"Have you ever wondered what to do with the piles of Advocate or Out magazines you've collected through the years? Or swag you've collected at Pride events that you keep in storage boxes in closets? What about those ticket stubs to Melissa Etheridge concerts you kept religiously? LGBTQ+ archives throughout the country seek to create a home for those artifacts to help preserve queer history."
"Seeing a queer historic record can be enlightening, Burford says. It's evidence that counters the "misconception that queer identity is only for young adults," he adds, and it can help bridge generational gaps. Queer history provides an "antidote to the isolation and invisibility" that's been historically experienced by LGBTQ+ people, while also providing accessible records and a more complete picture of community history beyond major events, Burford says. Archives illustrate that queer people have always been here, surviving, thriving, and existing."
"Donations to Invisible Histories have included flyers from the Boybutante Ball, a drag event that began raising funds for the Georgia organization AIDS Athens in 1989. The group also has digitized and transcribed oral histories recorded on cassette tapes by southern LGBTQ+ activist Donna Jo Smith, who interviewed a number of fellow queer rights advocates in the '80s and '90s."
Queer community archives collect and preserve physical artifacts such as magazines, Pride swag, and concert ticket stubs to maintain LGBTQ+ historical records. Invisible Histories focuses on preserving LGBTQ+ history in the Deep South by soliciting donations and digitizing materials. Archival holdings include flyers from drag fundraisers and digitized cassette-tape oral histories recorded by regional activists. Archival preservation provides tangible evidence of continuous queer presence, reduces isolation, bridges generational gaps, and offers accessible records beyond headline events. Preservation work supports community memory, educational research, and cultural continuity across changing social contexts.
Read at Advocate.com
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