LGBTQ+ History

This collection highlights the history and development of CLAGS, a CUNY organization that played a leading role in the establishment and legitimization of queer studies in a time when the categories of queer and academia were widely believed to be mutually exclusive. Historian Martin Duberman, CLAGS’s founder and first executive director, was among the first academics to, not only come out as gay, but also insist that the study of sexuality is a valid, and indeed necessary, academic pursuit. In 1973, Duberman founded the Gay Academic Union and experienced first-hand the pushback of mainstream academics who vehemently dismissed what was then referred to as “gay studies.” Duberman remained determined, however, and in 1986 assembled a number of his friends and colleagues to discuss the possibility of an academic center devoted explicitly to the pursuit and wide-scale dissemination of lesbian and gay scholarship.

This guide is designed to highlight collections focused on Black LGBTQIA+ Studies.

The Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library holds over 100 collections pertaining to the history and culture of gay men and lesbians, and to the history of the AIDS/HIV epidemic.

The Lesbian Herstory Archives is home to the world’s largest collection of materials by and about lesbians and their communities.

Our groundbreaking work documents historic sites connected to New York City’s LGBT community, giving life to its oft-untold history and influence on America.

A community archive devoted to the collection, preservation and sharing of trans histories, organized in collaboration with the New York Public Library.

The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world. Based in Boston, Massachusetts at Northeastern University, the DTA is an international collaboration among more than sixty colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, public libraries, and private collections. By digitally localizing a wide range of trans-related materials, the DTA expands access to trans history for academics and independent researchers alike in order to foster education and dialog concerning trans history.

Today, we stand on the shoulders of LGBTQ people who paved our way. Some of those people and events happened right here in Ithaca! This tour is for anyone wanting to learn about our local LGBTQ history and culture.

Since 2016, Making Gay History* has been bringing the largely hidden history of the LGBTQ civil rights movement to life through the voices of the people who lived it.

The National Archives holds extensive records created or received by the U.S. Government on issues of sexual identity and rights.

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries is the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) materials in the world.

OutHistory.org presents free, evidence-based features and documents on U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer history.

The Pride Guide is an interactive resource for exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) history and places in the United States.

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives (SNMA) is one of the largest gay archives and libraries in the United States, now almost 50 years old. However, we have no direct link to the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. When we were founded in 1972, the founder Mark Silber used the name “Stonewall” to recognize the fight for LGBTQ liberation that began at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. It was a name with meaning then and it has become nearly synonymous with gay liberation efforts since that time.