Anne Balay tells OutHistory about her book Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers, which is based on interviews with LGBT steelworkers in northwestern Indiana about their experiences of class, gender, and sexual identity at work.
This chronology on U.S. LGBTQ+ working-class history has been created with the help of Miriam Frank's book Out in the Union: A Labor History of Queer America (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2014), with the permission of the author. Citations to sources are provided in Frank's book. The timeline is a collaborative work-in-progress that has had many contributors over a long period of time. Some of the language used and concepts referenced, influenced by colonialism, imperialism, racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs and practices, might have been considered offensive or otherwise problematic by the individuals discussed in the historical documents; some might be considered offensive or otherwise problematic by LGBTQ+ people today or in the future. All of this is part of LGBTQ+ history. We welcome new contributions; please contact outhistory@gmail.com. First published on OutHistory in 2016; last edited in 2023.