Being gay in Las Vegas until the 1990s was a felony with a hefty fine and long prison sentence. The Las Vegas LGBTQ community did not organize to fight for its rights until the late 1970s and by the early 1980s had made headway, before AIDS stopped their momentum. While AIDS was devastating, it taught compassion, self-reliance, and political savvy. By 2017, Las Vegas was a city among the most welcoming of the nation's queer community.