An interview with the author of a groundbreaking 1975 essay on lesbian history.
Atlanta Since Stonewall, 1969-2009: A Local History brings to life a segment of the city’s LGBTQ past, highlighting nationally recognized and little-known personalities, places, and events. Through photographs, printed materials, ephemera, and links…
An introduction to and overview of the story of Angela Calomiris, a working-class lesbian who was a key informant for the FBI in the 1940s against the Communist Party.
In 1864, John William Sterling graduated from Yale College. About 1870, in his mid-twenties, Sterling met James Orville Bloss, who was three years younger. The two formed a relationship of almost 50 years, and lived together in New York City for most…
An exhibit on the rediscovery of female impersonator and singer Gene Pearson. Published originally on OutHistory in 2020.
Two historians, Jonathan Ned Katz and Tavia Nyong’o, present and analyze the story and visual depiction of Peter Sewally/Mary Jones, a Black transgender person in New York City, in 1836. First published on OutHistory in 2017.
This was originally published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling in Boutilier v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which upheld the deportation of Clive Michael Boutilier, a Canadian citizen and U.S.…
The growth of gossip magazines and tabloids during the first half of the twentieth century was partially fueled by the industry's embrace of sensational topics such as murder, violence, crime, and corruption. But no subject seemed to attract…
Esther Eng made a name for herself as the world's first female Chinese American filmmaker, a successful restaurateur, and—rejecting social expectations—a woman who felt little need to hide her romantic and sexual relationships with other women.…
In 1864, John William Sterling graduated from Yale College. About 1870, in his mid-twenties, Sterling met James Orville Bloss, who was three years younger. The two formed a relationship of almost 50 years and lived together in New York City for most…
On April 6, 1976, two gay liberation organizations "zapped" (demonstrated at) the New York Academy of Medicine, in New York City, which was hosting a panel on homosexuality sponsored by the Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine, and…
An essay by Elly Bulkin about Jo Sinclair, pen name of Ruth Seid (1913-1995), a working-class Jewish lesbian writer. Sinclair's positive portrayals of 1940s lesbians and norm-breaking teen, her fictional explorations of Jewish identity, and her…
The Stone Wall, the autobiography of Ruth Fuller Field, was published under the name "Mary Casal" in Chicago in 1930. The text presents the extraordinarily frank sexual and affectional life history of an American lesbian. OutHistory…
OutHistory presented the first public showing of a documentary film about long-time gay activist Randy Wicker. The 50 minute film, produced and directed by Michael Kasino, uses interviews, movies, and still photos to detail the life of this ornery,…
Barbara Gittings interviewed by Jonathan Ned Katz in 1974 about her development as a Lesbian, and about the founding and early history of the New York Daughters of Bilitis.
Larry Kramer's The American People, Volume I, Search for My Heart, A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015) is a fictional meditation on history, especially on gay and lesbian history. Kramer and other activists founded the AIDS Coalition to…
An introduction to the 1937 case history of “Mary Jones,” who scholars have identified as African American actress Edna Thomas. First published on OutHistory in 2015.
An interview with a documentary filmmaker who received a National Endowement for the Humanities grant in support of the first full-length documentary feature on Lorraine Hansberry. The interview was conducted by a consulting humanities scholar on the…
An exploration of the brief but significant life of African American educator Juliette Derricotte.