LGB History & People

I believe that knowing the history of our own people is a point of pride.  We should know those that paved the way before us, have broken through the barriers of injustice and brought attention to the world about a social issue important to all of us.  Knowing our own people is a way to help us know ourselves and develop a language by which we can share our stories.  It helps us to find a common bond and it helps us differentiate ourselves from others.  In short, knowing our history is knowing our story, knowing who we are as a people, and being proud of our heritage.

A nice place to start is the LGBT News Magazine, In The Life, which you may quickly be enthralled with.  It was on public television for 20 years.

Lesbian History

lillianfadermancover

The two gals, smoking, drinking and holding hands as shown on Lillian Faderman’s book cover.

There is an amazing amount of lesbian literature and nonfiction out now and a good way to get started is to review the Lambda Literary Award website.    You might also start with Lillian Faderman’s Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America, one of my favorites.  You might look up books by Joan Nestle, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Judy Grahn, lesbian historians.  Or browse reading lists such as this one on lesbian feminist

Local Dallas LGBT History