LGBT history can be found in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes it just comes as a surprise to learn that something, or someone, you’ve known about was gay. 

Stephen Lachs remembers the 1970s as being a particularly wonderful era in the history of the LGBTQ liberation movement.

The ‘Homosexual Panic’ that started in the 1950s can be traced back to one event – the murder of Eastern Airlines Flight Attendant William T. Simpson in August of 1954.

Addison Mizner came to Palm Beach in 1918 to die.

Instead he would change South Florida forever, especially Boca Raton, with his enduring signature Spanish revival architecture. Eighty-four years after his death that imprint is hard to miss.

“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”

When bell hooks died on December 15, 2021, it was a gut punch. There was no time when bell hooks’ extraordinary writing and feminist and lesbian theorizing were not part of the queer community.

This is the second of a two-part article first published in 1994 as part of a series about South Florida LGBT history written for Miami’s The Weekly News (TWN). Part one was about Broward County’s queer social life. Part two looks at the rise of the LGBT rights movement at a time when most of us were still in our closets.

The legalization of same-sex marriage may be brand new to American history, but that doesn’t mean it’s anything unique.

When President Barack Obama linked Selma, Seneca Falls and Stonewall in his second Inaugural Address, it was a connection that hit home for Congressman John Lewis.

When the NFL’s 2022 season began, just one player, Carl Nassib, identified openly as gay.

In the final days before his execution in July 1943 at the hands of the Nazi party, Willem Arondeus asked his lawyer for one last request: to spread a message after he was gone.

October is LGBT History Month and it is a time to honor LGBT accomplishments.

It’s been almost 26 years since the last major gay bar raid occurred in South Florida.

Two men dressed in drag for a tea party, two women cuddled up at the beach.

Are American LGBT activists becoming more engaged in wider “social-justice” issues than they have been in many years? I am hearing more about this trend and applaud it strongly.

This two-part article first appeared in 1994 as part of a series about South Florida LGBT history that was published in Miami’s The Weekly News (TWN). Part one is about Broward County’s queer social life and part two is about the rise of LGBT activism in this county. Many of the people I interviewed, friends and fellow-activists, are no longer with us. This article is dedicated to their memory. Two decades later, during LGBT History Month, we look back in time to the days before we had groups like the Pride Center or communities like Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, or Palm-Aire.

The lesbian and gay liberation movement (though not yet the bi or trans movement) that flourished after the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 was reflected in the explosion of queer literature that appeared in its wake.

On LGBTQ History Month, we remember and celebrate those of us who lived our truths at a time when to do so was a dangerous thing.

When I came out (almost 50 years ago), I learned much about being gay from older gay or bisexual men, Hispanic and Anglo, who I met in Miami’s then-flourishing gay bars.

Pat Rocco (1934-2018) was a pioneer gay filmmaker and activist. Though he was popular and well-known during his heyday he is hardly remembered today.

The City of Lake Worth Beach marked October as LGBT History Month in a proclamation by the City Commission on Oct. 6.

Check out all our articles highlighting October as LGBT History Month!

History never gets old. Each year SFGN takes part in a national effort among LGBT publications to shine a bright light on our community’s history.

Amy Schneider. Matt Bomer. Lawrence of Arabia. What do those three individuals all have in common? They’re being celebrated in Equality Forum’s annual queer icons list during LGBT History Month, which takes place each October.

It was the 1970’s and the gay life in South Florida was marked by its nightlife, and its nightlife was measured by the Copa. As Tiny Tina, Ray Fetcho was one of its star drag performers.

South Florida's PBS station recently aired a feature, Exploring One of the Largest LGBTQ+ Archives and Libraries in the U.S., on the Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale where they also interviewed the museum's new Executive Director Robert Kesten. 

In a time when President Donald Trump has directed a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military, his administration has rescinded protections for trans students in public schools and the advancement of LGBTQ national historic landmarks are in question, the stories of those who fought for equal rights in an earlier era seem to be more important than ever before.

Lost in the celebrations of this year’s Pride was the death of a historical crusader for LGBT rights. The passing of Dick Leitsch was a reminder of the role secret societies played in mid-20th century America.

Small, effeminate, friendly and probably gullible, the attractive blond 19-year-old teenager with the engaging smile never stood a chance when two maniacal thugs targeted him one night for robbery and worse — a crime that would rock a city, a state and the nation.

Miami Beach Commissioners approved two resolutions pertaining to LGBTQ History Month at its Sept. 14 city commission meeting.