In the United States, October is LGBT History Month, a time to observe the history of the gay rights movement and celebrate the LGBTQA community.At Northeastern, October is OUTober!
To kick off the celebration, we’ve explored the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections’s LGBTQA archives, a collection of materials related to all things queer, donated by various sources in and around Boston. In this exhibit, we focus on the local history of four main subjects: the history of active Boston-area organizations, AIDS activism, intersectionality and diversity of identity and background in the queer rights movement, and queer life on our very own campus.
This OUTober, let us energize ourselves to continue fighting for our community by reflecting on those who came before us and the battles they fought. Let us honor the lives that were lost due to institutional inaction surrounding the AIDS crisis and violence against the community. And finally, let us understand that oppression is an intersectional issue, making it vital for us to lift one another up and show allyship across diverse identities.
Northeastern’s Archives and Special Collections’ queer archives have documents dated as early as the 1970’s, and other records of queer people of course go back much further. Being queer never was and never will be a “phase” -- our community has always been here, and this exhibit is desgined to display just that.
A disclaimer: as much of this material dates back 30 or more years, certain terminology will be outdated - in particular, the use of the word “transsexual”. During the time of this archival material, that was considered the ‘default’ word to use for members of the trans community. It is no longer used and generally considered outdated and offensive. “Transgender” or simply “trans” is now the correct terminology.
Enjoy!
-Jess, Nate, the LGBTQA Resource Center, and the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections