Introduction and Scope

Email_sig.jpg

The Gay Community Center of Richmond is pleased to offer this exhibit detailing the LGBTQ history of Richmond, Virginia. While focused on our lives after 1969, the exhibit also includes pre-Stonewall history. We are excited to use this platform to continue our efforts to document our community and its people.

The OutHistory.org Since Stonewall project provided the impetus to this effort, but Richmond has made significant efforts to preserve its LGBTQ history for years. The Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University holds a substantial collection of material on our community's history. The Virginia Historical Society- one of the oldest archives in the nation - annually devotes resources to the collection and cataloguing of documents related to LGBT history.

Richmond is an old place, at least in American terms. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people have always been a part of its history. This exhibit is dedicated to all those who challenged the norms of society, who lived free and honest lives, and who moved us forward - maybe just a little, but always forward.