The following timeline is not comprehensive, but represents a series of defining events in Rhode Island concerning the history of LGBTQ+ movements, activism, and rights acquisition. Each of the moments highlighted here signal deeper and longer efforts by people who fought, oftentimes tooth and nail, for a more socially just existence for LGBTQ+ people. Activists’ organizing, protesting, and strategizing across the state that must be honored and recognized within each achievement and win listed below. This cursory review of LGBTQ+ history in the state is part of a long history of political organizing to implement tangible changes to further social justice and equity, rather than any “natural” or “inevitable” progress made by the state.
Activists living in Rhode Island have been at the national forefront of social justice and equity movements for LGBTQ+communities. Following what many view as the initiation of the equality movement after the Stonewall Rebellion against police brutality in 1969 and lesser-known Compton Cafeteria Riots in San Francisco in 1966, activists in Rhode Island began organizing
Activists living in Rhode Island have been at the national forefront of social justice and equity movements for LGBTQ+communities. Following what many view as the initiation of the equality movement after the Stonewall Rebellion against police brutality in 1969 and lesser-known Compton Cafeteria Riots in San Francisco in 1966, activists in Rhode Island began organizing more explicitly around issues of sexual orientation. Upon being denied access to the Old State House for a symposium called “Congress of Gay Concerns” and denied entry to march in the 1976 Rhode Island bicentennial parade, in 1976, the activists led the first Pride Parade. After much resistance from the chief of police, the ACLU forced the hand of the city to give the organizers a parade permit. Billy Mencer Ackerly, a “76er”, recalled that as those in the parade entered the sunlight, they began to sing,
You thought that you were the only one, but there’s millions like you when all is said and done. So walk with Pride, hold up your head, living in the closet is at long last dead. Come out wherever you are. Freedom is here, there’s no reason to fear. Come out, come out wherever you are and walk in the sunshine again, my friend. The closet is no place to live and die. Smiling is in, there’s no reason to cry. Meet your brothers and sisters and all join hands, and claim your rightful place in this great land. Come out, come out wherever you are. Freedom is here, there’s no reason to fear. Come out, come out wherever you are and walk in the sunshine again, my friend. Life is too short to live a lie, so look the world right in the eye. Love is too beautiful to lock inside. Love whomever you want and love with Pride. Come out, come out wherever you are. Freedom is here, there’s no reason to fear. Come out, come out wherever you are and walk in the sunshine again, my friend.
From the first Pride Parade on, activism around gender and sexual identity began to flourish. Over the years, a rich array of LGBTQ+ activism has shaped the political and social landscape of the state. While some groups have focused on reform, others have focused on transforming society at its roots. An early example of organized activism includes the Rhode Island Chapter of ACT UP which began in 1978 and was a strong force in the fight against the AIDS Crisis. Activists in Rhode Island led the country in the passing of several bills, but at times these bills were pushed through at the expense of transgender and people of color in the state. The Rhode Island Alliance of Lesbian for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, established in 1983, played a major role in early civil rights wins on the level of the legislature and policy. From 1984 to 1995, the Alliance fought to pass an LGB Civil Rights Bill. While they succeeded in passing the bill in 1995, they agreed to cut out gender identity and expression from that bill behind closed doors to get it through. Gender expression and identity was added through a quiet campaign in 2001.
This type of organizing and its pitfalls has built the foundation of the mainstream LGBTQ+ movement nationally and locally. In 2008, many Rhode Island activists gathered under the banner Marriage Equality Rhode Island (MERI). Along with a broad coalition of lawyers, clergy, and representatives, they won the right to marry in the state.
So there really was an overwhelming feeling like yes, we needed to support this. It turns out, we were the one and only Council of Churches in America that took a position on marriage equality. And I think Rhode Island should be proud of that…The only board that had the courage to take make that decision was that was that board. And, and it changed us. I mean, we became a different organization that day, we really did. And I will tell you, there are still people who have not forgiven me for being the executive during that.
— Dr. Rev. Donnie Anderson
The right to marry was a major boon to LGBTQ+ people’s ability to access equal rights under the law to heterosexual counterparts. Rhode Island passed this legislation two years before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges requiring states to allow and recognize same-sex marriages. This movement, while vital to many protections for couples and families, also took up a lot of energy and diverted attention from issues particularly around organizing concerning transgender safety and wellbeing as well as the safety and wellbeing of communities of color from state-sanctioned violence. The landscape of LGBTQ+ politics since marriage equality has both built upon MERI’s foundation and regained traction in intersectional justice movements. Areas at the forefront of LGBTQ+ activism in Rhode Island today include the effort to defund the police to respond to higher rates of policing among LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color, particularly trans women of color and to reinvest in public services and infrastructure to support the safety and wellbeing of these communities, and cultural and political shifts to uplift and support the health and lives of gender non-binary and transgender people.
Footnotes
Billy Mencer Ackerly, interview by Madeline Montgomery, May 7, 2020, transcript, LGBTQ Oral History Collection, Provi-dence Public Library of Providence, Rhode Island.
Tribes such as the Narragansett, Wampanoag, Niantic, and Pokanoket have had gender and sexual practices that do not align with the colonial imposed gender-binary and resultant heterosexual social order. The term “two-spirit” has gained more recent legibility and use as a contingent label with the aim of embracing pre-colonial gender and sexual expressions of indigenous cultures.
1492-PRESENT
The imposition of the gender binary and heterosexuality was just one of the tactics colonists used to enact cultural genocide against indigenous peoples. Policing indigenous gender and sexual expression became and remains a way for white settlers to violently rationalize colonialism.
CIRCA 1892
The word “homosexual” is coined which, for the first time, consolidates human behaviors as an interior essence or identity.
1947
Mirabar, Rhode Island’s oldest gay bar, opens in Woonsocket.
1920-1970
LGBTQ+ who were seeking to make their lives possible during this time often call themselves the "Silent Generation." This term refers to being silenced by legal policies, cultural norms, and medical institutions, but also silence as a survival strategy that folks felt they had to resort to in order to escape social, economic, and political persecution.
1972
Bob Thibeault opens up Club Gallery in Providence.
1976
First Rhode Island Pride Parade. Protest for being denied the use of the Old State House on Benefit Street for a symposium on gay issues as well as being denied permission to hold a pride parade in Providence. An ally to the LGBTQ+ community and, ACLU lawyer, Stephen Fortunado sue in U.S district court and the decision is in their favor. They march around Kennedy Plaza.
1978
At the Federal courthouse, Providence’s MCC Reverend Marge Raguna stages an eight-day hunger strike to support the city’s proposed Anti-discrimination ordinance that would include a provision to protect gays. It ended up getting passed without the provision.
1980
Aaron Frone wins a Federal court case over being able to take Paul Guilbert to prom at Cumberland High School.
1982
Options Magazine is founded.
1983
The Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights is founded.
1984
Anti-discrimination Law: The first-year legislation to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination is introduced in legislature.
1985
Rhode Island Gov. Edward D. DiPrete issues an executive order banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in state government.
1995
Anti-discrimination law passed only for sexual orientation. 9th state to do so after the bill was in the assembly for 12 years.
2001
Gender identity or expression is added to the anti-discrimination law. Rhode Island becomes the second state in the nation to pass broad legislation to protect transgender individuals from discrimination in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations.
2002
David Cicilline is elected the first openly gay mayor of Providence.
2003
Massachusetts becomes the first state to allow gay marriage
2004
In Tiverton School Committee v. McCullough & Boivin health insurance coverage is required for same-sex spouse
2007
Problematic anti-hate crime bill to protect trans people put to the House.
2008
Trans anti-hate crime bill vetoed by Governor.
2008
Marriage Equality Rhode Island group forms.
2010
Anti-hate crime bill vetoed by Governor.
2011
Transgender and Intersex Network group forms—a group to advocate for trans rights.
2011
Hate crime bill is passed and includes gender identity and expression, but was not added to the hate crime sentencing process where there are additional penalties for crimes motivated by hate.
2011
Safe Schools Act: Applies to all schools private and public, to stop bullying which included sexual orientation and gender identity.
2011
Approved a bill allowing same sex civil unions however exemptions to hospitals schools adoptions which disagree due to religious beliefs, National Center for Lesbian rights calls the governor to veto the bill.
2012
DMV updates policy around gender marker change in a quiet way so as not to attract attention.
2012
Feature in Options regarding Providence Youth Student Movement survey of queer South East Asian constituents. Survey results demonstrated that South East Asian LGBTQ+ people do not feel represented in queer spaces. Important turn in conversations about race and LGBTQ+ identity.
2013
A February 2013 survey conducted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University on found that 60.4% of Rhode Island voters supported same-sex marriage and 26.1% opposed.
A January 2013 poll by the Public Policy Polling found 57% of Rhode Island voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage and 36% opposed. Given other options, 31% preferred civil unions to marriage and 13% opposed all forms of legal recognition for same-sex relationships.
2013
Rhode Islanders United for Marriage with GLAD and a broad coalition of LGBTQ+ advocates, clergy members, labor organizations, and civil rights leaders work together to achieve marriage equality in Rhode Island.
In May 2013, Marriage Equality passed in Rhode Island.
2014
Surgery is removed as a requirement to change gender marker on birth certificate. An effort between TGI and GLAD. One of seven states to do so.
2015
Trans healthcare bill passed to enforce that Medicaid insurance would cover all trans healthcare.
2015
TGI celebrated first Transgender Day of Empowerment with 50 people at Bell Street Chapel. April 25th is the holiday.
2015
#FreeNicoli Campaign by PrYSM and DARE: A trans woman from Guatemala who came to the US seeking asylum was detained in male detainee wing and abused by guards. 2015 DARE and PrYSM had their floats in pride highlight this injustice and the Community Safety Act campaign. The RI Pride president in a speech compared LGBTQ+ equality to the uprising in Ferguson.
2015
Juneteenth celebration: Yearly holiday celebrating slavery emancipation. On Juneteenth 2015, 100 people gathered in India Point Park for a vigil to honor fallen black cis and trans women.
2015
GLAD won a case to allow a woman to receive the social security benefits of her partner who had passed.
2015
At the Pulse Massacre Vigil in Providence, Vanessa Flores-Maldonado spoke out against predominately-white and male speaker line-up to highlight the hypocrisy of the mainstream LGBTQ community in Rhode Island for ignoring the racialized nature of the attack on the Pulse nightclub. Flores-Maldonado raised awareness about the reality of police brutality against communities of color and LGBTQ people of color. She was met with boos and the mic being turned off which revealed the entrenchment of white supremacy within the mainstream LGBTQ community in Providence and Rhode Island.
2016 – March
With the School Committee unanimous approval, Cumberland becomes the first public school district in Rhode Island to have a formal policy protecting trans students.
2016
RIDE establishes guidelines for transgender students. The Rhode Island Department of Education releases comprehensive guidelines to protect transgender students.
However, schools were not mandated to adopt the policy and many schools did not take up the policy.
2016
PrYSM, a racial justice and intersectional LGBTQ organization, protests Pride. Pride announced its decision to include police at Pride and PrYSM protested as they were working on the anti-police brutality CSA and then led an alt-pride.
2016
DCYF adds anti-discrimination language about LGBTQQI children to policies.
2017
The Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act passes which ensures paid sick leave. The impacts for LGBTQ+ people are significant because the act was written with inclusive definitions of what counted as a “family member.”
2017
Conversion Therapy Ban passes. Lead by newly-formed LGBTQ Action RI.
April 2018
Dailen Williams assembles a working group of queer/trans artists with the intent of founding a printshop and fabrication studio in or around Providence which became Binch Press, a volunteer-run print cooperative centering queer/trans artists and artists of color.
2018
RIDE requires all public schools to adopt their policy to protect transgender students from discrimination and harassment. All schools must have compliant policy by July 2018. Helped won by LGBTQ Action RI.
2018
Community Safety Act passes. Anti-police brutality on the city level, failed at the state level, led by many marginalized community organizations, includes the right to choose gender of officer for searches. Protect and stop police from profiling trans women of color as sex workers.
2018
Respect in Death bill passes. It requires death certificates to accurately reflect transgender peoples’ gender identities.
2018
Dr. Rev. Donnie Anderson becomes first and only transgender leader of a state Council of Churches in the country—unanimously voted in favor for by the Council members. This made a big statement to the national faith community.
2018
Queer Archive Work, a library, publishing studio, and residency to support artists and writers with free, open access to space and resources for experimental publishing, with a special focus on queer practices.
2019
First annual Dyke and Trans People of Color March happens in Downtown Providence as an alternative to Pride.
2019
DMV no longer requires signatures to change gender markers.
2019
Pride sets up many listening sessions led by Justice Gaines to listen to the LGBTQ+ people of color and their concerns about policing at Pride. Police still walked in the parade while at the front, Providence Student Union and Queer Transformative Roots displayed anti-police signs.
March 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic hits the United States and people of color and LGBTQ folks are disproportionately effected at stark rates.
Spring 2020
Project LETS and the Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance Network are LGBTQ-solidarity organizations to respond to the COVID-19 Crisis through food drives, mutual aid coordination, and protecting immigrant and prisoner rights to health during this time. RI Pride leads food drive to support those in need of food.
2020
Governor Raimondo created option for gender non-binary marker on government identity documents.
2020
Formation of first LGBTQ+ historical archive of Rhode Island at the Providence Public Library.
June 2020
RI Pride, after years of pressure from abolitionist groups such as PrYSM and during the height of uprisings against the killing of George Floyd and black trans people such as Tony McDade, makes a public statement that police have no place at Pride.
June 2020
Haus of Codec, an LGBTQ+ centered youth shelter becomes the first shelter for youth in Rhode Island in response to lack of housing and job opportunities for LGBTQ+ people.
November 2020
Queer Trans Mutual Aid of Rhode Island instagram starts. They have redistributed $80,000 over two years to queer and trans individuals in the Providence, RI area. QTMA prioritizes BIPOC and folks with disabilities, but all LGBTQ+ Rhode Islanders can request funds.
January 1, 2021
Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act goes into effect. The Rhode Island Parentage Act updated Rhode Island law to clarify who can be a parent and how to establish parentage. These critical reforms recognize the diversity of families in Rhode Island and ensure that all children can have their legal parentage established regardless of the circumstances of their birth.
2021
Binch Press and Queer Archive Work begin collaboration to co-create a community space with the resources to print/publish creative works that centers trans and queer folks of color.
January 1, 2022
Bill goes into effect that ensures single-user restrooms in public places are non-gender specific. It also requires that all new construction of state and municipal buildings opened to the public after July 1 provide for a single-user restroom facility for use by persons of any gender.
January 1, 2022
Law goes into effect that updates the definition of sexual orientation in regard to fair housing practices and eliminates an exemption that allowed discrimination based on gender identity or expression in owner-occupied buildings of three units or less.
March 2022
Comprehensive report, “There’s No Place Like Home” on eradicating youth & young adult homelessness in Rhdoe Island by 2030 centering LGBTQ+ youth comes out.
July 2022
Community Care Alliance of Woonsocket receives a grant from the state for $441,143 to transition a Providence shelter to focus on providing care for unhoused LGBTQ+ folks.
July 2022
Aldersbridge Communities To Bring Affordable Housing to LGBTQ+ Elder Population. When completed, the first ever elderly housing for LGBTQ+ people in the state will have 39 units.
November 2022
Rhode Island’s first Trans Day of Joy hosted by Volta Tran occurs in Wakefield, RI.
November 2022
In response to Club Q Shooting, Haus of Codec holds a vigil in Dexter Park.
December 2022
President Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act into law.
March 2023
Texas federal court ruling in Braidwood v. Becerra threatens access to PrEP and other preventive medicine (now on appeal at the Fifth Circuit).
June 2023
Rhode Island Boosts Security for LGBTQ+ Families with a new accessible Confirmatory Adoption Law.
June 2023
Rhode Island expands access to PrEP for prevention of HIV with a law allowing pharmacists to prescribe an initial supply.
June 2023
In 303 Creative v. Elenis, U.S. Supreme Court for the first time allows narrow exemption from antidiscrimination laws for certain “creative” businesses.
June 2023
All 5 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in the 2023 session are defeated in the RI General Assembly. They targeted women’s sports, gender transition for minors and birth certificates, among other issues.
December 2023
Rhode Island Foundation convenes LGBTQ+ community forum to determine priorities and opportunities for progress.
May 2024
U.S. Department of Education releases updated rule affirming and strengthening protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX.
May 2024
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services releases updated rule affirming and strengthening protections against discrimination for LGBTQ+ people in health care and health care services.