Walt Whitman was one of America’s most influential poets in the 19th century, as well as an essayist and journalist. Whitman served as a nurse during the Civil War, where he developed close relationships with several of the men he tended. During…

In 1966, youth from the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, urban ministers, anti-poverty activists, and homophile activists helped organize Vanguard, the earliest known queer youth organization in the United States. In June of 1966, Vanguard…

Christine Jorgensen, born George W. Jorgensen Jr., was an army clerical worker during World War II. After the war, she underwent sex reassignment surgery in Denmark. Jorgensen became well-known after numerous media outlets published stories about her…

During World War II, soldiers put on theater performances that consisted of all-male casts. During these performances, select soldiers dressed in drag to impersonate women. These performances helped to boost morale across the army, providing…

Perry Watkins was a gay African American soldier who was drafted to serve in the army during the Vietnam War. He was open about his sexuality throughout his entire career. Despite this, in 1981, the army revoked his security clearance after 13 years…

As part of their activism, the Mattachine Society, an early gay rights organization in the United States founded in 1950, attempted to spread awareness to both the public and to LGBTQ+ individuals about the ways in which same sex activities were…

Pat Bond was a member of the Women’s Army Corps (a WAC) during World War II. As a lesbian, she risked a “blue discharge” from the army if she was discovered. Blue discharges were highly stigmatized penalties for alleged dishonorable behavior…

For years, the AIDS epidemic was largely ignored by the United States government, leaving the public uneducated about the disease and how it is transmitted. People living with HIV and AIDS faced stigma, violence, and discrimination by employers,…

Bayard Rustin was a gay civil rights activist who was particularly passionate about racial equality. He helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which Martin Luther King Jr. was a president and which influenced the Civil…

Albert Cashier, born Jennie Irene Hodgers, enlisted in the Union Army in 1862. Historians have found evidence that hundreds of soldiers, including Cashier, were born female and enlisted as men during the Civil War. This portrait was taken during the…