Ma Rainey's "Prove It On Me Blues," 1928, by Jonathan Ned Katz

An introduction to Gertrude "Ma" Rainey's resistance anthem. First published by OutHistory in 2014.

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey

Close-up of Rainey

Canadian Government Imposes Employment Restrictions

In Cabinet Directive Number 24, the Canadian government adopted the policy that persons with “defects in their character” which may lead to indiscretion or blackmail should be denied employment in any government job that gave access to classified…

German Reichstag Committee Approves Decriminalization

A committee of the Reichstag, the German national legislature, approves a bill to decriminalize homosexual acts between adults in private. But the growing power of the Nazis made it impossible for the bill to be debated by the whole legislature and…

London Gay Liberation Front

The first meeting of what becomes the London Gay Liberation Front is held at the London School of Economics. 19 people attend. Over the next several weeks hundreds come to follow-up meetings in response to flyers distributed in gay locales in the…

Paul Monette

Paul Monette, Writer

James Baldwin and the FBI: "Isn't James Baldwin That Well Known Pervert," 1960-1974, by Douglas Field

An exhibit about the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's surveillance of African American writer and activist James Baldwin in the 1960s and 1970s. First published on OutHistory in 2014.

Allen Bernstein with a friend, writer Alix Kates Shulman, Portland, Maine, July 2001.

[Photo courtesy of Alix Kates Shulman.]

Allen Bernstein's "MILLIONS OF QUEERS (Our Homo America)" [Text Version]

Allen Bernstein's "MILLIONS OF QUEERS (Our Homo America)" [Original Manuscript]

Allen Bernstein's Defense of Homosexuality: “Millions of Queers (Our Homo America),” 1940, by Jonathan Ned Katz and Randall Sell

Document and Biography of Author

Allen Bernstein, Soldier, U.S. Army, c. 1940's

Copyright Estate of Allen Bernstein

Allen Bernstein, 1999.

Copyright Estate of Allen Bernstein.

Allen Bernstein, c. 1950s

Copyright Estate of Allen Bernstein

Allen Bernstein, Tufts, age 16

Copyright Estate of Allen Bernstein.

First MCC service held.

In Los Angeles, 12 people attend the first service of the Metropolitan Community Church, led by Troy Perry. Over the next decade, dozens of openly LGBT-friendly MCC congregations are established across the U.S., with thousands of people attending…

Engraving: Karl Heinrich Ulrichs

Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895) and the United States, by Jonathan Ned Katz

The story of the German sexual emancipation pioneer and his references to the United States. Adapted from Jonathan Ned Katz's column, "Katz on History," The Advocate, April 25, 1989, pages 47-48. The essay was titled "The First…

James Baldwin

FBI File: 1069

Excerpt of FBI file.