What If We Just Say No
Ft. Lauderdale Beach was home to the first explicitly gay beach resort in U.S. history.
The Hidden History of Lesbian Phone Lines
London Friend’s Lesbian Line, which opened in 1989 and closed in 1999, was one of many gay and lesbian phone lines across the UK.
New DIY Documentary Honors AIDS Media Activism, Love, Loss, and Queer Community
Shot on a mix of consumer-grade recording devices — iPhone, Zoom, VHS camcorder, and Super-8 film — the documentary is an homage to grassroots AIDS mediamaking across decades and its ability to capture intimate, honest communication about hope and loss.
Why Hasn’t There Been a Good Movie About the Stonewall Riots?
Thirty years after Stonewall (1995), there still hasn’t been a film that meaningfully captures this major LGBTQ+ historical event.
40 Years Ago, Lesbian Erotica Magazine ‘On Our Backs’ Paved the Way for Horny Sapphic Art
On Our Backs, which originally ran from 1984 to 1990 and was revitalized from 1998 to 2002, existed for one central purpose: to portray lesbian sex and sexuality, with real lesbians.
Making Out, Making Change: The History of Queer Kiss-Ins
For nearly 50 years, queer activists kissed each other as a form of protest.
A New History of Gay Rodeos Explores How Cowboys Have Always Been Queer
Slapping Leather addresses how the idealized white masculine cowboy has always been a myth.
Remember When They Arrested George Michael for Being Gay?
Michael’s arrest and his subsequent public coming out shook pop culture for months in ways that I can only now fully understand.
How A 50-Year-Old Lesbian Magazine Is Surviving Despite It All
“Lesbian Connection was founded in a decidedly pre-internet era, when there were no lesbian characters on TV or in the movies, no lesbian stories on library bookshelves, no out queer pop stars on the radio. Finding another lesbian, another queer person, was always a victory.”
Invisible Histories Won’t Let You Leave the Queer South Behind
Collectively, the states that make up the South are home to more Black people, more people of color, and more LGBTQ people than any other region of this country.
I Long for the Queer Secret Spaces of the Past
Dream with me, if you will. It’s the mid-1960s, and you and your queer friends are looking for some place to go to meet others like you when you hear rumors about a members-only club called Gateways tucked away in a hidden corner of the city.
A Queer History of Blue Eyeshadow, Pop Culture’s Time-Honored Symbolic Hue
The line from Elizabeth Taylor to Chappell Roan’s iconic blue eyeshadow is actually pretty direct.
The Revolution Will Be Archived
Through the Lesbian Herstory Archives, Noor Aldayeh is making space for queer Palestinians to tell their own stories.
16 Lesbian Couples Time Forgot
The annals of sapphic gossip are deep and full — here’s 16 sapphic couples and love triangles that will bring you back in time or perhaps trigger memories of times gone by.
6 Pre-Stonewall Queer Uprisings History Tried To Hide
I’m confident the archives are filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of stories still waiting to be uncovered.
Celebrate Trans Day of Visibility Thirsting Over the Sexy Retro Covers of ‘Female Mimics International’
The best way to see a wide variety of trans women in a wide variety of scenarios is by looking at porn.
Real Life Late-90s Lesbian Spaces in the South Where the Drive-Away Dolls Could Have Stopped
Being from Florida, I know how easy it is for the history of queer and trans people to be lost to time, and I think it’s an important part of our fight for liberation to buck against that where and when we can.
The History of the Color Purple Kiss
In 1982 Alice Walker wrote a Black queer text so ahead of its time, that 40 years later we’re still fighting to catch up.
Lisa Ben: Lesbian Media Pioneer, Cat Lady, and Hometown Buffet Superfan
In 1947, “Lisa Ben” launched the country’s first-ever lesbian magazine, Vice Versa. But by the ’90s, she’d withdrawn from public life and by the mid-2000s, she’d found a new passion: the Burbank Hometown Buffet restaurant.
Revisit Lani Kaʻahumanu’s Moving 1993 Speech on Bisexuality
Lani Kaʻahumanu fought for bisexual people to be included in the 1993 March on Washington.