Enter the Archive!
This archive is a collection of photos, documents, music, and recorded, firsthand accounts, that all aim to document the history of LGBTQA+ activism in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota (aka the “Twin Cities”). These two major, metropolitan hubs, separated by a short 15-minute drive, were home to many of the LGBTQA+ movement’s earliest influential events. Though Minnesota’s LGBTQA+ history spans decades, this project’s main focus is on events that took place in the mid-1970’s and 80’s, when many “firsts” were taking place. The first gay rights groups were being organized, the first gay marriage took place (in 1976!), and some of the first gay bars were surging in popularity. These artifacts are snapshots of the beginning of a movement, that would eventually lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage across the United States of America a whole four decades later.
The majority of relevant LGBTQA+ records from this specific time and place tell the stories of gay, white males. Consequentially, many of the archive items present events from a gay male perspective. Although this is certainly not representative of the diverse demographic makeup of the LGBTQA+ community at the time, these stories and images still provide lots of valuable insight into what the culture of the area was like, when the LGBTQA+ movement was just starting to make waves. This was a formative, vibrant time in gay culture. Some even went as far as calling the cities a “gay Mecca” as a growing number of queer individuals joined the progressive community. These are (some of) their stories.
Enter the Archive!
