Lesbian Visibility Week USA (#LVWUSA25), powered by The Curve Foundation, kicked off on Monday, April 21, 2025, and will run through Sunday, April 27, with special events happening in San Francisco and across the nation.
This year’s Lesbian Visibility Week (LVW) embraces the theme “Celebrating Rainbow Families” with a diverse range of events honoring the many ways our communities forge meaningful connections beyond traditional family structures. From high-profile ceremonies in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, to cultural festivals and sports-focused gatherings, LVW showcases the power of professional relationships, art & creativity, civic engagement, mentorship, and athletic participation in building strong, inclusive communities. This year’s celebration highlights the deep bonds that unite our diverse rainbow families, fostering connection and belonging in all its forms.
“In this moment, being visible is an act of defiance. Lesbian Visibility Week is about standing proud, sharing our stories, and making sure our voices are heard. It’s a chance to stand in our values, build community, foster understanding, and create a lasting legacy that ensures LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people are never erased,” said Franco Stevens, the Founder of Curve magazine and Co-Founder of The Curve Foundation.
Highlights from the week will include the lighting of San Francisco City Hall on April 24 in the colors of the lesbian flag, plus a Coast-To-Coast Flag Raising Ceremony with LGBTQ+ centers, university groups, and nonprofits across the country.
Special thanks to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman for their support, advocacy, and instrumental role in organizing the City Hall events.
President Mandelman said, “In our community’s darkest hour, lesbians in San Francisco and other cities stepped up—caring for dying gay men during the AIDS crisis, and providing political leadership when we most needed it. Carole Migden, Roberta Achtenberg, Susan Leal, and Leslie Katz earned their seats in our Board chamber and fought for queer rights and a better San Francisco. Today, lesbian women continue to lead in critical positions across our city departments. Appropriately recognizing the historic and contemporary contributions of lesbians to our politics and culture is long overdue. Lesbian Visibility Week is an opportunity for San Francisco to do just that.”
Calendar of Lesbian Visibility Week Events
The Curve 2025 Power List was released earlier this week:
https://bit.ly/4iwQQGD
Curve on April 22 also released its special LVW issue: https://www.curvemag.com/
On April 23, there was a Wellness Wednesday with free wellness activities hosted at select LGBTQ+ community centers, including Queer & Well at the SF LGBT Center.
Today, the date of this publication on April 24, at 4 pm is the Official LVW San Francisco City Hall Reception and Flag Raising on the Mayor’s Balcony (by invitation only). Later in the evening, at 7:30 pm, San Francisco City Hall will be illuminated in the colors of the lesbian flag.
On Friday, April 25, at 6 pm there will be the opening of the Queer & Proud Art Exhibition: A Celebration of Lesbian Visibility. Step back in time for an evocative art opening at the SF LGBT Center.
On Saturday, April 26, at 12:30 pm, there will be a Queer Women in Sports Day panel called Power and Pressures of Being Out in Sports. This will be held in partnership with Rikki’s, San Francisco’s upcoming women’s sports bar. The event will be located at Manny’s.
On Sunday, April 27, at 3:30 pm, there will be a screening of the film Tank Girl at The Roxie, presented by Frameline and award-winning Bay Area director and screenwriter Alice Wu.
Also on April 27, there will be a Dyke March Fundraiser and celebration of the birthday of San Francisco Bay Times Co-Publisher and “Betty’s List” Founder Dr. Betty Sullivan at Catch French Bistro in the Castro. For more information and to register: https://bit.ly/4ioyLuc
For additional details on these Bay Area events and the slate of activities nationwide, the full LVW calendar is available at https://lesbianvisibilityweekusa.com
About the Curve Foundation
The only national nonprofit championing LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people’s culture and stories from an intergenerational perspective, The Curve Foundation works to empower and amplify the voices of the Curve Community—lesbians, queer women, trans and nonbinary people of all races, ages, and abilities. The Curve Foundation is built upon the 30+ year legacy of Curve magazine, one of the most influential publications dedicated to representing and advocating for the experiences of lesbian and queer women. In addition to LVW and the Curve Power List, The Curve Foundation’s programming includes: the Curve Fellowship for Emerging Journalists, created to support career development and raise the visibility of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people; and Curve Conversations, intersectional and multi-generational speaker events that provide context and a throughline between critical conversations forming our movement from the 1990s to today. For more information about The Curve Foundation, visit https://thecurvefoundation.org.
Sponsors & Supporters
LVW is sponsored by the London Stock Exchange Group, HSBC, DIVA, GLAAD, and Kantar, and supported by the SF LGBT Center, QWOCMAP, Frameline, Greenwood Pride, Women of Provincetown Innkeepers, NCLR, The 19th, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, Garcia Real Estate Group, Indy Pride, Uniting Resilience: Native Two-Spirit, Mazer Lesbian Archives, GLBT Historical Society, Equality Florida, Babes & Bois, Gerber/Hart LGBTQ+ Library & Archives, Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, The Sports Bra, A Bar Of Their Own, Shelly Bean The Sports Queen, Watch Me! Sports Bar, and Rikki’s Sports Bar. The San Francisco Bay Times is proud to be a media sponsor of LVW.
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