LGBTQ folk have lived in committed relationships for centuries and many scholars have written about historic queer relationships. As a young gay man, my introduction to gay history came from reading Judy Grahn’s book, Another Mother Tongue (1984, Beacon Press). In this book, […]
In August 1979, gay rights activist Tom Brougham proposed a new category of relationship called “domestic partnership” to address the inequality of job benefits only extending to heterosexually married couples. Tom and a group of dedicated LGBTQ activists, which included my husband Leland Traiman, brought the […]
There is a reason for the stereotype of the gay hairdresser. Not only is it a profession some men gravitate towards, but it is also practical for survival. Homosexuals that are discovered risk losing their employment or being blackballed from their professions. This is still true today in parts […]
The first gay pride marches happened in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago in 1970, one year after the Stonewall Riots. Why in those cities? Because they had the largest LGBTQ populations at the time. Military Blue and Dishonorable discharges created concentrations of queer folk in these major […]
Recently, a reader of this LBGTQ Genealogy blog series asked me how to properly document trans family members. That is an excellent question, worthy of its own genealogy education blog post.
In genealogy, there is precedent to document women with their maiden names, not their married names. This […]
Gays in the Military has a very long and complex history in the USA since the founding of the country. I will briefly discuss major events in US history and share two stories of significant service member. For genealogist the important take away from this blog is […]
As discussed in previous blogs on finding LGBTQ folk in newspapers, it is possible an ancestor was arrested in a police raid of gay club. They may also have been arrested for “tea rooming” or “cottaging”. They may have been arrested for a […]
After death, those living in committed relationships had no legal control on how their families chose to deal with their remains. Their partners, not being legally married had no rights or say. Often lovers were split up by their surviving family members.
In rare cases, before the late 20th century, you […]
From Newspapers, we also can find the ever-helpful obituary. I love a good obituary that takes the trouble of listing all living relatives and all pre-deceased relatives. Sometimes there an unexpected answer in these details, such as half-siblings or blended families. What was once confusing relations in a tree can […]
Yesterday I had the fortunate opportunity to give my LGBTQ Genealogy presentation at Ancestry’s San Francisco office.
On the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, 28 June 2019, I gave the same presentation at the Sutro Library at the invitation of Dvorah Lewis. […]
