LGBTQ+ History Association
February 17, 2025
Responding to Erasure and a Path Forward
Hi everyone,
The Trump Administration has attacked trans, gender diverse, and intersex people by erasing transgender people from the Stonewall National Park Service documents and webpages. This affects all of us. This is violent and, if we do not act, it will get worse.
We thank everyone for your initial reactions, input, and questions. As the LGBTQ+ History Association, we agree that we have a vital role to play. We are currently working together to solidify our plan of action via consensus building. Some are in favor of grassroots responses and others prefer a more structured approach directly run by our organization.
As the LGBTQ+ History Association, we will be taking specific actions (described below). While we are leaders in this effort, we also do not want to limit broader and other grassroots responses. To that end, we are very grateful to Simon Fisher for spearheading the effort to begin organizing interested members to connect around specific action areas (https://forms.gle/2YquwQb9KDKumju8A). It is not meant to replace our organizational response; rather we hope this may tap into the collective expertise of our wider community and partner organizations towards further ideas and collaboration. We invite those organizing separately as well as individual members to bring suggestions to us for prompt consideration.
As our preliminary response, LGBTQ+ History Association is going to take the following steps:
1. Listening Sessions – the board members and co-chairs are going to have listening sessions starting with:
- Tuesday 2.18.25 6PM EST,
- Thursday 2.20.24 7PM EST.
- Saturday 2.22 6PM EST.
Zoom links for meetings will be shared via our listserv.
2. Organization – the co-chairs will collect and promptly consider implementing all suggestions for further action items shared from partner organizations, members, and/or those organizing independently, such as in the grassroots working groups.
3. Solidarity Steps and Statements – Co-chairs and board members will take solidarity steps by speaking directly with other organizations and offering resources for our community such as legal resources, direct action and protest, and local action in New York. We are working on solidarity statements with partner organizations such as the Organization of American Historians (OAH), and will expand these efforts to include other organizations opposing attacks on DEI, inclusive history education, and more broadly the MAGA regime and its digital book burning.
4. UnErasure Resources – We are expanding the resources on our website to feature historically accurate teaching resources to rebut this attempt at erasing transgender history.
We thank everyone for your patience and engagement this past weekend as we sort out our responses in these unprecedented times. Please continue to share via our listserv.
Specific questions and suggestions may also be directed to the cochairs at: clgbth.cochairs@gmail.com.
Best,
Yaari Felber-Seligman, Jay Watkins, and board members
LGBTQ+ History Association
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2025
LGBTQ+ History Association’s response to NPS website removal of Transgender and Queer identities and history.
The LGBTQ+ History Association is outraged at the erasure of the history of transgender (T) and queer (Q) communities, as well as of individual members of these communities, from various National Park Service (NPS) web pages. These include: the Stonewall National Monument, Cold War, Lavender Scare, LGB Activism Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Governors Island in New York. In addition, the individual websites for legendary and important Americans: Pauli Murray, Marsha P. Johnson, and the”Philadelphia’s Heritage of LGBTQ Activism” on the nps.gov website currently lead to dead links. We call for the immediate restoration of these web pages.
From the beginning of the fight for LGBTQ equality and rights, the Transgender and Queer individuals and communities have fought for, and continue to exist as part of the LGBTQ+ communities. The erasure and removal of the “T” and “Q” from websites is unacceptable, inaccurate, and harmful. As the LGBTQ+ History Association, we call on the National Park Service to restore both the T and Q on all websites immediately. History cannot be erased.
To learn more about the LGBTQ+ History Association please visit our website: http://clgbthistory.org/.
We invite members to brainstorm with us in the days to come on further actions that the LGBTQ+ History Association might take in light of this and other attacks on the trans community. We also recognize these actions are part of a much broader pattern of attacks on, but not limited to, the history profession and teaching of accurate and diverse history, the broader LGBTQIA+ community, as well as many other diverse communities.
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The LGBTQ+ History Association signs onto the AHA and OAH’s Joint Statement on Executive Order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”
The LGBTQ+ History Association has voted to proudly sign onto the AHA and OAH’s Joint Statement on Executive Order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” released on February 5, 2025. At the time of writing this announcement, we joined 34 other historical associations (2/13/25). Please find the full statement here.
Website Updates in Progress
This spring we look forward to gradually expanding our website’s content to feature your recent publications, public history projects, and teaching resources, along with sharing additional links to resources for research, teaching, advocacy, and LGBTQ+ rights and protections. If you have additions, please share them with the cochairs at: clgbth.cochairs@gmail.com. Please remember we’re all volunteers so we also thank you for your patience as this will be a gradual expansion of our site.
Deadline Approaching for Sponsorships for AHA 2026: please submit to cochairs by February 10, 2025
We know it is a tough and stressful time for many but continue to hope that the LGBTQ+ History Association can help to elevate projects, conversations, and community-building across our diverse community. We warmly invite you to share panel proposals with us for co-sponsorship by February 10th so that we can review them and notify you before the AHA’s deadline of February 15th. Panel proposals must still go through the regular AHA proposal process found on the call for proposals.
If you would like us to co-sponsor your panel, please send your panel proposals to Jay and Yaari by February 10, 2025, at clgbth.cochairs@gmail.com.
Please find again the AHA Call for Proposals below along with a few ways you might network to locate panelists. Also feel free to use our listserv to plan, just kindly create a new message with a panel specific subject line so that it doesn’t get lost inboxes.
Best wishes all,
Yaari and Jay
Find the AHA call for proposals here.
If you are looking for other panelists, the AHA suggests their forum.
You may also use the AHA connections form hyperlinked here.
This will add you to a spreadsheet where you can connect with other people.
Call for Applications – due March 1, 2025: the LGBTQ+ History Association’s Public History Support Grants & Research Support Grants
Dear LGBTQ+ History Association Members,
The LGBTQ+ History Association is pleased to announce a call for the third annual round of our two support grant opportunities: the 2025 LGBTQ+ History Association Public History Support Grants & the 2025 LGBTQ+ History Association Research Support Grants. Aimed at supporting projects and research in LGBTQIA+ history, these grants are available to both individuals and organizations. With an application deadline of March 1, 2025, we welcome proposals that meet the below criteria regarding LGBTQIA+ history through a variety of mediums and research endeavors.
Due dates for both are March 1, 2025. We look forward to your submissions! Please send proposals and any questions to the co-chairs at: clgbth.cochairs@gmail.com.
Please find further details below:
Application deadline: March 1
Grant Announcements: March 31
Grant Funds Disbursement: April 15
The LGBTQ+ History Association is excited to announce the call for our third annual Public History Support Grants. These small grants are intended to support LGBTQIA+ public humanities projects in a variety of formats, including (but not limited to) virtual or in-person interpretive exhibits, historic site interpretation, community dialogues and discussions, walking tours, digital humanities projects and websites, and participatory workshops. Proposed projects should be grounded in LGBTQIA+ history and provide learning experiences for diverse participants and audiences.
- Grant applicants may request up to $500
- Support Grants are open to individuals and organizations with or without any institutional affiliation, including initiatives lacking 501c3 status.
- Projects should be completed within one year of receipt of the grant.
As appropriate, awardees will be invited to present their projects in a virtual public program sponsored by the LGBTQ+ History Association following the completion of the project. This can be arranged in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ History Association co-chairs.
Membership in the LGBTQ+ History Association is awarded as part of the grant.
To apply for a LGBTQ+ History Association Public History Support Grant, please submit a one-to-two (1-2) page proposal that includes the following:
- Project Name
- Short Project Description
- Short description of planning and timetable
- Total Amount Requested, including a brief budget outline
- Date by when you would need the funds
- Name, Contact Info, and any affiliation (academic, work, or other)
Evaluation criteria:
- Scope of the research and project visibility
- Grant impact on overall project
- Inclusion of those historical periods and geographical regions underrepresented in LGBTQIA+ history
- Priority will be given to projects that center the histories of minoritized, BIPOC, trans/GNC communities or individuals
Proposals should be sent in a single PDF file to clgbth.cochairs@gmail.com by March 1, 2025. Awardees can expect notification by March 31, 2025 with money disbursed shortly thereafter.
Grant Announcements: March 31
Grant Funds Disbursement: April 15
- Grant applicants may request up to $500
- Research should be completed within one year of receipt of the grant.
- As appropriate, awardees will be invited to present their research findings and/or experiences in a virtual public program sponsored by the LGBTQ+ History Association following the completion of the project. This can be arranged in collaboration with the co-chairs.
- Membership in the LGBTQ+ History Association is awarded as part of the grant.
To apply for a LGBTQ+ History Association Research Grant, please submit a one-to-two (1-2) page proposal that describes the project for which you are conducting the research that includes the following:
- Project Name
- Short description of project for which research is being conducted
- Short description of research plans and timetable
- Total Amount Requested, including a brief budget outline
- Date by when you would need the funds
- Name, Contact Info, and any affiliation (academic, work, or other)
Evaluation criteria:
- Scope of research and impact on overall project
- Inclusion of those historical periods and geographical regions underrepresented in LGBTQIA+ history
- Priority will be given to projects that center the histories of minoritized, BIPOC, trans/GNC communities or individuals.
Proposals should be sent in a single PDF file to clgbth.cochairs@gmail.com by March 1, 2025. Awardees can expect notification by March 31, 2025 with money disbursed shortly thereafter.