Think back. How did you learn about LGBT history? Oh wait, did you? What do you know?
I honestly am not a great resource for LGBT history and facts. During one of my recent trips to San Francisco, I was so impressed and in awe of my friend Bryan's knowledge of Harvey Milk, the history of the Castro, and all around gay cultural information. I felt a little ashamed that I did not know anything he was mentioning. Did it drive me to educate myself on what I did not know? Unfortunately, like many Americans, I do have a limited attention span and although LGBT history is an important subject, I did not mark then and there as a negative that needed to be fixed immediately.
But how are our youth, newly out, and allies educated about QUEER history? Has Hollywood produced any movies, television series, etc that have been wonderful educational tools? Sure, some have been entertaining, while others have been crucified by critics … so the answer to the Hollywood question seems to be a unanimous Nn, Nothing, Zero, Zilch for offerings.
But are movies and tv the best way to reach the masses in 2017? Maybe not.
Enter the Instagram account @lgbt_history. What better way to educate the masses than produce a series of bread crumbs on the Internet.
The historical account, created by partners Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown, posted its first picture on Instagram in January 2016. Now, a year and a half later, the account has more than 126,000 followers. They are posting roughly 5 pictures a day from the time of Stonewall and before and up to the current era. Reimer and Brown are making sure to represent every type of friend of Dorothy out there. We are all a part of QUEER history.
Thanks guys for doing all of this great work. We feel this is a great way to reach out to those that need to know our history, even me.
Here is a very brief sample of the pictures and info that can be found on @lgbt_history.