LGBT flags

photo by: iStock.com/Harry Lines

LGBTQ+ History

Explore the diverse pasts that weave our multicultural nation together

Every June in cities across the country, revelers parade through the streets bearing rainbow banners in celebration of LGBT pride. The conversation that sometimes gets lost amid the festivities, however, is the true reason behind Pride: the commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City's Greenwich Village, a major moment in the gay civil rights movement.

LGBT (which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) history has many places, events, and people connected to it, yet these sites and voices are not always recognized or preserved. We are striving to weave more of these important threads into our cultural narrative, starting with the diverse stories below.

“All of us who are openly gay are living and writing the history of our movement. We are no more - and no less - heroic than the suffragists and abolitionists of the 19th century; and the labor organizers, Freedom Riders, Stonewall demonstrators, and environmentalists of the 20th century.”

Senator Tammy Baldwin

We believe all Americans deserve to see their history in the places that surround us. As a nation, we have work to do to fill in the gaps of our cultural heritage.

Let's Get to Work