LGBT rights activists, including Frank Kameny, center, joined D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, on right, in celebrating the formation of a civilian review board for the Metropolitan Police Department on Nov. 21, 1980. (Washington Blade archive photo by John M. Yanson)

Marion Barry is joined by LGBT Democratic Party activists at a celebration for the 10th anniversary of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club on Jan. 13, 1985. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry spoke at the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club Banquet on April 27, 1985. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry met with anti-gay televangelist Billy Graham on Dec. 13, 1985. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, on right, was joined by D.C. Council members Polly Schakleton (D-Ward 3) and H.R. Crawford (D-At-Large) in signing a bill on April 15, 1986 requiring the city to develop a comprehensive plan to address the AIDS epidemic. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry attended the Gay Activists Alliance Forum on Sept. 24, 1986. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry made several stops in gay bars in his bid for re-election in October of 1986. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry danced with LGBT supporters at a campaign stop in a gay bar in 1986. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Lesbian ANC Commissioner Sharon Goldzweig greeted Marion Barry at an inaugural disco party at the gay bar Tracks on Nov. 2, 1987. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Mayor Marion Barry met with nearly 200 LGBT activists and leaders on Nov. 23, 1987. He pledged to push for repeal of the District’s sodomy law and said he would give strong consideration to a domestic partnership law. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

From left, Elizabeth Leader, Bruce Pennington, Marion Barry and Linda Lawson. Leader, co-chairwoman of the fundraising committee for the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Pennington, president of the D.C. chapter of Black and White Men Together and Lawson, founder of the Lesbian Youth Outreach Program, were sworn in as members of the D.C. Human Rights Commission by Mayor Barry on March 11, 1988. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

From left, D.C. Council Chair David Clarke, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club Vice President Paul Bradley, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance President Lorri Jean celebrate following the signing of the domestic partnership study bill on July 15, 1988. The bill established a 25-member commission to study and report on providing domestic partnership benefits for D.C. government employees. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

D.C. Mayor Marion Berry met with Dupont Circle residents (Dupont Circle was a predominantly gay neighborhood at the time) to discuss crime and overdevelopment on Sept. 6, 1988. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry gave the keynote address at the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club Banquet on May 12, 1990. (Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

Marion Barry gave a victory speech following the results of the mayoral primary on Sept. 13, 1994. (Washington Blade archive photo by Kristi Gasaway)

Marion Barry spoke to LGBT activists on Oct. 4, 1994. (Washington Blade archive photo by Kristi Gasaway)

D.C. Mayor Marion Barry embraced Gertrude Stein Democratic Club founding President Richard Maulsby at an LGBT event on Oct. 4, 1994. (Washington Blade archive photo by Kristi Gasaway)

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) debated against the Religious Freedom And Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act on Dec. 1, 2009. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) sought and lost the endorsement of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club on Feb. 23, 2012. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Council member Marion Barry spoke at the Black Pride Opening Reception at the Hyatt Regency on May 25, 2012. (Washington Blade photo by Blake Bergen)

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) consoled gay D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) at Graham’s ethics reprimand by the Council on Feb. 25, 2013. Barry voted against the motion to reprimand. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Council member Marion Barry attended D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s election watch party on April 1, 2014. Gray lost the Democratic Party’s nomination. Barry would go on to support Gray’s primary opponent, Muriel Bowser, in her successful bid for mayor in the general election. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)