LGBT History

LGBT History with a focus on Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Herstory!

gender

Trans Activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Lived a Long, Beautiful Life

One of our most influential and remarkable trans queer elders — Miss Major Griffin-Gracy — has died at the age…

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Oct 14, 2025

beauty

A Queer History of Blue Eyeshadow, Pop Culture’s Time-Honored Symbolic Hue

The line from Elizabeth Taylor to Chappell Roan’s iconic blue eyeshadow is actually pretty direct.

Nico —

Aug 8, 2024

lgbt history

The Revolution Will Be Archived

Through the Lesbian Herstory Archives, Noor Aldayeh is making space for queer Palestinians to tell their own stories.

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya —

Jul 4, 2024

collage of Sarah Paulson and Cherry Jones, Ione Skye and Jenny Shimizu, Leisha Hailey and KD Lang, Sheryl Swoopes and Alisa "Scotty" Scott, Meshell Ndegeocello & Rebecca Walker, Raven-Symoné and AZMarie

celebrities (vapid fluff)

16 Lesbian Couples Time Forgot

The annals of sapphic gossip are deep and full — here’s 16 sapphic couples and love triangles that will bring you back in time or perhaps trigger memories of times…

Riese —

Jun 27, 2024

lgbt history

6 Pre-Stonewall Queer Uprisings History Tried To Hide

I’m confident the archives are filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of stories still waiting to be uncovered.

Stef Rubino —

Jun 14, 2024

A collage of Female Mimics International covers that look like they're spread out on a table.

lgbt history

Celebrate Trans Day of Visibility Thirsting Over the Sexy Retro Covers of ‘Female Mimics International’

The best way to see a wide variety of trans women in a wide variety of scenarios is by looking at porn.

Drew Burnett Gregory —

Mar 31, 2024

Marian and Jamie from Drive Away Dolls against a background of Florida maps, bar signs, and palm trees

movie features

Real Life Late-90s Lesbian Spaces in the South Where the Drive-Away Dolls Could Have Stopped

Being from Florida, I know how easy it is for the history of queer and trans people to be lost to time, and I think it’s an important part of…

Stef Rubino —

Mar 18, 2024

In Steven Spielberg's 1985 The Color Purple, Shug leans in to kiss Celie on the lips

movie features

The History of the Color Purple Kiss

In 1982 Alice Walker wrote a Black queer text so ahead of its time, that 40 years later we’re still fighting to catch up.

Carmen Phillips —

Dec 27, 2023

lgbt history

Lisa Ben: Lesbian Media Pioneer, Cat Lady, and Hometown Buffet Superfan

In 1947, “Lisa Ben” launched the country’s first-ever lesbian magazine, Vice Versa. But by the ’90s, she’d withdrawn from public life and by the mid-2000s, she’d found a new passion:…

Riese —

Sep 21, 2023

Featured Archive

SURPRISE ME WITH AN ARCHIVE ARTICLE

24 Very Gay Excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt’s Love Letters with Lorena Hickok

"Most clearly I remember your eyes with a kind of teasing smile in them, and the feeling of that soft spot just northeast of the corner of your mouth against my lips."

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

24 Very Gay Excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt’s Love Letters with Lorena Hickok

lgbt history

How Magazines Served As Sites of Trans Community-Making 50 Years Ago

These magazines provided critical representation for trans and gender expansive individuals across the United States who saw themselves represented in their pages.

Emma Cieslik —

Aug 8, 2025

78 Years Of Lesbian Magazines Keeping Our Queer Legacy Alive

The desire to connect with other people like us has been the driving force of queer media since the first lesbian print magazine ever launched in 1947. Here are just…

Riese —

Aug 4, 2025

Rosie O’Donnell In Blazers, 1992 – 1999

In this much-anticipated follow-up to “12 Monumental Moments In Lesbian Blazer-Wearing History” we are narrowing our focus onto one key subject in 90s blazer history: Rosie O’Donnell.

Riese —

Jul 14, 2025

The Hidden History of Lesbian Phone Lines

London Friend’s Lesbian Line, which opened in 1989 and closed in 1999, was one of many gay and lesbian phone lines across the UK.

Lauren Herold —

May 1, 2025

SURPRISE ME WITH AN ARCHIVE ARTICLE

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About Autostraddle

LGBT History

gender

Trans Activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Lived a Long, Beautiful Life

A Queer History of Blue Eyeshadow, Pop Culture’s Time-Honored Symbolic Hue

The Revolution Will Be Archived

16 Lesbian Couples Time Forgot

6 Pre-Stonewall Queer Uprisings History Tried To Hide

Celebrate Trans Day of Visibility Thirsting Over the Sexy Retro Covers of ‘Female Mimics International’

Real Life Late-90s Lesbian Spaces in the South Where the Drive-Away Dolls Could Have Stopped

The History of the Color Purple Kiss

Lisa Ben: Lesbian Media Pioneer, Cat Lady, and Hometown Buffet Superfan

Featured Archive

24 Very Gay Excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt’s Love Letters with Lorena Hickok

How Magazines Served As Sites of Trans Community-Making 50 Years Ago

78 Years Of Lesbian Magazines Keeping Our Queer Legacy Alive

Rosie O’Donnell In Blazers, 1992 – 1999

The Hidden History of Lesbian Phone Lines

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LGBT History

gender

Trans Activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Lived a Long, Beautiful Life

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Featured Archive

24 Very Gay Excerpts from Eleanor Roosevelt’s Love Letters with Lorena Hickok

How Magazines Served As Sites of Trans Community-Making 50 Years Ago

78 Years Of Lesbian Magazines Keeping Our Queer Legacy Alive

Rosie O’Donnell In Blazers, 1992 – 1999

The Hidden History of Lesbian Phone Lines

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