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. 

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Last year SFGN became the first publication to write in-depth on the famous architect’s sexuality and make the case that he was gay. Now new information has come to light revealing even more evidence of his homosexuality.

Visitors to the Stonewall National Museum and Archives (SNMA) in Fort Lauderdale, one of the largest LGBT lending libraries and collections in the country, dropped by nearly two-thirds because of the pandemic.  

October marks LGBT History Month, which started in 1994 by a Missouri high school teacher, Rodney Wilson. Wilson sought out other teachers and community leaders for his effort and they chose October because school was in session and it coincided with National Coming Out Day on October 11.

Laurel Hubbard (February 9, 1978) is a New Zealand weightlifter. Selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she was the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympic Games.

To celebrate the upcoming World Series, I compiled a random list of “First Recorded Homosexual Person, Place or Reference” and organized it in the format of the all-American game.

We all have stories. Each of us has a secret we think is all our own.

It's hard to believe that the late Tammy Faye Bakker would be 79 years old were she alive today.

You could say that Glenn Burke, the first Major League Baseball player to come out, is having a good season.

Until recently, Alberto B. Mendoza hated 41. He cringed if his dinner bill or hotel room number had the number in it, and with the countdown to his 41st birthday, he dreaded the year to come.

The California Historical Society is in the process of digitizing two collections of photographs and negatives from the wild and heady early days of LGBT liberation in San Francisco.

It's been a long time coming, but officials at the Alice Austen House on New York's Staten Island have thrown open the closet door, now fully embracing the lesbian pioneer and photographer who lived in the house with her longtime partner, Gertrude Tate.