In 2014, artist Michele Rosenthal embarked on a project not knowing what the final outcome would be.
“I began creating portraits of some of my favorite historical queer people, writing a sentence or two about each and sharing them on Tumblr,” she explains on her website. “At first I only had a handful of people in mind, but the names quickly multiplied.”
Related: 10 Iconic Images Of Love & Defiance Illustrate The Road To Equality
As she got deeper and deeper into the project, the small “handful” of portraits grew to 20, then 40, then 60. And those short bios of the subjects became several meticulously-researched paragraphs.
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“Two years later, I took my first 60 illustrations and created queerportraits.com, a permanent home for the project,” Rosenthal explains. “It’s designed to be a fun and accessible entry point to LGBTQ history.”
Related: 37 Unintentionally Gay Moments In Comic Book History
Many of the people Rosenthal features are popular figures within LGBTQ history. Others are lesser known, but no less influential.
“This project has definitely been a labor of love,” she tells Queerty in an email. “There are 60 portraits and bios on the website so far, and I’m constantly adding more.”
Check out some of the portraits below, and see the entire collection at queerportraits.com. The prints are also available for purchase…
Bessie Smith
Bayard Rustin
Willi Ninja
Divine
Robert Mapplethorpe
Marsha P. Johnson
Freddie Mercury
Frederico Garcia Lorca
Marlene Dietrich
Andy Warhol
George Takei
joeyty
Al Hirschfeld she ain’t.
GayTornado
@joeyty: So you took time out of your day to disparage someone who is creating and doing something that highlights and promotes other great people? Why not take that time and, instead of being toxic, create something that gives back to the world yourself?
deloris_soto
I quitt my office-job and now I am getting paid 369$ hourly. How? I work over internet! My old work was making me miserable, so I was forced to try something different, two years after…I can saay my liife is chaanged-completely for the beter! Check it out whaat i do ??
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ErikO
I like the illustrations they are very good.
Charlie in Charge
Love these – especially Willi Ninja.
joeyty
@GayTornado: Making sure we keep standards high IS doing a good thing for the world. Get it. Got it? Good.
joeyty
@GayTornado: And none of these people portrayed are that great. Where’s Michelangelo? Plato? Francis Bacon? Gay men who actually changed the course of history ?