WHEREAS, The LGBT civil rights movement has its roots in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The Annual Reminders each July 4th from 1965 to 1969 at Independence Hall helped launch the organized LGBT civil rights movement; and
WHEREAS, The initial Annual Reminder at Independence Hall on July 4, 1965 had 40 activists from New York, Washington and Philadelphia making it the largest-ever demonstration for gay equality; and
WHEREAS, The Annual Reminders laid the groundwork for Stonewall; and
WHEREAS, There is a historic marker across from Independence Hall commemorating the Gay Pioneers and the Annual Reminders; and
WHEREAS, Gay Pioneer Barbara Gittings from Philadelphia is recognized as the Mother of the LGBT civil rights movement and Frank Kameny were the principal organizers of the Annual Reminders; and
WHEREAS, Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings and others helped organize the June 1970 gay pride march in New York to commemorate the first anniversary of Stonewall; and
WHEREAS, Gay pride parades proliferated in major cities across North America in the 1970s; and
WHEREAS, In the mid-1970s Harvey Milk, among others called for a national march on Washington for gay and lesbian rights; and
WHEREAS, Those efforts were thwarted by those who believed an insufficient number of activists and allies would attend; and
WHEREAS, In November 1978, San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk was working on a plan for a National March on Washington; and
WHEREAS, Supervisor Harvey Milk was assassinated on November 27, 1978, the LGBT community was galvanized to hold a demonstration on the National Mall; and
WHEREAS, In December 1978, San Francisco activists formed a National Outreach Committee which contacted groups throughout the country leading to the Philadelphia Conference; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Conference to organize the March was held February 23-25, 1979; and
WHEREAS, The Quakers uniquely and courageously offered the Friends Meetinghouse Conference Center, 4th & Arch Streets, for the Philadelphia Conference; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s Jeff Britton and Walt Whitman Democratic Club hosted the conference with Marianna Hernandez and Walter Lear, M.D., Co-Chairs of the Philadelphia Conference; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 300 activists from across the nation gathered for the Philadelphia Conference and laid the framework for a National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights; and
WHEREAS, On October 14, 1979 approximately 100,000 demonstrators assembled on the National Mall; and
WHEREAS, The 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights helped launch a national civil rights movement for lesbian and gay equality; and
WHEREAS, The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights led to LGBT marches on the National Mall in 1987, 1993 and 2000; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Convention at the Quaker Meetinghouse Conference was a seminal and historic event for LGBT equality; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That a historic marker be erected in front of the Quaker Meetinghouse at 4th & Arch Streets to commemorate the pioneers of the LGBT movement and the Annual Reminders as one of the first organized LGBT demonstrations for gay equality.
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