community, the conference highlighted the crucial role of intersectionality and diverse voices in the ongoing struggle for equality, according to the flyer advertising the conference and the March.
Notable speakers included Audre Lorde, who said “the search for acceptance must not blind us to believe in genuine social change.”
“We must always ask ourselves constantly, what kind of a world is it we really want to become a part of? As lesbians and gays, we have been the most despised, the most oppressed … and we have survived,” she said, speaking to a crowd of roughly 500 conference participants.
After the conference finished, the participants marched down Georgia Avenue to join other activists assembled on the National Mall for the National March on Washington. The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, held on October 14, 1979, was a landmark event in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, attracting 75,000 to 125,000 participants. Carrying a massive banner with the conference theme “When will the ignorance end?” the intersectional activists formed an impressive gay Black contingent. Although Gay Pride Day did not include a march nor parade until the early 1980s, this gay Black march is DC’s first Gay Pride Parade.
ABilly S. Jones-Henin talked about the role of Black gay and lesbian activists in this era in a 2001 Rainbow History Project panel:
“It is important to remember that individual Blacks had been a part of every lesbian and gay political movement before that, whether that was ONE society, Mattachine Society, the Stonewall Rebellion, we were there — we were part of it, consciously, intentionally, unintentionally, we were there.”
Our WorldPride 2025 exhibit, “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington,” centers the voices of the event organizers and includes the critics of Pride and the intersection of Pride and other movements for equal rights and liberation. But we need your help to do that: we are looking for images and input, so take a look around your attic and get involved.
Vincent Slatt volunteers as the director of archiving at the Rainbow History Project. Walker Dalton is a member of RHP. See www.rainbowhistory.org to get involved.
