LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History is a publication of the National Park Foundation for the National Park Service and funded by the Gill Foundation. Written by experts in the field, it consists of 32 chapters and over 1200 pages that cover different aspects of LGBTQ Studies. These topics cover LGBTQ history in the United States, the preservation of LGBTQ heritage, intersectionality, transgender history, the importance of people of color in the community, LGBTQ spaces and places, religion, sports, art, and more. Visit the National Park Service's website to read the entire document for free.
The mission of The History Project is to document and preserve the history of Boston's LGBT community, and to share that information with the public.
For a more extensive look at Boston's LGBTQ history in the early 1970s, visit the Boston Globe article: "How Boston Powered the Gay Rights Movement."
Sylvia Sidney, Boston's most infamous drag queen, performs onstage circa 1947 at the age of 17, long before the explosion of the gay rights movement in the '70s. Sylvia Sidney, or Sidney Sushman, was active in Boston's gay nightlife scene for five decades.
Photo Credit: The History Project
The Student Homophile League holds their first Liberation Dance at the Harvard Free University in Lawrence Hall, an abandoned building scheduled for demolition.
Photo credit: The History Project
Women participate in a lesbian rights rally at the Boston Commons Parkman Bandstand.
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, the Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
A gay pride parade is held in Back Bay.
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
Banners are held at the Back Bay gay pride parade, demanding legal equality.
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
The lesbian contingent at the Back Bay gay pride parade display a banner quoting Mao Zedong: "Women hold up half the sky."
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
Prominent gay politician Barney Frank addresses the crowd at a gay pride rally at the Parkman Bandstand in the Boston Commons.
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
"Gay Unity is Gay Strength" is the theme for the 1976 Gay Pride Parade at Copley Square.
Photo Credit: The Boston Globe, 'Wicked Proud: How Boston Has Been Celebrating Gay Pride for 45 Years'
A gay pride parade marches on Commonwealth Ave.
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
Female impersonators pose as they carry a gay pride sign at a rally held in Copley Square.
Photo Credit: Spencer Grant, Spencer Grant Collection at Boston Public Library
Elaine Noble, the first openly gay state representative in the nation, speaks at a 1977 gay rights rally at the Boston Common.
Photo Credit: Stan Grossfeld, Boston Globe, "How Boston Powered the Gay Rights Movement"
Dignity/Boston, an organization for GLBT Catholics formed during the Gay Liberation movement that followed the Stonewall Riots, bears signs during the 1978 Gay Pride March.
Photo Credit: Ken Rall, The History Project
Men of All Colors Together, the Boston chapter of the National Association of Black and White Men Together, declares "Lesbians and Gays Say No to Nazis and the Klan" in protest of racial and societal inequalities.
Photo Credit: The History Project
"It's a Nice Day to Be Out" is the theme for the 1982 Gay Pride Parade.
Photo Credit: The Boston Globe, 'Wicked Proud: How Boston Has Been Celebrating Gay Pride for 45 Years'
The Batacuda Belles, an all-women percussion troupe that plays the Brazilian-inspired batucada samba, performs in the 1983 Boston Pride March.
Photo Credit: Susan Bernstein, The History Project
Members of the AIDS Action Committee, the oldest and largest community-based health organization, march for a rally titled "Stepping Out with Pride."
Photo Credit: The Boston Globe, 'Wicked Proud: How Boston Has Been Celebrating Gay Pride for 45 Years'
At the 1985 Gay Pride Parade, The AIDS Action Committee hold a banner and signs dating the deaths of community members.
Photo Credit: Janet Knott, The Boston Globe
The co-chair of Men of All Colors Together, George Nolley, poses with a piece of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, commemorating member Michael O'Leary.
Photo Credit: Laura Wulf, The History Project
A couple kiss at the 1987 "Out for Good" Pride Parade.
Photo Credit: Tom Herde, The Boston Globe
Marchers enter the Boston Common for the 1988 parade, themed "Rightfully Proud."
Photo Credit: Suzanne Kreiter, The Boston Globe
Celebrators flood Beacon Street for the 1989 parade theme: "A Generation of Pride."
Photo Credit: Wendy Maeda, The Boston Globe
Members of Lesbianas Latinas (LESLA), an organization formed in 1986, march with a LESLA banner on Charles Street in Beacon Hill during the 1990 Boston Pride march.
Photo Credit: Susan Fleischmann, The History Project
Club Antorcha, originally Latinos Unidos, works to expand the visibility of Latino gay men in Boston with their motto: "Illuminating Our History, Lighting the Present, a Beacon into the Future."
Photo Credit: Susan Fleischmann, The History Project
The AIDS Action Committee joins the 1991 "Together in Pride" parade on Beacon Street.
Photo Credit: The Boston Globe, 'Wicked Proud: How Boston Has Been Celebrating Gay Pride for 45 Years'
Rainbow balloons are featured in the 1993 "Family of Pride" celebration.
Photo Credit: The Boston Globe, 'Wicked Proud: How Boston Has Been Celebrating Gay Pride for 45 Years'
Marchers show off their costumes for the "Pride Without Borders" parade.
Photo Credit: Pam Berry, The Boston Globe
Transgender author and activist
Lesbian actress, comedian, and singer
Lesbian WNBA
basketball player
Gay NFL football player
Gay television personality, journalist, and author
Gay actor
Gay actor
Gay television personality and journalist
Bisexual singer and songwriter
1946-1991
Gay actor, director, and author
Transgender actress, producer, and activist
Transgender actor
Gay singer, actor, and author
Bisexual writer, feminist, and activist
LGB Singer and songwriter
Bisexual novelist, poet, and political activist
Lesbian political television host and author
Transvestite (self-identified) stand-up comedian and actor
Pansexual, agender rapper and singer
Genderfluid, lesbian actress, model, and DJ
Lesbian poet
630-570 BC
Sculpture from Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Transgender activist
1951-2002
Lesbian writer, feminist, and activist
1934-1992
Gay artist
1958-1990
Bisexual vedette, singer, and entertainer
1906-1975
Bisexual artist
1907-1954
Bisexual First Lady
1884-1962
Bisexual blues singer
1886-1939
Bisexual writer
1925-2012
Gay writer
1924-1987
Lesbian political activist, academic scholar, and author
Lesbian playwright and writer
1930-1965
Lesbian or bisexual silent film star
1883-1971
Lesbian stage actress, producer, director, and author
1899-1991
Many people, from the ones you study in history class to the ones you read about online are members of the LGBTQ community. Here is an abridged list of LGBTQ individuals from all walks of life who went on to do amazing things:
ANCIENTS: Socrates / Greek Philosopher, 400 BC Sappho / Greek Woman Poet, 600 BC Aristotle / Greek Philosopher, 384-322 BC |
CLASSICAL: Michelangelo / Italian Artist, 15th C Leonardo Da Vinci / Italian Artist and Scientist, 15th C Christopher Marlowe / English Playwright, 16th C |
RULERS: Alexander the Great / Macedonian Ruler, 300 BC Peter the Great / Russian Czar, 17th-18th C Frederick the Great / King of Prussia |
MILITARY: Tammy Smith / US Army General Reichen Lehmkuhl / US Air Force Officer Gary Ross / US Navy Officer Dan Choi / US Army Officer |
ACTIVISTS: Bayard Rustin / US Civil Rights Activist w MLK Angela Davis / US Political Activist Susan B. Anthony / Women’s Suffrage Activist |
BUSINESS/ECONOMICS: Tim Cook / CEO of Apple Computers John M. Keynes / English Economist Robert Hanson / CEO of American Eagle Outfitters |
WRITERS: Hans Christian Andersen / Danish Author James Baldwin / US Author Langston Hughes / US Author Herman Melville / US Author Maurice Sendak / US Writer Gertrude Stein / US Poet and Author |
Alice B. Toklas / US Author P.L. Travers / English Writer (Mary Poppins) Walt Whitman / US Poet and Author Oscar Wilde / Irish Author Tennessee Williams / US Playwright Virginia Woolf / English Author |
NEWS/MEDIA: Rachel Maddow / US News Commentator (MSNBC) Anderson Cooper / US Newscaster (CNN) Don Lemon / US News Anchor (CNN) Robin Roberts / US Talk Show Host (Good Morning America) Janet Mock / US Magazine Editor (People.Com) |
MUSICIANS: Cole Porter / US Composer Leonard Bernstein / US Composer Peter Tchaikovsky / Russian Composer Elton John / English Rock Star George Michael / English Pop Star |
Janis Joplin / US Singer Liberace / US Pianist and Entertainer Tracy Chapman / US Musician Lance Bass / US Musician (N’Sync) Brandi Carlisle / US Musician Clay Aiken / US Musician (American Idol) Ricky Martin / US Pop Star |
ARTISTS/DANCERS: Andy Warhol / US Artist Keith Haring / US Painter Annie Leibovitz / US Photographer Frida Kahlo / Mexican Painter Robert Mapplethorpe / US Photographer Josephine Baker / US Dancer Isaac Mizrahi / US Fashion Designer |
ACTORS / ENTERTAINERS: James Dean / US Film Actor Ellen Degeneres / US Actor and Comedian Lily Tomlin / US Actor and Comedian B.D. Wong / US Actor Margaret Cho / US Comedian George Takei / US Actor (Star Trek) Lindsey Lohan / US Movie Actor Ellen Page / US Movie Actor (Juno) |
Neil Patrick Harris / US Television Actor (Doogie Howser) Wanda Sykes / US Comedian and Actor John Barrowman / US and UK Actor Laverne Cox / US Trans TV Actor (Orange is the New Black) Chris Colfer / US Television Actor (Glee) Jim Parsons / US Television Actor (Big Bang Theory) Gillian Anderson / US TV Actor (X Files) Raven Symone / US TV Actor (Cosby Show) |
POLITICS: Eleanor Roosevelt / US Stateswoman Harvey Milk / US Politician Barney Frank / US Congressman (MA) Tammy Baldwin / US Congresswomen (WI) Jim McGreevey / New Jersey Governor Sam Adams / Portland OR Mayor David Cicilline / Providence RI Mayor
|
ATHLETES: Martina Navratilova / US Tennis Player Greg Louganis / US Olympic Swimmer Abby Wamback / Olympic Soccer Player Brian Boitano / US Olympic Figure Skater Tom Daily / British Olympic Diver |
Jason Collins / US NBA Basketball Player Michael Sam / US NFL Football Player Billie Jean King / US Tennis Player Orlando Cruz / Puerto Rican Boxer Belle Brockhoff / US Olympic Snowboarder Sheryl Swoopes / US WNBA Basketball Player |
SCIENCE/RESEARCH/PHILOSOPHY: Alfred Kinsey / Researcher, Father of Sexology (1894-1956) Alan Turing / British Mathematician (1912-1954) Michael Foucault / French Philosopher, Sociologist, and Educator (1926-1984) Sally Ride / American Physicist and Astronaut (1951-2012) |