Beyond Stone Walls & Disco Balls: LGBTQ+ History Month

"All of us who are openly gay are living and writing the history of our movement"  - U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI)

June 2019 saw us celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a week in the summer of 1969 when queer folks fought back against anti-gay police brutality. Stonewall sparked the modern movement for LGBTQ+rights and has inspired annual marches and parades. Pride Month every June is a rainbow explosion of celebration and commemoration, but LGBTQ+History Month in October is a great time to learn more about the history that came before and after Stonewall.

Queer: A Graphic History is a brief, illustrated history of queerness and queer theories of the past century from activists, philosophers, and others. In Queer History of the United States (also available in a version for younger readers) we look at the history of our country and how we have subverted gender norms and expressed attraction since even before our founding as a nation.

Although we think of the Village as the heart of LGBTQ+history here in New York, When Brooklyn Was Queer explores more than 100 years of transmen, drag kings, lesbians, and other queer folk in our very own borough starting in the mid-1800s. Trans identity is nothing new, but we often see a focus on white transgender women like Lili Elbe or Christine Jorgensen to the exclusion of other races and genders. Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity helps to set some of the historical record straight and delves into the lives of trans people of color.

Queer artists have also influenced the performing arts. David Bowie and the glam rock era might be famously gender-flamboyant, but playing with gender and orientation in dress and performance began decades before then. Ma Rainey was noted for her dapper looks, ladyloves and scandalous lyrics. Read about her life in Blues Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Davis. Explore queer musical history in-depth with David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music, or give the quick and colorful 50 Queer Music Icons Who Changed the World a try.

Check out these and other great books on LGBTQ+history. Visit the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Park Slope or the Leslie-Lohman Museum in Soho for historical materials, art, and more.