Lafayette Park has always been a delightful venue for socializing and from the early years of the Republic, Washington D.C. provided a vibrant social environment for gays and lesbians “despite periodic crackdowns by the police and government.” In the 1890s, Lafayette Park was the destination point of an annual “drag dance” where hundreds of gay African-American men dressed in female attire filled the park after a “dance” through the city. For many years and certainly during the first half of the twentieth century, it was a well-established gathering place for Washington’s gay community.
