Events
Learn more about important topics and issues in our community’s history—and meet folks with shared interests—by attending thought-provoking and lively events offered throughout the year.
Sign up for our email list for advance notice of upcoming events presented by or in association with Rainbow History Project.
Upcoming events
Dupont Underground: Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington
Friday, June 5 | 12:00 am
Dupont Underground: 19 Dupont Cir NW, Washington, DC 20036
In Partnership with the Dupont Underground
The exhibition disrupts the popularly held belief that the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement began with the Stonewall Riots in 1969 New York. While this pushback to police violence was vital, DC’s LGBTQ+ history of resistance actually predates the Stonewall Riots. RHP recognizes this picket, four years before the Stonewall Riots, where 10 members of the Mattachine Society of Washington marched with signs in front of the White House–as the start of DC’s rich queer history.
- Exhibition Hours. June 5-July 4. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11-5 unless closed for a matinee performance. (Closing at 1 pm on June 7 for the 2 pm matinee of A Fine Madness.)
- Suggested donation $5 to Dupont Underground. Your donations help ensure that Dupont Underground can continue to provide a venue for important local cultural history and art exhibitions to the public.
Congressional Cemetery: Gays & Graves Festival
Sunday, June 14 | 11:00 am
Congressional Cemetery
RHP will be tabling and paneling at the Gays & Graves Big Gay Festival at Congressional Cemetery!
As a National Historic Landmark and the final resting place of numerous LGBTQ+ activists and pioneers, Congressional Cemetery offers a one-of-a-kind meaningful setting to reflect on the struggles and achievements that have shaped LGBTQ+ life in Washington and across the nation. Today, it is not only a place of memory, but an active civic landscape where people gather to learn, connect, and celebrate.
Throughout the day, visitors can explore an outdoor market featuring LGBTQ+ and allied artists, makers, and small businesses, as well as programming in the historic chapel and the grounds focused on LGBTQ+ history and lived experience. This year’s festival will include a special commemorative wreath-laying with activist Randy Wicker at the grave of Leonard Matlovich, alongside the unveiling of new interpretive signage for the Cemetery’s LGBTQ+ section.
Whether you’re here to shop, learn or reflect, Gays & Graves is a celebration you don’t want to miss.
Mark your calendars and be part of this unforgettable day of Pride where LGBTQ+ history and legacy lives.
Pride Interfaith Service
Monday, June 22 | 7:00 pm
St. Mark's Episocpal Church (301 A Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003)
Join Centerfaith for their annual interfaith service during pride!
This service celebrates affirming faith traditions and intertradition dialogue hosted by queer and trans faith leaders. The interfaith service has been hosted annually for over 40 years, and first began back in the 1980s with faith leaders and queer people of faith coming together to mourn and pray at the site of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall. Learn more about the history of the interfaith service here.
Dupont Circle Walking Tour (6/28 @ 2 pm)
Sunday, June 28 | 2:00 pm
Dupont Circle Fountain
Join the Rainbow History Project for a vibrant journey through LGBT+ history in the Dupont Circle Neighborhood!
– Meet at the Dupont Circle Fountain
– It will last about 1 hour to 1 1/12 hours and will include some inclines
– Registration is required (Registration to be added from Eventbrite)
– Please bring a water bottle and good walking shoes!
Dupont Circle Walking Tour (7/19 @ 2 pm)
Sunday, July 19 | 2:00 pm
Dupont Circle Fountain
Join the Rainbow History Project for a vibrant journey through LGBT+ history in the Dupont Circle Neighborhood!
-Meet at the Dupont Circle Fountain
– It will last about 1 hour to 1 1/12 hours and will include some inclines
-Registration is required (Registration to be added from Eventbrite)
-Please bring a water bottle and good walking shoes!
July Volunteer Meeting
Sunday, July 26 | 12:00 am
Location and Time TBD
Join RHP for our monthly volunteer meeting! Meet other volunteers and learn about current volunteering opportunities.
Past events
Learn more about our public panels and programs. Many of our past public panels and programs have been recorded on video and are available for viewing on the RHP YouTube channel.
Walking tours
Get to know historic LGBTQ neighborhoods with guided or self-guided walking tours.
