The National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (NCBLG) was the United States' first national organization for African American and Third World gay rights. The NCBLG was organized by A. Billy S. Jones, and Delores P. Berry in Columbia, Maryland in the spring of 1978 to provide a national advocacy forum for African American gay men and lesbians at a time when no other organization existed to express their views. The organizers were motivated in part by the belief that existing gay and lesbian organizations did not represent the views and experience of African Americans. The new organization quickly gave rise to local organizations in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland, and other cities across the U.S. NCBG's creation was contemporaneous with new visibility and activism on the part of A