June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the US, honoring the anniversary of the June 1969 Stonewall Uprising. Many other countries also celebrate Pride in June, so we’ve collected some of our most popular stories on a range of topics—from transgender legal battles to cookbooks—that highlight the histories of the LGBTQ+ community. As always, links to free JSTOR scholarship are included with each story.
Harvey Milk’s Gay Freedom Day Speech: Annotated
June 13, 2022
Five months before his assassination in 1978, Harvey Milk called on the president of the United States to defend the rights of gay and lesbian Americans.
The Long History of Same-Sex Marriage
June 2, 2022
Same-sex marriages, in all possible configurations and with all possible motivations, have taken place throughout the history of the United States.
90 Years On: The Destruction of the Institute of Sexual Science
May 31, 2023
In May 1933, Nazi-led student groups organized public burnings of "un-German" books, including those held in the library of the Institute for Sexual Science.
O Canada: A Refuge for LGBTQ+ People Worldwide?
April 24, 2023
Canada welcomes those facing persecution for sexual orientation or gender identity—but the process to claim asylum may not be straightforward.
How Queer Jews Reclaimed Yiddish
June 5, 2022
Queer Yiddishkeit challenges the notion that Yiddish is inherently heteronormative or conservative.
Transgender Legal Battles: A Timeline
May 12, 2022
New laws regarding transgender youth are based on the assumption that the gender binary is natural.
Olivia: An Oft-Overlooked Lesbian Novel
March 10, 2023
It took some fifteen years to bring Dorothy Strachey Bussy’s remarkable roman à clef to print, thanks to André Gide’s lukewarm reception.
Gender in the History Classroom
March 14, 2023
High school teachers sometimes struggle to teach about ways different societies have conceptualized gender. Here’s a look at a few practical approaches.
How LGBTQ Groups Supported Striking Miners vs. Thatcher
January 6, 2022
During a national miners strike, LGBT activists became unexpected allies, united against the Thatcher government.
Queer YA: The Early Decades
December 17, 2021
While queer YA has exploded over the past decade, it began in the middle of the 20th century, with the first kiss in 1969.
How Gay Marielitos Changed Immigration
October 9, 2021
In 1980, the policy of denying entry into the US based on homosexuality ran smack into anticommunism.
Gay Bars and Gay Rights
June 25, 2021
One of the flash points in the LGBTQ+ movement was liquor licenses, which were the subject of important legal cases.
Hollywood Goes to Its First Lesbian Bar and Can’t Stop Staring
June 11, 2021
The Killing of Sister George was the first Hollywood movie to depict a lesbian bar. Director Robert Aldrich was obsessed with its authenticity.
Proposition 6 (The Briggs Initiative): Annotated
October 28, 2022
Proposition 6, better known as the Briggs Initiative, was the first attempt to restrict the rights of lesbian and gay Americans by popular referendum.
Out of the Card Catalog Closet
October 14, 2022
Librarians gathered in 1970 to challenge Library of Congress classifications and catalog subject headings that aligned homosexuality with deviance.
Discovering the “Gay Lifestyle” through 1970s Magazines
June 9, 2021
The gay men's magazines QQ and Ciao! were unabashedly liberated, but they still catered to an exclusive audience.
Venn Diagram of LGBTQ+ and Gaming Communities Goes Here
June 2, 2021
Video games offer many LGBTQ+ people avenues for meaning, community, and escape, but in-game cultures of harassment still pose serious problems.
How LGBTQ+ Activists Got “Homosexuality” out of the DSM
May 26, 2021
The first DSM, created in 1952, established a hierarchy of sexual deviancies, vaulting heterosexual behavior to an idealized place in American culture.
“There Was Grit and Talent Galore”
June 18, 2020
Lindsy Van Gelder—author of that famous New York Post article about bra-burning feminists—reflects on the alternative LGBTQ+ press of the 1970s.
Teaching LGBTQ+ History: Queer Women’s Experiences in Prison
October 24, 2022
This instructional guide is the first in a series of curricular content related to the Reveal Digital American Prison Newspaper collection on JSTOR.
The Origins of LGBTQ-Affirming Churches
March 23, 2021
As far back as the 1940s, religious LGBTQ people organized groups and congregations that welcomed them.
In The Gay Cookbook, Domestic Bliss Was Queer
January 10, 2021
Chef Lou Rand Hogan whipped up well-seasoned wit and served a gay take on home life during the early-1960s craze for camp.
Julie Enszer: “We Couldn’t Get Them Printed,” So We Learned to Print Them Ourselves
June 19, 2020
The editor of the lesbian feminist magazine Sinister Wisdom talked to us about lesbian print culture, feminist collectives, and revolution.
Daughters of Bilitis
October 1, 2022
The first lesbian rights organization in the United States originated as “a social club for gay girls.”
In Han Dynasty China, Bisexuality Was the Norm
June 10, 2020
So tender was Emperor Ai’s love for his "male companion" that, when he had to get up, instead of waking his lover, he cut off the sleeve of his robe.
Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered
January 29, 2020
The queer history of the pansy and other flowers.
Community Care in the AIDS Crisis
January 20, 2021
The Shanti Project’s work in caring for people with AIDS provides valuable lessons in the efficacy of mutual aid in fighting disease.
Filmmaker Marlon Riggs: “Notice Is Served”
June 11, 2020
The award-winning Black gay filmmaker, author, and activist Marlon Riggs left a legacy of protest against racism and homophobia.
One Name, Two Writers: The Story of Michael Field
July 9, 2022
Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper worked within the constraints of Victorian society, building a writing career and a relationship under an assumed name.
Liberation on the Dance Floor
July 8, 2022
Motown’s foray into gay liberation music may have been short-lived, but it made an outsized impact on queer culture.
The Lavender Scare
November 18, 2019
In 1950, the U.S. State Department fired 91 employees because they were homosexual or suspected of being homosexual.
What’s Behind the Very Real Butch Quarantine Hair Crisis?
April 25, 2020
What's a masculine lesbian to do when her hair starts getting too long? Look at history for inspiration.
Anthropologists Hid African Same-Sex Relationships
July 5, 2019
Sex between people of the same gender has existed for millennia. But anthropologists in sub-Saharan Africa often ignored or distorted those relationships.
Notes on Queer Conception and the Redefinition of Family
January 27, 2021
Feminist scholars refer to the “intensely communal, queer, and playful nature” of DIY LGBTQ conception, but Fertility, Inc. is another story.
How Families with Two Dads Raise Their Kids
June 16, 2019
Research reveals few differences between the parenting of gay men and their straight peers.
The Stonewall Riots Didn’t Start the Gay Rights Movement
June 12, 2019
Giving Stonewall too much credit misses the movement’s growing strength in the 1960s, sociologists note.
Pulp Fiction Helped Define American Lesbianism
August 1, 2019
Between 1950 and 1965, steamy novels about lesbian relationships, marketed to men, inadvertently offered closeted women much-needed representation.
Book Club Made Me Gay
June 21, 2017
Book clubs and reading groups have long been important to marginalized communities.
Queer Time: The Alternative to “Adulting”
January 10, 2018
What constitutes adulthood has never been self-evident or value-neutral. Queer lives follow their own temporal logic.
Lesbianism (!) at the Convent
May 16, 2018
Mother Superior Benedetta Carlini, a visionary nun of Renaissance Italy, was accused of heresy and “female sodomy.”
Can Fan Hashtag Campaigns Stop the “Bury Your Gays” Trope?
June 20, 2022
Organized fan hashtag campaigns put pressure on the entertainment industry to improve their writing for and treatment of LGBTQ+ characters.
The Forgotten Gender Nonconformists of the Old West
April 27, 2018
In the Old West, cross-dressing was sometimes a disguise for criminals on the lam. But, one historian argues, in many cases these “cross-dressers” were probably people who we would identify as transgender today.
