Celebrate Black History Month

These bold individuals lead with bravery and authenticity, moved the needle on LGBTQ liberation and racial justice, and paved the way for future generations.

This special section of BlackPast.org is dedicated to presenting the history of people of African descent who are also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer (LGBTQ). It highlights the many contributions these individuals have made to both African American history and culture and American history and culture.

Our “Voices and Activism” primary source sets highlight personal stories and diverse activism within the LGBTQ community.

African American literary critic and professor Henry Louis Gates once reflected that the Harlem Renaissance was “surely as gay as it was Black, not that it was exclusively either of these.” Gates’s comments point to the often-overlooked place of the Harlem Renaissance within queer history.