Cecelia Parks compiled this timeline between 2022 and 2025 based on her research and interviews. Attendees at several queer history panels in 2023 and 2024 also contributed items to the timeline. Contact her with items to add! The timeline is not comprehensive and is a work in progress.
1923 - The Virginian, a restaurant on the UVA Corner with a reputation for being gay friendly, opens
1972 - Gay Student Union is established at UVA
1975 - Same-sex marriage is prohibited by Virginia law
1979 - Friday night dances are held at Joani Schwartzman’s house
Late 1970s-80s - The Thawing Out party is held for gay and lesbian people - a weekend campout - held near Crozet
1980 - Muldowney’s (Charlottesville’s first “unofficial” gay bar) is opened by Joani Schatzman
1982 - first AIDS case at the UVA Hospital
1985 - The Silver Fox opens (Muldowney’s space was reopened as The Silver Fox) by Clyde Cooper and Mike Fitzgerald, plus others
1985 - CLF (Charlottesville Lesbian Feminists) exist by this date; 501c(3) status achieved
1986-1990 - Women’s dances are held in the old Michie Building, Oddfellows Hall, and Fry Spring Beach Club (organized by Joani Schatzman)
1986 - AIDS Support Group (ASG) is started by Blaise Spinelli, Michael Hampton, Jim Heilman, and others
1987 - ASG is officially recognized by state of VA and is eventually renamed to AIDS Services Group
1987 - Thawing Out decade gathering is held
Early 1990s - LGBT+ group Kindred Spirits meets for 4-5 years
1991 - The Silver Fox reopens as Triangles, a private gay club
1991 - lawsuit forces Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control rules and regulations to change to allow gay bars
1991 - The University of Virginia adds sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy
1991 or 1993 - Club 216, another private gay club, opens after Triangles closed
1993 or 1995 - Escafe, a gay-friendly cafe and bar, opens
1991 - UVA Pride, an group of gay and lesbian UVA staff and faculty, is formed
1990s - Charlottesville holds Pride marches, according to several accounts
November 1, 1996 - UVA worker and gay man Evan Kittredge is abducted, beaten, and left to die in the trunk of his car
2004 - Civil unions and other similar arrangements for same-sex couples are prohibited
2006 - Virginia Constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage is approved
2008(?) - first Pride in the Park event
2008(?) - Charlottesville Pride Community Network is started by Amy-Sarah Marshall
2011 - UVA LGBT Committee is established (renamed LGBTQ Committee in 2023)
2012 - Club 216 closes
2012 - first Charlottesville Pride Festival
October 6, 2014 - Virginia's ban on gay marriage is declared unconstitutional; first gay marriages are performed in Charlottesville
2018 - Escafe closes
2020 - Virginia law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in all areas
2023 - The Beautiful Idea, a " trans-owned antifascist bookstore, queer makers' market, alternative event space, and radical community hub," opens on the Downtown Mall
2025 - The Rivanna Area Queer Center, a queer community center, opens in Charlottesville