O'Leary's efforts at the NGTF took many forms. Often together with Voeller, she traveled extensively in support of gay civil rights legislation and the repeal of laws. They put considerable effort into community organizing to build momentum for change. The NGTF was also active in the successful campaign to have the American Psychiatric Association remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

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After five years with the NGTF, O'Leary left to become executive director of the National Gay Rights Advocates (NGRA) in 1981. A nonprofit public-interest group, the NGRA was dedicated to defending the civil liberties of gay men and lesbians. Its particular mission was to take on cases that would set legal precedents to protect gay and lesbian rights and to ensure that AIDS patients were protected from discrimination. O'Leary remained with the NGRA until 1989.

O'Leary joined with Rob Eichberg, the founder of The Experience, a program designed to develop self-esteem in gay men and lesbians, to establish National Coming Out Day. The initial observance was on October 11, 1988, the one-year anniversary of the second march on Washington. The event has developed into the National Coming Out Project of the Human Rights Campaign.

At the same time that O'Leary began working with the NGRA, she also ventured into the private sector, becoming an investment realtor in California.

Throughout her career O'Leary was active in Democratic Party politics. In 1976, she was the only openly lesbian delegate to the national convention. Over the years, she worked consistently to have glbtq issues addressed in the party platform and to increase the number of glbtq delegates.

In 1998 she served as co-chair of the Democratic National Committee's Gay and Lesbian Caucus and a member of the DNC Executive Committee. Together with fellow Gay and Lesbian Caucus member Jeff Soref and California Assemblywoman Carole Migden, O'Leary put forward an amendment to party rules requiring the inclusion of gay men and lesbians in all state delegations. The measure was unanimously adopted by the Rules and Bylaws Committee.

O'Leary resided in Los Angeles with her partner, Lisa Phelps, and their two children.

O'Leary died on June 4, 2005 from complications of lung cancer.

Throughout the year, the glbtq community unites in pride and in protest, in recognition of a rich heritage and in hope for the future.

The site of contentious battles for glbtq rights, Miami is home to a vibrant glbtq community; as is Key West, which has a long tradition of celebrating diversity.

Both parades and marches have served to render the glbtq community visible; whereas marches typically attempt to effect political change, parades and pride events affirm identity and community.

American activist Virginia Apuzzo has dedicated her life to gay and lesbian issues, including civil rights, health care, and the concerns of aging members of the glbtq community.

American artist Don Bachardy, the long-time companion of novelist Christopher Isherwood, has achieved renown in his own right for his nudes and celebrity portraits, which honestly convey the personalities of his sitters.

American activist and academic Charlotte Bunch is a key player in the movement for international human rights for women.

Political activist Midge Costanza has a long and distinguished record as a champion of gay and women's rights.

The American glbtq movement for equality has largely allied itself with the Democratic Party.

An important organization of the early post-Stonewall era, the Gay Activists Alliance, which flourished from 1969 to 1974, strove to give gay men and lesbians visibility in American politics.

The largest glbtq political organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign has emerged as the leading national organization representing glbtq concerns.

One of the founding fathers of the American gay rights movement, Frank Kameny helped radicalize the homophile movement, preparing the way for the mass movement for equality initiated by the Stonewall Riots of 1969.

The oldest continuously operating national glbtq interest group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has played a significant role in the development of the glbtq movement for equal rights.

Troy Perry is the founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Protestant denomination devoted to ministering to the spiritual needs of glbtq people.

The confrontations between police and demonstrators at the Stonewall Inn in New York City the weekend of June 27-29, 1969 mark the beginning of the modern glbtq movement for equal rights.

American activist and scientist Bruce Voeller was a leader in both the gay rights movement and the fight against AIDS.