Want to know more about LGBTQ history? Follow these accounts.

The extortion of LGBTQ communities and their complex, heavy histories is an ongoing conflict waged by activists, politicians, and historians astir the world. As authorities leaders and nationalist figures effort to diminish both the rights and visibility of these groups, observers of the governmental battleground don't person to beryllium idly by. From governmental advocacy to idiosyncratic education, communities tin rally down the cause, equipped with a extent of cognition proving however the past tin pass the future.

Accessible acquisition has ever been a important instrumentality for societal change, and successful the property of the internet, that rings much existent than ever. Where deficiency of carnal entree utilized to beryllium a nail successful the coffin for accessing diverse, thorough information, increasing exertion and societal media person risen to span overmuch of that gap.

Digital divides inactive beryllium for many, but it's present easier than ever to entree cognition that would person been astir intolerable to find conscionable a fewer decades ago. And that's incredibly important to communities that person had their histories systematically ignored, particularly LGBTQ people, and LGBTQ radical of colour successful particular.

So, connected apical of each the governmental organizing, nonprofit support, and societal media engagement you enactment into bolstering LGBTQ communities, dive into the troves of LGBTQ past floating astir the internet. It's a captious portion of our nation's — and the planetary community's — existence. Here are conscionable a fistful of the galore accounts sharing assorted parts of these communities' agelong histories.

Creators and societal media campaigns

@RainbowHistoryClass(opens successful a caller tab)

One of the biggest accounts connected the database with much than 485,000 followers, Rainbow History Class is simply a TikTok-based clang people successful each facets of LGBTQ past and culture. Videos span conscionable astir each topic, from stories astir influential trans women successful the euphony industry, similar Grammy victor Wendy Carlos and (opens successful a caller tab)the Academy Award-recognized composer(opens successful a caller tab) Angela Morley(opens successful a caller tab), to a humanities recounting of lesbian and cheery solidarity during the HIV and AIDS crisis(opens successful a caller tab).

Beyond its regular big and contributor, Australian originative and popular civilization enthusiast Rudy Jean Rigg(opens successful a caller tab), the relationship besides invites extracurricular voices (called "substitute teachers") to lend commentary and featured past lessons based connected their ain areas of expertise (many videos absorption connected LGBTQ Australian history, successful particular). Visit Rainbow History Class's website(opens successful a caller tab) for much accusation connected its ngo and the account's teachers.

@EllieMedhurst(opens successful a caller tab)

Ellie Medhurst is simply a lesbian manner historiographer and erstwhile contributor(opens successful a caller tab) to Rainbow History Class, sharing her adept cognition connected each things clothes, design, and queer history. On her TikTok page, Medhurst posts astir a wide assortment of subjects, including the past of Black lesbian fashion(opens successful a caller tab), however queer manner aesthetics look successful fictionalized media(opens successful a caller tab), and abbreviated biographies of lesser-known lesbian figures, similar the aboriginal 20th-century feminist writer Otake Kōkichi(opens successful a caller tab). Medhurst besides runs a personal blog(opens successful a caller tab) and Instagram page(opens successful a caller tab), wherever you tin find lengthier discussions of lesbian and queer manner choices, similar dungarees (overalls) and their transportation to lesbian feminists(opens successful a caller tab) oregon the past of short hairstyles and assemblage resistance(opens successful a caller tab).  

@(opens successful a caller tab)ItGetsBetter(opens successful a caller tab)

The It Gets Better project(opens successful a caller tab) is simply a run and nonprofit enactment moving to empower and amended LGBTQ younker astir the satellite done media programming and assemblage building. The run besides posts connected TikTok, and portion it's not conscionable constricted to humanities contented — besides sharing videos astir existent politics, intelligence health, and media practice — the leafage often highlights chartless LGBTQ past done its "30 Second Queer History" series. Videos item moments, movements, and leaders similar the celebration of Harvey Milk Day(opens successful a caller tab), the enactment of Stonewall activistic Stormé DeLarverie(opens successful a caller tab), the bequest of the Los Angeles' Trans Empowerment Center and AIDS activists(opens successful a caller tab), and chartless facts astir a assortment of(opens successful a caller tab) Black queer icons(opens successful a caller tab), from vogueing pioneer Willi Ninja to blues pianist and vocalist Gladys Bentley.

@(opens successful a caller tab)BiHistory(opens successful a caller tab)

BiHistory is an Instagram relationship and digital archive project(opens successful a caller tab) created by Mel Reeve, a writer and erstwhile archivist based successful the United Kingdom. The Instagram task was conceptualized arsenic a mode to sphere the past of bisexual communities and activists, arsenic good arsenic item bisexual icons and activists passim history, similar First Nations Anishinaabe creator Norval Morrisseau(opens successful a caller tab), 17th-century opera vocalist and swordsman Julie d'Aubigny(opens successful a caller tab), and famed performers Bessie Smith(opens successful a caller tab) and Josephine Baker(opens successful a caller tab).

On Instagram you'll find historical images(opens successful a caller tab), interviews(opens successful a caller tab), and other media(opens successful a caller tab) similar zines, flags, and advertisements created by and for bisexual organizers, arsenic good arsenic existent events successful LGBTQ organizing and event programming(opens successful a caller tab). BiHistory has antecedently published 3 zines(opens successful a caller tab) astir the BiHistory archive, and is set to merchandise its fourth(opens successful a caller tab), chronicling the "close, spiritual, and arguably queer relationships betwixt medieval monks, saints, and nuns(opens successful a caller tab)."

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Museums and archives

GLBT Historical Society(opens successful a caller tab) 

The GLBT Historical Society was founded successful 1985 arsenic a superior assets for preserving nationalist LGBTQ history. Based successful San Francisco, the nine collects and exhibits humanities materials related to queer communities astir the country, hosting events(opens successful a caller tab) and acquisition opportunities for the nationalist to prosecute successful the affluent and analyzable stories of LGBTQ people. On some its Twitter and Instagram(opens successful a caller tab) pages, the nine posts glimpses into the immense archive, which includes 1 of the first Pride flags(opens successful a caller tab) hoisted astatine the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade successful 1978. You tin find much of the archive, superior root databases, probe guides, and online exhibitions(opens successful a caller tab) connected the society's website(opens successful a caller tab). 

Digital Transgender Archive(opens successful a caller tab)

The Digital Transgender Archive is an online inaugural to sphere and democratize entree to transgender history, inspired by the difficulties faced by researchers and historians of transgender and sex nonconforming communities. The archive aggregates assorted databases, online media, and autarkic past projects, including independent trans publishing houses(opens successful a caller tab), newsletters(opens successful a caller tab), and different humanities media similar photograph collections(opens successful a caller tab) and random ephemera(opens successful a caller tab), which screen a wide assortment of transgender history.

Portions of this database are shared connected the archive's Instagram page. If you're funny successful the stories shared, dive deeper into the database(opens successful a caller tab), and its accompanying map(opens successful a caller tab), arsenic good different acquisition resources offered connected the authoritative website(opens successful a caller tab). 

Making Gay History(opens successful a caller tab)

Making Gay History is an oral past archive turned podcast (and Twitter account) created by writer Eric Marcus(opens successful a caller tab), sorting and sharing 30 years' worthy of archival audio clips featuring the voices and stories of LGBTQ people, friends, and family. The Making Gay History podcast turns these clips into afloat fleshed-out pieces of queer history, representing a divers assemblage of mundane people. The stories screen the varied lives of activists, similar playwright and cheery rights activistic Larry Kramer,(opens successful a caller tab) erstwhile UCLA cheerleader and LGBTQ novelist Randy Boyd(opens successful a caller tab), and collegiate tennis prima and AIDS activistic Sara Boesser(opens successful a caller tab). After visiting the initiative's Twitter page, sojourn the authoritative website(opens successful a caller tab) for much information, oregon listen to the podcast(opens successful a caller tab). 

Wearing Gay History(opens successful a caller tab) 

Wearing Gay History chronicles the usage of clothing, specifically T-shirts, successful LGBTQ organizing and assemblage building, with thousands of photos and accompanying accusation made disposable successful a free, accessible integer archive and shared connected its Twitter page. The relationship and database were co-created by Dr. Eric Gonzaba(opens successful a caller tab), a historiographer of LGBTQ and African American civilization astatine California State University, Fullerton, who brought unneurotic the integer archives of galore LGBTQ databases crossed the globe. With much than 4,500 items, Wearing Gay History shares textile examples of some LGBTQ creation and design, and the past of LGBTQ clubs, events, and different assemblage spaces. Find the afloat postulation of textiles and histories connected the Wearing Gay History website(opens successful a caller tab).

Mapping the Gay Guides(opens successful a caller tab)

Another fascinating Twitter travel is the integer archive Mapping the Gay Guides(opens successful a caller tab), which chronicles the past of queer spaces crossed the United States. It was co-created by Gonzaba and historiographer Dr. Amanda Regan and is based connected question guides written by Bob Damron(opens successful a caller tab), a cheery antheral who traveled extensively passim the 1950s and 1960s and published 1 of the earliest question guides compiled explicitly for cheery men successful 1964. The archive physically maps the bequest of LGBTQ organizing some for amusive and governmental community.

The tract includes tens of thousands of LGBTQ-friendly spaces astir the country, similar Washington, D.C.'s Paramount Steak House(opens successful a caller tab) — 1 of the fewer commercialized Damron listings that has remained unfastened and LGBTQ-friendly since the archetypal question usher was published. The inaugural shares the histories of notable locations successful the signifier of short vignettes(opens successful a caller tab), each honoring the bequest of Damron's books and the humanities conflict implicit LGBTQ harmless spaces.