These oft-overlooked icons show why Black queer history still matters (now more than ever) - LGBTQ Nation

"Black History Month is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and courageous acts of people of African descent in the United States and around the world. This year, Black History month celebrates its 100th anniversary. And yet, Black History Month has failed to fully acknowledge or celebrate the contributions of Black LGBTQ+ people. Just as Pride Month remains overwhelmingly white in its representation, Black History Month continues to be deeply homophobic in its omissions."

"Our continued erasure from the annals of Black history suggests - incorrectly - that the only shapers and movers of Black life, past and present, have been heterosexual. Today, however, contemporary scholarship that examines the intersectionality of people's lives has begun to challenge long-accepted historical narratives that were once treated as gospel. Records that were canonized as definitive truths are now being revisited and corrected for their glaring exclusions. These course corrections have given us a more expansive, honest, and complete understanding of Black history."

"A powerful example is the deliberate and long-standing omission of Bayard Rustin from dominant narratives of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement until the 1990s. Once largely confined to Black queer subcultures and relegated to a footnote in heterosexual retellings of history, Rustin has now been rightfully restored as a central figure. We can no longer accurately discuss the historic 1963 March on Washington without naming Bayard Rustin."

Black History Month marks its 100th anniversary yet continues to exclude and marginalize Black LGBTQ+ contributions. Pride Month remains overwhelmingly white in representation while Black History Month omits queer figures, creating a false narrative that historical Black leadership was exclusively heterosexual. Contemporary intersectional scholarship is reassessing canonized records, revising and correcting glaring exclusions to produce a more expansive and honest understanding of Black history. Bayard Rustin illustrates deliberate erasure and later restoration: once sidelined for his sexuality, Rustin is now recognized as a central strategist of the 1963 March on Washington. The Black historical canon must expand to include more LGBTQ+ icons who shaped movements.

Read at LGBTQ Nation