The GLBT History Museum in San Francisco’s Castro District is the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history and culture in the United States. At 1,600 square feet (150 square meters), the museum is fairly small, but it packs a punch, celebrating 100 years of the city’s vast queer past through dynamic and surprising exhibitions and programming.

Among the objects on display are personal belongings of Harvey Milk; the pantsuits worn by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon to their 2008 wedding; a Laura Linney costume from the 1993 “Tales of the City” miniseries; and photos, documents and artifacts telling the amazing stories of a century of everyday queer life among the diverse populations of San Francisco. Multimedia exhibits include historic film, video and audio.

Open since January 2011, the museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, a San Francisco institution founded in 1985 that houses one of the world’s largest collections of GLBT archival materials. General admission to the museum is U.S. $5.00; admission for California students with ID is $3.00; free for GLBT Historical Society members; free to all visitors on the first Wednesday of each month (courtesy of the Bob Ross Foundation).