queer-history-archive

[queer-history-archive]

theres often this effort to accredit the rainbow flag to a single persons influence, chiefly Baker or Milk, and while Baker of course more than put in the work of devoting his life to popularizing the rainbow flag as a community symbol, i think it gets lost that the original rainbow flags were a community collaboration of over 100 LGBT artists volunteering in their free time and working together to make these two enormous flags in time for Gay Freedom Day. like it was truly made by all of the community for all of the community. as Segerblom said “The rainbow encompasses everybody— doesn’t matter what your gender, your preference or your color.”

[queer-history-archive]

Renegades. San Francisco: Queer Life in the 1990s | Chloe Sherman | Hatje Cantz | 2023

The accompanying exhibition is on show at f3 - freiraum für fotografie in Berlin from 30 June - 3 September 2023.

[queer-history-archive]

Judy Garland performing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in full drag, 1955.

[queer-history-archive]

Seattle Pride Parade, 1987. Retrieved from the Leather Archives and Museum.

[queer-history-archive]

I accidentally stumbled upon this elderly gay man’s website last night, it’s been active since the 90s and has pages talking about his personal life as a gay cowboy it’s super interesting! he has webcams running on it that refresh every minute or so and pages about his experiences with HIV and cancer - he also has a massive archive of gay magazine scans from the 70s up to the 90s! 

[queer-history-archive]

[queer-history-archive]

letter from a mother of a gay man. sent to ONE magazine, 1958.

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This post was flagged as adult content and the original poster was deactivated so I'm bringing it back.

[queer-history-archive]

Vintage Butch of the Week - Blood Money (1933)

I guess “Vintage Butch of the Month” would be more acurate…

[K] Sometimes you find the best of Vintage Butch representations in the places to least expected them like, let’s say, a 30s Hollywood gangster movie. Better yet: it’s opening scene.

Sandra Shaw in Blood Money (1933)

Keep reading

[queer-history-archive]

Women poses in contrasting dress (c.early 20th century)

[queer-history-archive]

A couple of shots of Marion Carstairs or Joe as she preferred to be called, who I've been reading up on recently. Joe was a fabulously wealthy, cigar-smoking, cross-dressing, lesbian, born in 1900, who had high profile affairs with some of the leading actresses of her day (e.g. Marlene Dietrich) and spent large amounts of money developing and racing cutting edge powerboats. She won a bunch of trophies for racing and became known as 'the fastest woman on the water'. When she was done with racing, she bought herself a private island, where she entertained movie stars, artists and even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. She was larger than life and not afraid to be herself, famously saying, "I was never a little girl. I came out of the womb queer." Very cool.

[queer-history-archive]

i want to thank the 1920s-1930s third wheel who saw their two friends lying in bed together in their underwear and stocking garters reading a book with their legs wrapped around each other and said “i am going to take a photograph of this”

[queer-history-archive]

Drag Show Programs

Spanning the globe, these drag show programs have been collected from clubs and revues in major cities including Paris, New Orleans, San Francisco, and London. The oldest of these depict female impersonators and clubs from the 1940s. Though a few of the programs are from one-time events, many of them are part of a series of recurring drag shows at venues such as Club 82, Finocchio’s, Club My O My, Le Carrousel, Madame Arthur’s Nightclub, and the Wonder Club. This collection provides a closer look into the communities that formed within drag clubs, with many names appearing in multiple programs for various clubs.              

[queer-history-archive]

From "Who's Who at the Zoo," written by George Mazzei and illustrated by Gerard Donelan for The Advocate in 1979. Possibly the first recorded usage of the term bear to refer to a gay subculture.

[queer-history-archive]

I think this is so neat and to all my trans followers - if you ever need help remembering just how valid and real you are, please look at this!

Happy Trans Day of Visibility to you all, trans people have always existed and will always exist, you're valid and loved and completely accepted with me and I support and love you to the moon and back and beyond.

[queer-history-archive]

idk im really tired of 15-17 year olds who have never interacted with the gay community irl and spend too much time on tiktok trying to act like the authority on all that is lgbt+ 

[queer-history-archive]

Let's goooo, South Korea! ⚔️ 🌈

[queer-history-archive]

“We chose the term “asexual” to describe ourselves because both “celibate” and “anti-sexual” have connotations we wished to avoid: the first implies that one has sacrificed sexuality for some higher good, the second that sexuality is degrading or somehow inherently bad. “Asexual”, as we use it, does not mean “without sex” but “relating sexually to no one”. This does not, of course, exclude masturbation but implies that if one has sexual feelings they do not require another person for their expression. Asexuality is, simply, self-contained sexuality.”

— The Asexual Manifesto, Lisa Orlando and Barbara Getz, 1972