Here’s the Badass Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans Activist Herstory Quiz You Wish You Had in School

Get out your Sharpie markers and flattened cardboard boxes out because it’s time to get activist-y AF! Unfortunately, most of us didn’t or won’t learn much at all about LGBTQ activist history in school and almost definitely nothing about lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans women in history. That just means that we need to hear the stories of our elders and foremothers and carry them forward, you know? Because we’ve been fighting back as long as it’s been documented in ways big and small!

Collage image of LGBTQ activism including Queer Nation stickers that say "Dyke Power," image of Marsha P. Johnson holding a S.T.A.R. banner, a group of people with a "Christopher Street Liberation Day" banner, and a Silence = Death poster from ACT UP

So take this quiz and see how much you know about our activist herstory – even if you don’t know everything quite yet, you’re going to learn SO MUCH just by taking the quiz!

Badass Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans Activist Herstory Trivia Quiz


Post your score and your favorite activist inspiration model in the comments! My score is 100 (but obviously I’m biased because I wrote the damn thing) and my activist inspirations are Audre Lorde and Miss Major.

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KaeLyn

KaeLyn is a 40-year-old hard femme bisexual dino mom. You can typically find her binge-watching TV, standing somewhere with a mic or a sign in her hand, over-caffeinating herself, or just generally doing too many things at once. She lives in Upstate NY with her spouse, a baby T. rex, a scaredy cat, an elderly betta fish, and two rascally rabbits. You can buy her debut book, Girls Resist! A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution if you want to, if you feel like it, if that's a thing that interests you or whatever.

KaeLyn has written 230 articles for us.

30 Comments

  1. Quiz Grade: B
    Score: 13
    Percentage: 87%

    Not too shabby, especially considering these are all US-based questions, which then got me thinking how much worse I’d do on a UK quiz…

  2. Damn! I anticipated doing better than 73%, as a Women’s Studies major, but on the plus side I learned new things about our history so all is well!

  3. “Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: B
    Score: 12
    Percentage: 80%”

    This is the best I’ve done on one of these thus far! And it’s all thanks to Autostraddle! I didn’t know any of this before I started reading in 2013 or 2014.

  4. Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: E
    Score: 4
    Percentage: 27%

    That’s 4 more than I thought that I’d get, so…..hooray?

  5. Quiz Grade: A
    Score: 15
    Percentage: 100%

    If I may be honest, Kyrsten Sinema choice was pure luck.

  6. Quiz Grade: B
    Score: 13
    Percentage: 87%

    Best I’ve done on any of these so far, which surprised me! I learned a lot of this here on this very website, so kudos.

  7. I appreciate the supportive “Nice work!” feedback on my 53%.

    I have a lot to learn although at least part of my score is just that I am truly terrible at names. I really really need to work on that.

  8. Quiz Grade: C
    Score: 11
    Percentage: 73%

    I want it on the record that I know everything I know about queer herstory from Autostraddle and therefore y’all are my activist icons

  9. 87%! I only missed the year for the march and the congressperson question.
    My activist icons are all the writers mentioned in the quiz, all them are so influential for me!

  10. Autostraddle I f*cking love queer history and I f*cking love quizzes so thanks for making all my dreams come true

  11. Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: D
    Score: 9
    Percentage: 60%

    better than I expected!! however, just to let you know – all the links in the answers were broken for me :(

    • they were all broken! i just fixed them all! now they should all be ~not~ broken! thank you for the heads up! i hate technology and html and i love queer history and our commenters!! <3

  12. Thanks, Autostraddle for making me feel old. I have actually met many of the women mentioned in this quiz!

    Side note: Audre Lorde is one of my heroes. I had the opportunity to meet her 5-6 months before she died. She was a fighter to the end and she had such a powerful presence!

  13. 87% i generally sucked at history in school, so obviously the problem was that the history I learned wasn’t queer enough.

    I have to repeat what many said above that you all are my heroes! I learned most of the things I got right because of the site ?

  14. Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: D
    Score: 9
    Percentage: 60%

    I like the ‘Nice work!’ encouragement, but clearly I have some studying to do.

  15. Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: A
    Score: 14
    Percentage: 93%

    After bombing almost every other quiz (including the Harry Potter one, much to my chagrin), I’ve found my wheelhouse! Didn’t know about the bisexual senator, but, also, how the heckfire did that happen in AZ?! Mad respect, Senator Cinema. I doff my hat to you.

  16. Quiz Grade: B
    Score: 13
    Percentage: 87%

    I’m honestly quite surprised at myself, I don’t pay as much attention to activism as I should.

    I got lucky in that I’m fucking old. Feel like I should just curl up and die that Prop 8 and Kyrsten Sinema are one your history quiz.

    • Right! I was like Prop 8 was not that long ago. And Kyrsten Sinema was just elected in 2012! I am not ready for that rocker on the porch yet.

  17. Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: A
    Score: 14
    Percentage: 93%

    Hah! Redemption after getting a D on the Harry Potter quiz. I only missed the bi senator question and I only guessed on a few.

  18. I’m a little disappointed in myself, but I appreciate the “Nice work!”

    Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: C
    Score: 11
    Percentage: 73%

  19. Nice work!
    Quiz Grade: B
    Score: 12
    Percentage: 80%

    My students would be so amused. As for inspiration, I’m a product of the in-your-face, direct action 80s and 90s movements. ACT-UP, Queer Nation, and The Lesbian Avengers are my jam.

  20. 73%, which is not too bad considering I got most of the historical questions right – it was the legal US and modern US stuff that tripped me up. would be interesting to see how i’d do on an australian one!

Comments are closed.