The LGBTQ+ community is diverse. It consists of a number of subgroups representing different gender and sexual minorities. The acronym “LGBTQ+” stands for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning.” The first three terms refer to sexual orientation, which is an individual’s inclination in terms of sexual attraction to others. While heterosexual (or straight) people are attracted primarily to the opposite sex, those who are lesbian or gay are sexually attracted to the same sex. Those who are bisexual are generally attracted to both sexes.
Being transgender, in turn, relates to a person’s gender identity, that is, their inner sense of gender. While a majority of people are cisgender, meaning they continue to identify with the gender their parents or doctor assigned them at birth, those who are transgender have a gender identity inconsistent with the one they were designated as a newborn.
Of course, those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are not the only gender and sexual minorities that exist. Therefore, many people add a “Q” and plus sign (+) to the acronym. The “Q” stands for “queer” or “questioning” and is meant to encompass people who may not fit neatly into one specific identity or may not yet know which identity best suits their sexual or gender identity. The plus sign accounts for other established gender and sexual minorities, including those who are intersex (those with genetic, hormonal, and physical features typically associated with both male and female), asexual (those who do not feel sexual desire at all), pansexual (those whose sexual attraction is not limited by gender identity or sex), and nonbinary (those who do not associate with either a male or female gender identity).
In 1975, gay and lesbian organizations such as the National Gay Task Force marched to bring attention to a proposed Civil Rights Act amendment that would include gay people as a protected class.
While to some people it can seem like these communities formed out of nowhere, that isn’t the case. Premodern LGBTQ+ history was a time of discreet liaisons and brutal rebuke. Historically, the LGBTQ+ community faced unforgiving intolerance and unjust persecution. But in an environment of discrimination and chastisement, early gay and lesbian rights organizations rose up to demand respect.
The time period of this movement’s early history spans from the nineteenth century to the Stonewall riots of 1969. That is when the identities of LGBTQ+ people began to mold into those we recognize today. This period also documents how LGBTQ+ culture and communities were largely segregated between cisgender men, cisgender women, and those who were transgender until the latter half of the twentieth century. As LGBTQ+ identities have evolved, so, too, has the persecution of them, guiding the shape of the communities that formed in resistance.
The further back one goes, the harder it is to find evidence of LGBTQ+ history. The words we use to discuss gender and sexual minorities are relatively recently coined, so up until the last hundred years or so, people didn’t have a common frame of reference for who they were. Also, the ostracism and discrimination that LGBTQ+ people have often faced caused many people throughout history to stay “in the closet,” keeping their identity a secret. Historians have often omitted the sexual or gender identity of historical figures, and surviving family members have sometimes worked to hide the truth about LGBTQ+ people. While this resource strives to be as accurate as possible, it is in no way a complete portrait of the many LGBTQ+ people and communities that predate Stonewall.