Books for the LGBTQ History in Your Life

Virginia's Hampton Roads region has long attracted diverse and mobile people, some of whom embraced same-sex love or fluid gender identities long before lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities identified as such. By the mid-1900s, Hampton Roads would lead the state in its development of LGBT institutions and infrastructure. Our Own Press would chronicle the extraordinary burst of creativity and activism that seemed to place LGBT developments in the region on a national stage. In the late 1980s and 1990s, however, military crackdowns and the HIV/AIDS epidemic devastated the leadership of local LGBT communities. Only in the new century would there be a renaissance of networking and engagement to bring the annual Pride Festival to center stage at Town Point Park in Norfolk.

Delve into the compilation of images that show how Richmond has a unique story to lend to the larger national LGBT history.

The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Richmond, Virginia, invokes a rich but uncelebrated past. From the first recorded sodomy prosecution in America in 1624 to the fight to repeal the ""crimes against nature"" laws, LGBTs have left their imprint on almost 400 years of history in the Old Dominion's capital. Lesbian and Gay Richmond presents a photographic showcase of the events, people, and places that have been a part of this history. There are snapshots from the 1920s and 1930s when avant-garde and gay authors caroused and shared ideas in private homes. Previously untold stories from the post-World War II era tell of the rise of the gay cafés in Richmond and the subsequent attempts by the authorities to shut their doors. Much like larger cities to the north and west of Richmond, the attempts to close these bars led to the first public protests in the late 1960s. Other images show how Richmond has a unique story to lend to the larger national LGBT history.

A gay love triangle, drug deals, and a murder. Just another night in West Palm Beach in 1984?

Jeffrey Heagerty was like most young gay nineteen-year-olds in South Florida in the 1980s, commonly finding himself and his friends at the popular Kevin's Cabaret in West Palm Beach on Saturday nights. On one of those Saturday nights in 1984, Jeff vanished from the club, leaving his friends behind even though he was their ride home. His body was found in a canal the next morning and his car was missing, only to be found a month later, abandoned on the other side of town. Rumors of a love triangle, drug dealings and sexual encounters snarled police efforts at solving the case. The investigation stagnated and the case grew cold until the solution came from two unexpected sources: overlooked details in police photographs of Jeff's car and a mysterious letter from an inmate in the Palm Beach County Jail.

For much of the 20th century, Atlanta was a magnet drawing newcomers from around the nation. Atlanta's growth from a small Southern town to a Sunbelt colossus in many ways parallels the changes that shaped America during those 100 years: industrialization, technological innovation, suburbanization, and battles over racial equality. Largely overlooked in the Atlanta story, however, are the experiences of lesbians and gay men. In a city governed by powerful business interests and an ethos of Christian conservatism, gays and lesbians maneuvered in ways both large and small, public and private, to find personal happiness, professional fulfillment, and, eventually, a political voice. Until recently, Atlanta's gay and lesbian history survived and perished with the memories of the men and women who lived it. Now a small part of that history has been preserved in this collection of unforgettable images.