It's a true paradox. The design industry was one of the first in which LGBTQ+ people claimed power and felt somewhat able to be themselves (a "safe space," in later parlance), as they projected their vision and talent to the culture at large. For years, swaths of the industry were assigned in the public consciousness to gay men. But despite that—or, more likely, because of it—many LGBTQ+ pioneers of design still occupy a place in the shadows.
Historical documentation of LGBTQ+ lives, not to mention careers, has always been tricky. Partly because history amounts to a succession of eras in which being out wasn't just anathema to the mainstream—it was illegal. Partly because the modern spectrum of sexual identity didn't exist back in the day. This collection of LGBTQ+ design milestones reflects the best historical record we have of the individuals involved. Ideally, this record will grow.
As Pride Month begins, it's enlightening to look back, so that all of us—gay, straight, bi, trans, nonbinary, questioning—have a better understanding not just of the past but of where we are today. We consider some of these events to be milestones for their artistry, some for their historical importance, and some for being a design pioneer's most important contribution—or merely something that earned some deserved noise and visibility. And some are just damn cool.
An image of the Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village, where 50 years ago this summer community demonstrations were sparked by an early-morning police raid.
1846 : The building that would become the Stonewall Inn , flashpoint of the modern gay rights movement, rises in New York City as a pair of stables. The space will become a restaurant in 1934, a gay bar in 1967, the site of gay-rights riots in 1969, and a national landmark in 2016.
1888 : Ralph Adams Cram, the foremost Gothic revivalist who is now believed to have been gay, according to author Douglas Shand-Tucci in Boston Bohemia, 1881–1900: Ralph Adams Cram: Life and Architecture , among others, opens an architecture office. He designs buildings at Princeton and West Point, establishing Gothic as the default style for generations of college campuses.
1905 : Illustrator J.C. Leyendecker creates the Arrow Collar Man, an archetype that revolutionizes design and advertising (and was apparently modeled on his partner of 50 years). His illustrations and hundreds of magazine covers are among the first homoerotic images in pop culture; they inspire Norman Rockwell's style (if not his focus).
An "Arrow Collars & Shirts" advertising poster by J.C. Leyendecker.
1908 : Beauport, the home of Henry Davis Sleeper, one of the first professional interior designers and antiquarians, is finished. The Arts and Crafts structure becomes one of the most published houses of its era. He later designs for Hollywood stars, and earns an honorary membership from the American Institute of Architects after his death.
1920s : New York City–based socialite Elsie de Wolfe, who historians now believe was a lesbian or bisexual, pioneers the modern interior design industry. Sweeping away Victorianism's dark and heavy vibe, she encourages her clients to embrace light and simplicity.
1920s : Julia Morgan becomes the first female architect registered in California. She will go on to pioneer the use of earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete in buildings and to attract the patronage of William Randolph Hearst, designing the Hearst Castle.
1924 : Architect Louis Sullivan, known as the "father of skyscrapers" and the "father of modernism," dies. He was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. Eighteen years later, the AIA will award him its gold medal.
1927 : Bisexual Irish designer Eileen Gray debuts the adjustable side table, one of the first truly iconic furniture pieces of the 20th century. (It's still sold today.)
Actor William "Billy" Haines left the entertainment industry and would go on to become one of Hollywood's most successful interior designers.
1935 : Billy Haines, one of the first movie heartthrobs, quits acting after Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM, reportedly orders him to choose between his boyfriend or a sham marriage to a woman. He then becomes Hollywood's most successful interior designer for decades, a pioneer of the Regency Style.
1940s : John Beresford Fowler establishes the English country house look, which is still going strong. His work heavily influences the new field of historic preservation.
1947 : Bruce Goff, a Kansas-born architect known for his organic, Expressionist structures, designs the Ledbetter House, an early modernist icon, in Oklahoma. A 1951 Life magazine article says he is "one of the few U.S. architects whom Frank Lloyd Wright considers creative." Several of his projects are on the National Register of Historic Places today.
The living room of a house in Aurora, Illinois, designed by the architect Bruce Goff.
1949 : Phillip Johnson debuts the Glass House. He goes on to design the Seagram Building and the AT&T Building, among others, popularizing the International Style.
1950 : Jack Moore wins an Oscar for art direction and set decoration for Little Women. He will be nominated six more times, through 1970's Airport.
1958 : Movie set decorator Henry Grace wins an Oscar for Gigi. He will be nominated for the prize 12 more times.
Andy Warhol posing in his NYC studio in 1964 in front of four portraits inspired by mug shots; his art continues to inspire—and fill—some of the most lauded private interiors around the world.
1960 : Andy Warhol's Pop Art—with its emphasis on ironic imagery, bold colors, and synthetic materials—creates a wave that quickly spreads to interiors.
1961 : Track lighting is invented—by a straight man. But its sleek look becomes so associated with gay male homes that it becomes a joke in 1989's Steel Magnolias : "All gay men have track lighting, and all gay men are named Mark, Rick, or Steve."
1961 : Horace Gifford designs his first beach house on Fire Island, a striking example of modernism. He will construct 77 more houses there through 1980.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Wallace designed by the architect Paul Rudolph in Athens, Alabama.
1963 : Brutalist pioneer Paul Rudolph's classic Yale Art and Architecture building is completed.
1969 : Postmodern innovator Charles Moore—the gay head of the Yale School of Architecture—has his New Haven house featured in Playboy magazine as the ultimate bachelor pad. He will go on to design the Piazza d'Italia, influencing Michael Graves, among others.
1970 : Graphic designer Tom Doerr introduces the Greek lambda to represent the gay liberation movement—the first widely accepted LGBT symbol.
1970s : The decade brings the rise of gay neighborhoods. Chicago's New Town acquires the nickname Boys Town; West Hollywood becomes a gay enclave, as do San Francisco's Castro and New York City's West Village and Chelsea (which were on the scene decades earlier).
An elevated view of actress Bette Midler's SoHo loft in 1981, which was designed by Alan Buchsbaum.
1970s : Interior designer Alan Buchsbaum pioneers the High-Tech look.
1975 : Franklin D. Israel wins the Rome Prize for Architecture. He will go on to become one of the most in-demand L.A. architects of the '80s and '90s.
1977 : Studio 54 opens with a paradigm-shifting design by Steve Rubell and a fleet of theatrical designers, including architect Scott Bromley, interior designer Ron Doud, and Broadway lighting experts Jules Fisher and Paul Marantz.
The Pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978.
1978 : Gilbert Baker designs the Pride flag, which MoMA will later declare as important as the recycling symbol.
1980 : Jed Johnson opens his own office. The former member of Warhol's Factory attracts a flock of celebrity clients.
1980 : The Saint, the first gay superclub, opens in New York City. It boasts a $4.5 million design ($14 million today) that includes a 38-foot-high planetarium dome.
Circa 1981 : AIDS, newly reported by the New York Times , begins to decimate the design community.
The dance floor on opening night of NYC's Palladium nightclub, designed by architect Arata Isozaki.
1985 : Architect Arata Isozaki, recipient of the 2019 Pritzker Prize, designs the interior for NYC's Palladium, a locus of '80s gay culture where Madonna, Keith Haring, and David Wojnarowicz hang out, and MTV's seminal Club MTV is taped.
1987 : Interior designer Fritz Lohman cofounds the Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation.
1987 : A collective of six gay activists—several of them graphic designers—launch the Silence = Death campaign, with its now-iconic symbol of the pink triangle used to mark gay people during the Holocaust, flipped upside down.
Keith Haring photographed with one of his paintings in April 1984.
1990 : Keith Haring, whose graphic yet abstract figures became one of the most recognized (and lucrative) motifs of the '80s, dies of AIDS in New York City at the height of his career.
1991 : Jane Greenwood cofounds the Organization of Lesbian + Gay Architects and Designers.
1992 : Todd Oldham debuts the "Todd Time" segment on MTV's House of Style , pioneering the idea of accessible design.
1992 : Herbert Muschamp becomes the architecture critic at the New York Times .
1993 : Jonathan Adler launches his first ceramics collection at Barneys New York. He'll go on to create a home design empire.
Actors Marcus D'Amico and Joseph Mydell in a National Theatre production of Angels in America .
1993 : The Broadway debut of Angels in America causes a sensation. Its lighting and scenic designers are nominated for Tony Awards.
1993 : The Alice Austen Home, home to the lesbian photographer and her partner of 50 years, is designated a National Historic Landmark.
2000s : Nate Berkus becomes a star on the Oprah Winfrey Show .
The Staten Island home of early large-format photographer Alice Austen; it was made a National Landmark in 1993.
2003 : Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, with design expert Thom Filicia, premieres. It becomes an unexpected smash hit.
2004 : Charles Renfro becomes a named partner in Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The firm goes on to design the High Line (2009), the Broad Museum in Los Angeles (2015), and the Shed at Hudson Yards (2019).
2007 : Triangle Square Apartments—104 units of affordable housing for LGBT seniors—opens in Hollywood, the first complex of its kind in the country. Similar developments follow in Chicago and Philly in 2014 and NYC in 2018.
2016 : The AIDS Memorial, designed by Studio AI Architects and the artist Jenny Holzer, is unveiled in NYC. It commemorates more than 100,000 city residents who died of the disease.
The NYC AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village, NYC, which opened in 2016—some three decades after the crisis began.
2018 : The nation's first monument to LGBT people, designed by artist Anthony Goicolea, is unveiled in NYC's Hudson River Park.
2019 : Leong Leong and Killefer Flammang Architects finish the first of a series of spaces for the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The 72,000-square-foot project in Hollywood occupies nearly a full block and serves more people than any other LGBT center in the world.
2019 : The New York City City Council proposes the city's LGBT Center be landmarked for its historical significance.
Summer 2019 : The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots will be celebrated, partly in New York City, partly at the building where it all began.