1985

Perhaps the first and most well-known AIDS memorial, the Quilt was begun by activist Cleve Jones early in the AIDS crisis when there were few treatments available. The Quilt’s first display in Washington, with 1,920 panels, was in 1987. Today the Quilt contains more than 48,000 panels.

1989

Assembled to mark the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, The Center, an LGBTQ support organization presented “The Center Show” an exhibition of work by David LaChapelle, Kenny Schraf, Martin Wong, Robert Storr and many others. The exhibition included a permanent installation by artist Keith Haring in one of the public bathrooms which was recently restored.

1991

Conceived in 1988 and located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the National AIDS Memorial Grove is located in a city which saw many deaths early on in the AIDS crisis. It dedicated to all persons touched by the disease.

1992

The Gay Liberation Monument began in 1979 and is located in Sheridan Square across from the Stonewall Inn. Run by the Park Department of the City of New York, it contains a sculpture by renowned artist George Segal.

1993

The AIDS Memorial Wall was established to recognize the losses and contributions of Latino community in Los Angeles.

1993

Names of local people who died from AIDS were placed on plaques installed in a section of sidewalk in West Hollywood. The plaque which remembers Rock Hudson was installed by Elizabeth Taylor.

1995

Organized annually on Twin Peaks in San Francisco, the Pink Triangle is an annual temporary monument installed each June to recognize gay pride.

1998

Located in Key West, on December 1st each year a ceremony is held to remember those who died of AIDS by reading their names publicly.

1998

Honoring the contributions of scores of LGBTQ leaders, artists and advocates, the Legacy Project/Walk covers ten city blocks in Chicago.

1998

Twenty-one years after the murder of San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first part of the Harvey Milk Plaza began with the addition of a Rainbow Flag at an existing subway station.

2000

The AIDS Chapel at Grace Church in San Francisco was established to recognize those who suffered from AIDS and the family and friends who tended to them. The chapel features an alter piece completed by artist Keith Haring believed to be one of the last works he made.

2000

Marking the death of 100,000 people who died from AIDS in NYC, its AIDS memorial stands adjacent to the former St. Vincent’s Hospital, the epicenter of AIDS care in the 1980s. In an unusual approach, the organizers involved 500 people in the design.

2000

Located at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Marion County, Indiana, this is the first permanent AIDS monument in an American cemetery. It contains 10-foot bronze sculpture features two clasped hands in the shape of an AIDS ribbon by artist Guy Grey.

2000

2000 - Memorial Chapel in Albuquerque, NM was established to recognize those who ministered to those who suffered from AIDS.

2001

The Pink Triangle Park in San Francisco honors the LGBTQ individuals who were jailed, tortured and killed in Europe from 1933-1945.

2008

This park in New Orleans has an installation containing numerous glass discs depicting the faces of some local individuals who died of AIDS and well as local activists.

2008

Located in Laramie, Wyoming the Matthew Shepard Memorial Bench marks the killing of a young man who was left to die after a brutal beating.

2008

Recognizing the scores of deaths that resulted from AIDS in NYC’s West Village neighborhood, the Hudson River Park installed a monument near one of the piers, between West 11th and 12th Streets.

2009

The state of Ohio created this marker for writer and poet, native born Natalie Clifford Barney. The partner of artist Romaine Brooks for more 50 years, Barney first began publishing poems to other women in 1900.

2011

Although not open to the public, the National Park Service maintains the former home of gay activist and co-founder of the Mattachine Society Frank E. Kameny.

2012

The stairs that led to gay icon and founder of the Mattachine Society, Harry Hay’s house were designated the “Mattachine Steps” the city of Los Angeles

2014

Paying tribute to all gender and sexual minorities, the Pink Dolphin Monument is in Galveston Island in Texas.

2015

Founded by transgender individuals to remember transgender victims of murder, the Transgender Memorial Garden in St. Louis was founded in a vacant park.

2016

Part of the National Park Service and located in NYC’s Sheridan Square at the site of the Stonewall Inn, the Stonewall National Monument was created to honor the significant turning point in LGBTQ rights. In 1969.

2017

A marker has been placed by the state of Tennessee outside the former home of LGBTQ activist and leader Penny Campbell.

2018

On the grounds of the Town Hall in the heart of its commercial district, the Provincetown AIDS Memorial contains a sculpture by artist Lauren Ewing to mark three decades of AIDS in this seasonal LGBTQ enclave.

2018

Matthew Sheppard’s remains were interred at the National Cathedral in Washington.

2018

Two Nashville gay bars, the Jungle and Juanita’s Place, and their patrons, were honored with a highway marker recognizing their efforts to fight discriminatory local policies in the 1960s.

2020

Governor Andrew Cuomo renamed a city park in Brooklyn in honor of iconic gay activist Marsha P. Johnson. Additional monuments are being planned to honor Johnson and activist Sylvia Rivera.