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LGBTQ History

Making history happen: Reflecting on DACA and its impact

By NMAH, June 14, 2022
Graduation cap, gown, rainbow-colored stole, and costume wings in the pattern of Monarch butterfly wings. The top of the cap is decorated with flowers and has a message, "I am one of those people Mexico sent."

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25 years later: the legacy of the El Monte sweatshop raid
During the cool pre-dawn hours of August 2, 1995, a large multiagency task force led by the California Department of Industrial Relations...
How young, undocumented organizers fought to bring DACA into existence
On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could not rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA...
Costume monarch butterfly wings
How butterfly wings helped a new collecting initiative take flight
The museum has created a new collecting initiative focused on how undocumented activists are leading fights for political representation....

We Belong Here

Marking the 50th anniversary of the federal legislation that unintentionally helped bring equality to sports, this display illuminates three athletes’ stories.

Servant of God: How a 1960s magazine addressed gay men’s spiritual needs

By NMAH, May 6, 2022
Detail from the cover of the magazine, ONE: The Homosexual Viewpoint, with a black-and-white illustration of the Biblical Magi

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The story behind the photograph: Gay Dads Kissing, 1983
For Michael and Robert, the quick peck before a walk around the lake with Michael’s son was an ordinary moment. For J. Ross Baughman, it...
The most radical thing about Stonewall wasn’t the uprising
The Stonewall uprising began June 28, 1969, in response to a police raid at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, and has since...
Three statuettes of kings complete with robes and gowns stand on the same base.
Who arrives on the 12th day of Christmas? Three Wise Men, of course
Dr. Margaret Salazar-Porzio, curator of Latino History and Culture in the Home and Community Life division, and intern Jonathan Borda...

For the Love of Freedom: An Inspirational Sampling

In 2020, against the background of the nation's intersecting viral and racial crises, the museum created an outdoor display centered on the rights granted by the First Amendment. The project's centerpiece was a set of banners featuring civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, complemented by a number of other inspirational civil rights-related quotes on the museum grounds.

The story behind the photograph: Gay Dads Kissing, 1983

By NMAH, June 19, 2020

Related Blog Posts

The most radical thing about Stonewall wasn’t the uprising
The Stonewall uprising began June 28, 1969, in response to a police raid at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, and has since...
Multiple rainbows flag items
Reading the rainbow: The origins of the pride symbol
In 2017, in response to a slew of racist incidents in the Gayborhood, Philadelphia added black and brown stripes to the traditional six-...
Tie, note book
A look back at LGBTQ+ rights
On its 10th anniversary, Curator Katherine Ott discusses the landmark case of Lawrence v. Texas.On a warm September evening in 1998,...

Girlhood (It's complicated)

Girlhood (It's complicated) explores how girls have been on the front lines of social and cultural change.

A place at the park: LGBTQ+ inclusion and skateboarding

By NMAH, July 30, 2019
Skateboard

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The most radical thing about Stonewall wasn’t the uprising
The Stonewall uprising began June 28, 1969, in response to a police raid at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, and has since...
White and blue tennis Dress, worn by Bille Jean King during the "Battle of the Sexes"
Spinsters, confirmed bachelors, and LGBTQ collecting
As objects representing Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning history enter the museum's collection today,...
This wood laminate skateboard displays Tony Hawk’s Birdhouse logo graphic designed by Vernon Cortlandt Johnson and was used by Tony Hawk in competitions during the mid-1980s.
Tony Hawk skates into history
Innovation and inventiveness have been central to skateboarding since the earliest days of the sport. As Tony Hawk told ESPN...

The most radical thing about Stonewall wasn’t the uprising

By NMAH, June 18, 2019

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Multiple rainbows flag items
Reading the rainbow: The origins of the pride symbol
In 2017, in response to a slew of racist incidents in the Gayborhood, Philadelphia added black and brown stripes to the traditional six-...
Scene on stage with costumes, bandstand, musicians
Queens and queers: The rise of drag ball culture in the 1920s
While watching a screening of Paris is Burning hosted by the Smithsonian Latino Center, I was entranced by the dazzling...
White and blue tennis Dress, worn by Bille Jean King during the "Battle of the Sexes"
Spinsters, confirmed bachelors, and LGBTQ collecting
As objects representing Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning history enter the museum's collection today,...

Reading the rainbow: The origins of the pride symbol

By NMAH, May 31, 2019
Multiple rainbows flag items

Related Blog Posts

Scene on stage with costumes, bandstand, musicians
Queens and queers: The rise of drag ball culture in the 1920s
While watching a screening of Paris is Burning hosted by the Smithsonian Latino Center, I was entranced by the dazzling...
White and blue tennis Dress, worn by Bille Jean King during the "Battle of the Sexes"
Spinsters, confirmed bachelors, and LGBTQ collecting
As objects representing Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning history enter the museum's collection today,...
Tie, note book
A look back at LGBTQ+ rights
On its 10th anniversary, Curator Katherine Ott discusses the landmark case of Lawrence v. Texas.On a warm September evening in 1998,...

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