One of the drawbacks of being gay is that you can’t exactly pore through Aunt Gladys’ old photo album and see yourself and your sexuality reflected in its pages (unless you’re very lucky).
Thankfully the tumblr site Fuck Yeah Queer Vintage is collecting images of LGBT people from the dawn of photography through the post-Stonewall era. Though its creators admit the queerness of some of the subjects is “ambiguous,” many—if not most—reveal a rich gay world most contemporary gays and lesbians never dreamed existed.
Go to Fuck Yeah Queer Vintage for more images from our great gay past.
EastCoastMan
THIS is amazing! So beautiful
Cam
These are fantastic! I was going to ask what #7 was doing in there….then read the lable that it was a man!
pale
#8 is Marsha P. Johnson, RIP.
James
why are all the black ones drag queens
Jonny
There are some wonderful projects hoping to augment this hole in history, including this project documenting Queer Bronzeville, which is/was a dynamic enclave of African-American culture in Chicago’s South Side.
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Queer-Bronzeville-African-American-LGBTs-on-Chicagos-South-Side-1900-1985/36389.html
Glad to see others are doing the same thing!
S G McGrew
One of the greatest tragedies of the lgbtq community is often upon our deaths our heterosexual families have control of our estate and possessions. As with Langston Hughes’ family, these hetros destroy our gay history. The first American war of be documented by photography was the Civil War. It was the first time that many young men were out of sight of family and community. They found love and happiness with other men in the time between battles. When these men died, their families destroyed their diaries, love letters, and more importantly the photos documenting their love. This has been well documented as the first erasing of American Gay Life. If you have a chance, read the remaining love letters and look at the photos of our Gay Civil War Lovers.
VacationDude
@James: Shut up already and stop playing the race card.
William
@S G McGrew: Most sentinent point – concerning the great loss of civil war gay history due to fear and avarice of ignorant, unloving people.
Derek Washington
@vacationdude it’s not playing the race card to ask a question. All too often history is only told from a white male viewpoint. The question was valid
triryche3
The upsetting thing is, the same people who wanted these types of images destroyed are still around & STILL don’t understand why it’s sad whole generations of gay history are lost forever. What we get for “choosing” I guess <_<
Wonderful site & idea! One of the greatest things about the digital age, things like this can be shared with everyone instantly, potentially forever.
Ian
These are wonderful. Love #6 in particular.
dvlaries
See, you ignorant wingnuts? There’s nothing new under the sun except the history we don’t know.
me
I love #6 !!! So fucking adorable ^_^
Yogi
I wish we knew they’re stories.
Alex
#1 It is common knowledge that back in the day cursors were a huge problem.
Spike
Vintage pics are HOT, those gays and lesbians had balls back then to take such pics, esp given that they had to be developed and printed in order to be seen, not like all the mindless 20somethings taking digital headless pics of their bods and dicks in the bathroom mirror on their iphones.
Scott
So beautiful!
Brandon
I love 4, 6 and 10.
Does anyone know what and where pic #2 was???
@S G McGrew: Fantastic point! As for the Langston Hughes family, if they had kept onto much of his possessions they’d be millionaires today. His townhouse on 126th St. in Harlem is worth $1.5M in WRETCHED condition. I could only imagine what value it would be if they kept it.
Jackson
I actually teared up seeing this. Our LGBT history is a BEAUTIFUL one…rich with struggles, triumph, pain, strength and l-o-v-e
Be proud of Pride month.
This pictures truly tell a story of our past
The Real Mike in Asheville
@James: @Derek Washington: Yeah, its a stupid calling of the race card.
This is a project where individuals contribute photographs from their personal collection (those the pictures could be collectibles and not pics of their personal lives) — so, contribute your own. Ask other racial minority gays/lesbians to contribute theirs. But don’t whine that others have contributed to the project when you have not.
tricky ricky
I don’t understand picture #11. the spoons in the middle of the backs. looks like something to do with proper posture whilst wearing a whalebone corset.