Celebrate LGBTQ+ History

Discover how LGBTQ+ individuals have worked through adversity to help shape history.

Inside The Henry Ford’s ever-growing collections, find powerful stories of LGBTQ+ resilience, identity, community activism and societal impact.

Identity and Visibility

OUT! LGBTQ+ Visibility and Identity Read how LGBTQ+ communities have expressed themselves to advocate and educate, to resist discrimination, and to unapologetically celebrate identity.
Legendary Dress: Iconic Histories of Drag Performance For as long as society has reinforced ideas of gender norms, people have found humor and joy in playfully rejecting them. Explore the history of drag performance.
“Finocchio’s,” 1960-1970 Established in 1929 as a place to see "female impersonator" revues, Finocchio's Club in San Francisco became well-known for its drag performances.
Knox Rose Dress, circa 2019 Allie Zecivic listened to an insistent inner voice and purchased this dress, her first article of women's clothing. It helped her to accept her identity as a transwoman.

Art and Activism

From Pamphlets to Pride: 100 Years of LGBTQ+ Activism The history of LGBTQ+ activism in the United States is long. For the past century, the struggle for equality has taken many forms and faced many challenges, as LGBTQ+ people have fought for their rights and their lives.
Stonewall Riots, New York, N.Y., 1969 The 1969 Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York City, took place after police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar, as patrons and passersby tried to stop the arrests. The event was a turning point in LGBTQ+ activism.
"Homosexuals Are American Citizens Also,'' 1969 This handmade picket sign was carried by physicist and gay civil rights activist Frank Kameny at Philadelphia's Annual Reminder March on July 4, 1969 ─ one week after the Stonewall uprising in NYC.
Screen Print, "Gay Flag," 1993 This image was created by American artist, philanthropist and educator Ross Bleckner to memorialize the impact of the AIDS crisis. It juxtaposes the American flag with the original 1978 Pride Flag, designed by Gilbert Baker.
Howard Cruse Illustrations, circa 1995 Howard Cruse was an alternative comics artist and graphic novelist. In the 1970s, he was involved with the underground "comix" scene, which published content on topics forbidden by the mainstream comic authorities.
"Lesbian & Gay Americans during WWII: Marching to A Different Drummer," 1982 This poster advertises a presentation made and shown throughout the U.S. by historian and LGBTQ+ advocate Allan Bérubé. "Marching to a Different Drummer" explored the silenced histories of gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans who served in World War II.

Health and Resilience

Silence = Death: The Early Fight Against the AIDS Epidemic Read how the LGBTQ+ community has done the difficult work to push direct action to end the AIDS crisis, while suffering the bulk of misinformation and discrimination related to the disease.
IGNORANCE = FEAR, SILENCE = DEATH Fight AIDS ACT UP Poster, 1989 Artist Keith Haring’s dancing figures mimic the "see no / hear no / speak no evil" proverb, referencing the need to grow visibility for the disease. Haring died from AIDS-related complications soon after this poster was created.

More to Explore

Cruise News & World Report, Volume I, Number 1, circa 1965

Research Center Collection of LGBTQ+ Publications and Graphics

Browse LGBTQ+ magazines, newsletters, posters, fliers, art and more in The Henry Ford's Digital Collections.

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