William Dorsey Swann

[2] When Swann was 24 years old, he was caught stealing books from the Washington Library Company and an item from his employers' home.

[6] This group, consisting of "former slaves and rebel drag queens", was known as the "House of Swann".

The cakewalk's improvisational movements and subtle expressions of communication were an inspiration source of voguing, the style popularized in Harlem's ball scene.

After police raided the birthday celebration, Swann was "bursting with rage", as he stood up to one of the arresting officers and declared, "You is no gentleman".

The arrests made at Swann's parties were published in the local newspapers, so townsfolk risked their reputation by attending.

[6][10][11] In 1896, he was convicted of "keeping a disorderly house", a euphemism for running a brothel, and was sentenced to 10 months in jail.

This request was denied, but Swann was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community's right to gather.

His legal efforts sparked a conversation about the LGBTQ+ community and may have even been one of the first instances of LGBTQ+ activism in the United States.

He helped lay the foundation for future activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and others who fought during the "modern LGBTQ rights movements".

[7] In 2022, the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission approved a resolution declaring the already-existing Swann Street, a road stretching for five blocks in Northwest Washington, D.C., to be named after William Dorsey Swann.