New Initiative Seeks to Preserve Alabama LGBTQ Histories
Many people in the South’s LGBTQ community often think their histories don’t matter. This is especially prevalent in Alabama where a recorded history of this community doesn’t exist. But historian Josh Burford is trying to change that. He’s one of the founding members of the Invisible Histories Project Alabama. The new initiative is aimed at finding, recording and preserving what Burford calls the “always vanishing” stories of LGBTQ Alabamians.
On what he means by “always vanishing” histories
Well, the queer community has lost so much history since the mid 1980s. The AIDS epidemic wiped out one entire generation of community leaders, and their histories were oftentimes intentionally destroyed. We can’t even conceptualize the things that we’ve lost because we don’t really know at this point what we have.
On what he’s learned about the history of Alabama
Even a person like myself who teaches queer history all the time was wrong. There’s this mythology about the South that either queer people don’t exist here because by why would we; because of small “c” conservatives and religion. As if somehow queer people are not religious and conservative. That we were always behind. There’s this enduring myth that the South was 20 years behind like New York and Chicago. That our history is if it exists at all is very young. And so for a historian you know like 80s and forward and all of that is untrue.
On what has been the most difficult obstacle to overcome as far as finding that history in Alabama
People generally don’t imagine that their history is important because we can’t conceptualize history as the history of sort of like large faces. So, like [Martin Luther King Jr.] is not the whole civil rights movement. Like there’s millions of people involved, but we want to celebrity one person. And the queer community doesn’t really have that. And so it’s individual people toiling away oftentimes in isolation or in very small groups making what for them are small gains but for the community is a large gain. So, convincing someone who’s 70 or 80 that their life– existing, living and thriving– is important to the history is difficult. People don’t believe it. They’re like, ‘well that’s not important.’
32 Palestinians killed trying to reach food distribution hubs, Gaza authorities say
Palestinians were shot dead during a food distribution on Saturday at a center run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group in southern Gaza, hospital officials said.
Kiss cam incident at Coldplay concert highlights the technology’s awkward history
A couple embarrassed to be caught on the big screen cuddling at a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts this week sent the Internet into a frenzy. It's not the first time kiss cams have caused mishaps at stadium events.
Tourist boat capsizes during a thunderstorm in Vietnam, leaving 34 dead
A boat carrying tourists capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon during a sightseeing excursion, killing 34 people.
A vehicle drove into a crowd in Los Angeles, injuring 30 people, including at least 3 critically
A vehicle rammed into a crowd of people waiting to enter a nightclub along a busy boulevard in Angeles early Saturday, injuring 30 people.
The week when crypto won big in America
Congress passed the first major crypto legislation in the U.S., marking a major milestone for the digital currency sector. And with President Trump's support, the industry plans to march on.
Trump administration ends 988 Lifeline’s special service for LGBTQ+ young people
Callers to 988 used to be able to press 3 to reach counselors specially trained to help LGBTQ+ young people. The service had been reaching 70,000 people a month.
