How Boston is spotlighting LGBTQ+ history during America 250
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Jean Dolin, founder of the Boston LGBTQ+ Museum, at the unveiling of "Portraits of The Vanguard." Photo: Steph Solis/Axios
As the nation turns 250, some historians and tour guides are going beyond household names like Paul Revere and Martin Luther King Jr.
- They're highlighting figures like Deborah Sampson, a cross-dressing private in the Continental Army, and Elaine Noble, the nation's first LGBTQ+ candidate elected to a state legislature.
Why it matters: Boston's queer history is as old as the American Revolution, but it has eluded the pages of the average U.S. textbook.
Catch up quick: LGBTQ+ history tours have become more common downtown over the past decade.
- Queer History Boston, formerly known as The History Project, been giving a version of its Boston Common tours since 2015, says Joan Ilacqua, executive director of Queer History Boston.
- Boston By Foot, the Freedom Trail and the nearby Gibson House have all launched LGBTQ+ history tours of sorts since.
State of play: Queer History Boston, working with the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, launched a series of tours this summer in Boston and Salem for the nation's 250th birthday.
- The group held eight tours in the Boston Common and five in Salem.
- Three miles from the Common, the Boston LGBTQ+ Museum unveiled an installation celebrating Massachusetts' LGBTQ+ community throughout the nation's history.
What they're saying: "Queer people have always been part of Massachusetts history and have always been part of American history," Ilacqua tells Axios.
- The summer tours are one way of asserting that.
Zoom in: The LGBTQ+ museum, which has displayed "Portraits of Pride" in previous years, is showcasing some of the state's LGBTQ+ stories preceding the nation's founding.
- They range from the state's 17th-century laws against same-sex sexual contact to the LGBTQ+ community's response to the AIDS epidemic and the state's legal fight for marriage equality.
- The installation also highlights some of the people honored in "Portraits of Pride," including Noble, Gov. Maura Healey and Gary Daffin, the longtime leader of the Multicultural AIDS Coalition.
What's next: The installation at the MassArt Museum will be on display until Aug. 15.
- Queer History Boston's Common tours have ended for now, but the organization and the West End Museum will screen archival footage of the 1988 Boston Pride March next week.
- They'll also host more tours in Salem into the fall.