What is Queerness?
The term "queerness" refers to non-heterosexual sexual orientation and gender identities that are often stigmatized, ignored, or rejected by mainstream society. It encompasses people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual (LGBTIQ+), as well as anyone else who does not conform to traditional notions of sexuality and gender. Historically, queerness has been associated with marginalization, oppression, and violence, including discrimination against LGBTIQ+ individuals in employment, housing, healthcare, education, marriage, adoption, parenting, and religious institutions.
Recent decades have seen increased visibility and acceptance for queer people, particularly in popular culture and politics. This trend can be attributed in part to activist campaigns such as Pride parades, legal victories like same-sex marriage legislation, and media representations ranging from Ellen DeGeneres' coming out on her sitcom to the popularity of drag performers like RuPaul. Despite these advances, many queer experiences remain underrepresented or misunderstood.
Archival Practices
One way to recover hidden histories of queerness is through archives. Archives are collections of historical records that document people, places, events, and ideas, often organized around themes or institutions. They may include letters, diaries, photographs, newspaper articles, government documents, and other materials. Many archives exist specifically for queer history, such as the Lesbian Herstory Archives and the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. These repositories help researchers understand how queer communities have developed over time and challenge dominant narratives about gender and sexuality.
They might reveal how early feminists saw themselves as part of a broader struggle for social justice alongside civil rights movements, or how transgender individuals resisted binary categories before modern medicine had words for their identities. Archiving practices also shape public memory, providing valuable resources for teaching students and creating artistic works based on queer histories. By collecting and preserving stories, artifacts, and cultural productions, we can gain new insights into our past and present, helping us reimagine better futures together.
Storytelling Practices
Another approach to uncovering queer histories is storytelling. This involves sharing personal narratives, fictional tales, or other types of communication that focus on non-mainstream sexuality and gender identity. Storytellers may use performance, film, music, writing, or visual media to explore topics like coming out experiences, transitions, relationships, family dynamics, workplace discrimination, and more. Some well-known examples include the plays Angels in America and The Laramie Project, the books Fun Home and Orlando, and the TV show Pose. Stories often center underrepresented voices within queer communities, giving marginalized people agency and visibility. They also create empathy across differences by humanizing characters who are different from ourselves. In educational settings, storytelling can promote critical thinking skills, foster emotional intelligence, and build community among diverse learners.
Creative Practices
Creativity can be used to recover forgotten queer histories. Creative expression includes anything that produces art, entertainment, knowledge, or beauty, such as painting, sculpture, dance, poetry, theater, filmmaking, songwriting, gardening, cooking, coding, and many others. Queer artists have long experimented with form and content, challenging norms about what art looks like and how it functions.
Queer artists may defy traditional representations of gender roles, bodies, relationships, or identities by creating alternative worlds or genres (such as camp). They might also engage in activism through their work by exploring themes like sex positivity, body politics, and social justice. By making visible what has been hidden or ignored before, they challenge dominant narratives about identity, culture, power, and change. Through creative practices, we can expand our understanding of the past, present, and future beyond the familiar.
Creative, archival, and storytelling practices all play a role in recovering and reimagining queer histories. Archives preserve artifacts that tell us about past experiences, stories share personal perspectives on those experiences, and creative works produce new ones. All three approaches help us understand marginalized groups and inform contemporary activism, pedagogy, and cultural understanding. As more people recognize the value of these practices, we will continue to build a richer, fuller picture of queerness that reflects the diversity of human experience.
In what ways can creative, archival, and storytelling practices recover marginalized queer histories and inform contemporary activism, pedagogy, and cultural understanding?
Archiving of queer history helps to reconstruct the forgotten stories and experiences that have been left out of the mainstream narratives. It also helps in establishing connections between generations, communities, and cultures. Creative practices like art and performances offer spaces for exploration and expression that challenge dominant discourses about sexuality and gender. Storytelling creates awareness and educates people about queerness by giving voice to those who have been silenced.