LGBTQ+ History: My Source Material

When you’re interested in “normal” history - in dates and timelines, world shaking events, people who lived their lives in the mainstream - there’s more books out there for you than could possibly be read in a single lifetime. But learning about people like you and me is harder.

The people we want to know about had a vested interest in not disclosing the details of their everyday lives. Anne Lister wrote in extensive detail about her lesbian affairs, but she wrote it all in a code that wouldn’t be cracked until more than 140 years after she died.

Even when they did write their feelings down, biographers and historians are always quick to write their declarations of undying love as expressions from another era, touching mementos of friendship.

So over the years, when I’ve seen a book that does speak to the kind of history I’m interested in I’ve scurried out and squirreled it away in my shelves. I’m not into gatekeeping, however, and so now I’m here to share them with you!