Expanding Collective History with the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance
A Q&A with Ken Lusbader on the new intative and its LGBTQ+ place based grant program.
When it comes to telling the stories of American history, some have been told more than others. The new, nationally focused, LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance aims to change that. The initiative is a wide-ranging effort to amplify LGBTQ+ place-based history and culture by assisting those working to identify and document these rich, yet often untold, stories. In addition to creating a national network and inventorying past efforts, it has announced the first-ever grant program specifically designed for projects related to LGBTQ+ site-based history, said Ken Lustbader, the key organizer of the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance and co-director of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project.
The grant program opens this month. The LGBTQ+ initiative is supported by a grant from the Humanities in Place program at the Mellon Foundation, which aims to connect people to their history through community-based approaches. Through Humanities in Place, Mellon is intentionally working to amplify stories that have been under-represented in historic preservation and are at risk of being erased in the current political climate.
photo by: Linnae Budusky
Exterior of the Demuth Museum (a member of the National Trust's Historic Artists' Homes and Studios Program), which tells the story of Charles Demuth who was a master watercolorist and a gay man in the early 20th century. The museum is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“There’s been a direct sort of erasure, that is a very intentional and targeted way to create a narrative that is not inclusive of the wide range of people and experiences that that have made our kind of collective history,” said Justin Garrett Moore, the program director for the Humanities in Place program.
We asked Lustbader about this latest effort to expand storytelling of LGBTQ+ cultural heritage at a national level, how it came to be, and what prospective grantees need to know about the application process.
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How did the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance come to be?
Lustbader: For the past ten years, I’ve been part of the small team at the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. As our work in the city evolved, we were making ad-hoc connections across the country with the growing number of individuals and efforts grounding their work in the documentation, interpretation, and preservation of LGBTQ+ place-based history.
These ranged from such efforts as LGBTQ+ history walking tours, exhibitions, and historic context statements. It became increasingly apparent that there was a need to establish a network of people doing similar work to connect, answer questions, share information, and develop best practices. I approached Mellon about this need and was fortunate that its Humanities in Place program—with its expansive view of the importance of place—provided support including the development of a grant program.
photo by: Invisitble Histories
Invisible Histories is dedicated to archiving the histories of LGBTQ+ people in the deep south.
How did you identify the people and organizations doing that work and home in on their needs?
Lustbader: Separate from the New York City project, we established a national committee, and our first goal was to identify and inventory the various efforts throughout the country. This resulted in a 2023 survey and report of preservationists, public historians, municipalities, state historic preservation offices, preservation organizations, and anyone working on LGBTQ+ history efforts that were grounded in site-based inquiries.
We thought we were going to receive 30-to-40 responses, but were shocked to receive more than 300. Those responses, while not exhaustive, helped create a database—no such list had previously been compiled—that inventories the diversity, gaps, and range of efforts being implemented across the U.S.
What did you learn from the survey?
Lustbader: On a macro level, it demonstrated the volume and the geographic distribution of these efforts, ranging from plaques to exhibitions to walking tours to Instagram accounts. At a micro level—and somewhat not surprising—was the lack of diversity of place-based efforts focused on narratives of marginalized communities within the LGBTQ+ umbrella.
For example, we received limited examples of LGBTQ+ efforts exploring Black, Latine, and trans experiences through the lens of place. This points to the challenges of researching and documenting LGBTQ+ history due to the limited archival record and lack of physical imprint that these stories leave on the built environment.
How will the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance grant program address their needs?
Lustbader: The grant program will support efforts that advance the recognition, preservation, and interpretation of historic sites related to LGBTQ+ communities in the U.S. and its territories. It is open to individuals, not-for-profits, and those with fiscal sponsors. We’re hoping applicants will include enthusiasts, preservationists, public historians, curators, and archivists. It’s important to note that applicants can apply on their own and don’t need to be associated with a 501(c)(3) or fiscal sponsor. If you have a passion project, we want to hear from you.
photo by: History Atlanta
Cover of one of the many historical context statements, all of which you can find on the website of the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance.
How unusual is it to have a grant program open to individual culture-bearers like this?
Lustbader: It’s unusual and we intentionally made it that way. Typically, if an individual wants to apply for a grant, they will need to establish a relationship with a not-for-profit or fiscal sponsor to facilitate the grant. This is often challenging, especially with small projects and those related to grass-roots research of LGBTQ+ history. We wanted to remove those barriers of entry to attract the greatest diversity of possible projects.
What is the process and how many grants will be offered?
Lustbader: The first step is to submit a brief letter of intent through the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance website, which is due July 21, 2025. While there are no set number of grants, the total amount awarded will be $75,000 with support ranging from $500 to a maximum of $5,000. Hopefully, this is a pilot program that can be repeated based on need and success. If the letter of intent is approved, applicants will be invited to submit a formal proposal that will be due in the fall. The award notification will be announced in November-December and projects must be completed by June 2027.
photo by: Mapping LGBTQ STL
A view of the mapping LGBTQ St. Louis project which maps LGBTQ life in the Missouri city between 1945-1992.
Why is it significant to have projects that specifically are grounded in a connection to a site?
As a preservationist, I advocate for using historic sites as tools to tell stories. There’s a big difference between reading about a person or event in a history book—or just knowing something happened in a neighborhood—and actually standing at the site where it took place. This is especially clear when we lead LGBTQ+ history tours in Greenwich Village.
While many people know about the Stonewall uprising, LGBTQ+ place-based history is far more expansive. For example, when we stop at 337 Bleecker Street—where playwright Lorraine Hansberry wrote A Raisin the Sun while living there and, as a Black woman, navigated one aspect of her identity within homosocial and LGBTQ+ circles—it brings that layered story to life. Sites like this make invisible histories visible, grounding queer lives in real tangible places. That’s the power of place—something only possible through historic preservation.
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