Our Own Community Press masthead, October 1991
The term "queer" encompasses sexualities, gender identities and expressions, and bodies that have been considered nonnormative, including but not limited to LGBTQ+ identities. Queer history is Virginia history, yet queer experiences have been systematically excluded from the historical record. Due to stigma and criminalization, Virginians who might now identify as LGBTQ+ were not incentivized to document their experiences. African and Indigenous forms of gender expression and sexuality were suppressed under European colonialism and chattel slavery. As a result, government records such as criminal statutes and court records play an outsized role in queer history research.
With the emergence of gay rights organizations in the mid-twentieth century, new publications were created by and for queer communities. At the same time, state and federal records reflected the increasingly visible struggle for LGBTQ+ civil rights and, later, government responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Nevertheless, many libraries and archives—including the Library of Virginia—have only in recent decades begun to actively collect and facilitate access to LGBTQ+ history.
With these challenges in mind, this guide has been produced to facilitate access to Virginia queer history materials. Alongside efforts such as inclusive collection development and programming, it seeks to reincorporate queer history into our shared historical narrative.
Last updated October 2023