In January 1978, Virginia Apuzzo, Gary Deane, and Robert N. Mehl (1943-1991), invited a group of lesbians and gay men to a meeting at Deane’s Boerum Hill apartment to discuss the formation of a Gay Political Caucus in Brooklyn. The meeting was an outgrowth of Deane’s narrow loss – as an openly gay candidate -- in a race for an at-large city council seat in November 1977 and of a recent defeat for a lesbian and gay rights bill in the New York City Council. Approximately 20 people attended the initial meeting, including Peter Vogel (1945-1986), Debra Edison (Silber), and Lewton (Lew) Smith.

Sentiment in the room was for the formation of a reform Democratic political club and at a subsequent meeting in February 1978, the group voted to constitute itself as such and to eventually apply for official recognition by the Kings County Democratic Coalition (K.C.D.C.), the umbrella organization of reform Democratic political clubs in the borough.

Vogel was selected to oversee the formulation of a constitution which was ratified at a general meeting held April 18, 1978, at which time Vogel and Marilyn Cooper were elected co-chairs of the group. The constitution stated that L.I.D. was established "in the belief that it is mainly through political action that the needs and aspirations of the lesbian and gay community will ultimately be realized; and that the Democratic Party of this County and State is potentially the best vehicle for the conduct of such political action."

Among the first group of candidates endorsed by L.I.D. was Apuzzo, who ran for state Assembly in a Ft. Greene/Boreum Hill district, open about her sexual orientation. She lost the September 1978 primary.

In 1980, club members Apuzzo, Vogel and H. Douglas Guevara were elected as delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Four years later, five club members attended the National Convention in an official capacity.

In 1982, L.I.D. was included in a procedure sponsored by the borough’s reform Democratic clubs to select a single candidate to oppose Thomas Cuite, the city council majority leader from Windsor Terrace/Park Slope, whose opposition to a city gay rights bill was viewed as instrumental in keeping it from a floor vote in the city council. The consensus candidate, Stephen DiBrienza, lost a close primary race. That same year, Apuzzo, Vogel and Denise Alexander were among twelve people elected to the board of the newly constituted National Association of Gay and Lesbian Democratic Clubs.

In 1985, L.I.D. amended its constitution (Article VII) to establish five standing committees to support the organization’s work: Political Action, Membership, Finance, Social and Communications. Within several years, the formation of Brooklyn based organizations such as Gay Friends and Neighbors (G.F.N.)., Slope Activities for Lesbians (S.A.L., later Social Activities for Lesbians) and Lesbians & Gays of Flatbush, rendered the Social Committee dormant, since these groups, with the sole purpose of organizing social events for the borough’s lesbian and gay community, largely negated the need for L.I.D. to play this role.

In 1990 and 1991, L.I.D. gathered information, offered testimony and presented documentation in support of the creation of a lesbian or gay "winnable" city council district in Brooklyn to the Redistricting Commission charged with formulating new city council district lines Anti-lesbian and gay violence was a major focus of club activities in the early 1990s following a highly publicized attack on two lesbians in Park Slope. L.I.D. was involved in the organizing of several protest marches following the incident; lobbied to have the incident characterized as a bias crime; and successfully worked for the placement of an openly lesbian or gay police officer in the 78th precinct centered in Park Slope.

In 1992 and 1993, L.I.D. organized in support of the "Children of the Rainbow" curriculum at hearings in Brooklyn School Districts 13 (Ft. Greene), 15 (Park Slope/Sunset Park) and 22 (Sheepshead Bay, Mill Basin) and in May 1993 provided significant support to Jill Harris in her successful election to the District 15 School Board, becoming the borough’s first openly lesbian or gay elected official.

Four years later, L.I.D. was instrumental in the historic election of Debra Silber to the Civil Court, becoming the first lesbian or gay man elected to a borough wide office in New York City. In 1999, a lesbian and a gay man were elected to the District 15 School Board with L.I.D.'s support -- Anna Bermudez and Gary Allard-Mendelson.

Since its early years, L.I.D. has published a periodic newsletter Lambda Line which chronicles the activities of the organization. In addition, L.I.D. has sponsored public meetings which featured visits from political figures such as Mario Cuomo, John Lindsay, Carol Bellamy, David Dinkins, Geraldine Ferraro, Charles Hynes, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Ruth Messinger. It has presented an "Author’s Night" series with guests Audre Lorde, Edmund White, Vito Russo, Randy Shilts, Gabriel Rotello and Donna Minkowitz among others. Films screened by L.I.D include Academy Award winning documentaries "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk," "Uncommon Threads," "Changing Our Minds: The Evelyn Hooker Story," and "Chicks in White Satin." These examples are in addition to issue-oriented presentations, panel discussions and endorsement meetings, which have formed the bulk of L.I.D.’s programming activity.