If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives has been busy this week clearing a space for Jason Collins in our LGBT Archival Sports collection alongside the likes of Billy Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and John Amechi, among others.
The Jewel Box Revue, arguably America's first Gay Community, was a traveling troupe of female impersonators that was originally formed in 1939 and would tour cabaret clubs across America and Canada for decades during a time when being openly gay was a criminal offense often punishable by law.
On this day in a second-grade classroom in the Midwest, Harvey Milk was on the same stage as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as an 8-year-old gay boy who has never seen the need for a closet told Milk's story.
It's up to trans* people to be proactive and make certain that our individual and collective voices are heard loud and clear by the public and the media, and that we continue to be written into the record of queer history.
While I knew since before I came out to myself that there are many gay people of faith and many faiths that accept gays, God and religion are not where I turned. Learning about the stories of those LGBT people who had come before me gave me strength.
"I'd look at [Colt men] as a kid and say, 'That's what I want to be when I grow up,'" Brian Doyle tells me. "These guys were like Greek sculptures. You knew whoever was behind it really studied classical art and classical bodies. It seemed like such an honor to be in the pantheon of these men."
One summer in the early '60s at Camp Birch Ridge, when I was 12 or 13, I finally worked up the nerve to ask Paddles, my favorite counselor, the question that had been brewing in me: "How do lesbians have sex?"
Katherine Bucknell expertly positions Christopher Isherwood's private papers and private life vis-à-vis his place as a gay literary giant and restores his diaries as unique literary archives.
Hundreds and thousands of people have fought for equal rights, and I am thankful to them all. Their hard work, sacrifice and struggle brought us here, to a place where my little boy can know who he is and tell me without shame -- and be unaware that shame could even be a factor.
Darren moved to California around 1975, leaving Tim and his hometown behind. Tim remembers warning him that he'd be "just another pretty face" on the West Coast. But it wasn't long before that pretty face started popping up in the adult bookstore back home.
John Dale Harvey (aka "Tobi Marsh") was a drag performer whose recollections document the hardships and sacrifices that entertainers in the field of female impersonation/drag faced during the pre-Stonewall era. Sadly, Tobi passed away Nov. 15.
Our country may be divided on many things, but when it comes to our troops, we've made up our mind: national service should be rewarded with national praise. The LGBT community is fortunate to have great war heroes and veterans amongst our ranks.
This was more than just a "great election for LGBT people." This was a game changer. The game changer. We will never return to the level of indignity that we suffered before, even as we roll with the momentum to resolve the still-existent inequities that plague our lives.
If you live in a major city, chances are there is a library, an archive or a collection of LGBT materials near you. Go visit it! I've done a little work for you and come up with a few examples of some of the great collections.
There is an LGBT culture (just as there's a Jewish culture, a Southern culture, etc.) and with that culture come unique trends, traditions and experiences.
While the stories and photos in Born This Way range from heartbreaking to hilarious and are each uniquely told by a range of voices, from the famous (like Sen. Barney Frank and singer-songwriter Sia) to "everyday" people, it's heartening to discover how much common ground we share.
Most Popular
