Why LGBTQ+ History Month Matters More Than Ever

Yes, I know I’m a little late, I meant to publish this on Oct. 1 but being the compulsive editor that I am, I missed by a couple of days. Ooops.

Queer people are both more visible than ever and simultaneously more targeted by political backlash, LGBTQ+ History Month is not just a cultural footnote. It is a necessary act of remembrance and resistance.

What started as a project by one teacher in the 1990s has grown into a global reminder that queer lives are woven into the fabric of human history. But in 2025, against the backdrop of rising hostility, censorship, and rollbacks of LGBTQ+ rights in several countries, this month of reflection and celebration is no longer optional. It is essential.

How It All Began

The story of LGBTQ+ History Month starts with Rodney Wilson, a high school history teacher in Missouri. In 1994, he realized that while students learned about wars, revolutions, and political leaders, they rarely learned that any of those leaders, thinkers, or creators were LGBTQ+. Worse, when they did encounter queerness in history, it was framed through tragedy; the AIDS crisis, suicide, hate crimes, or persecution.

Wilson wanted to carve out a space where queer achievements could be recognized, celebrated, and studied just like those of any other group. He founded LGBTQ+ History Month as a counterpart to Black History Month and Women’s History Month.

* In the United States, October was chosen to align with National Coming Out Day (October 11) and the anniversary of the 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

* In the United Kingdom, the month is celebrated in February, marking the 2003 repeal of Section 28, a law that had effectively silenced any discussion of LGBTQ+ lives in schools.

* Since then, countries like Canada, Hungary, and Australia have also embraced their own versions of LGBTQ+ History Month.

At its core, the purpose was clear: visibility is power. To be seen in history is to be validated in the present.

The Role of Visibility in Queer Survival

Why is history so important? Because invisibility is a tool of oppression. If you erase people from the story, it becomes easier to argue they don’t belong in the present.

For centuries, LGBTQ+ people were deliberately scrubbed from mainstream accounts of history. Alan Turing helped end World War II by breaking the Enigma code, but for decades his sexuality was a footnote at best. James Baldwin, one of America’s greatest writers, was often described as a “Black intellectual” but his queerness was downplayed. Even figures like Bayard Rustin, who was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr., were hidden in the margins because of their sexuality.

LGBTQ+ History Month confronts that erasure. It asserts that queer people were always there, in science, in art, in politics, and in everyday communities. Their contributions shaped the world we live in.

For young people especially, this matters. Research consistently shows that LGBTQ+ youth who see themselves reflected in history, culture, and education are less likely to experience depression, isolation, or suicidal thoughts. History, in this sense, becomes more than memory. It becomes survival.

The Backlash: Laws and Movements Against Visibility

This is not just an academic conversation. Around the world, LGBTQ+ rights are under pressure. The pushback is real, and it often begins by targeting visibility itself.

* United States: So-called “Don’t Say Gay” bills in states like Florida limit or outright ban discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. These laws aren’t about protecting children; they are about erasing queer lives from education.

* Eastern Europe: Hungary passed a law in 2021 banning the “promotion” of LGBTQ+ identities to minors. Russia has gone even further, expanding its infamous “gay propaganda” law to target any mention of LGBTQ+ existence in public.

* Africa: In Uganda, a harsh 2023 law criminalized even identifying as LGBTQ+, threatening imprisonment and, in some cases, the death penalty.

* Middle East: In countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, LGBTQ+ people continue to face systemic violence and criminalization.

The strategy is eerily consistent across regions: silence, restrict, and erase. Make it harder for queer people to exist openly. Make it illegal to talk about them. Pretend they were never part of the story.

This is why LGBTQ+ History Month is so critical in 2025. Against attempts at erasure, it insists on visibility. Against censorship, it insists on truth.

Remembering the Past to Protect the Future

There is a reason authoritarian movements often target history first. If you can rewrite the past, you can control the future. For LGBTQ+ people, reclaiming history is not just about honoring heroes; it’s about building armor against erasure.

Think of it this way:

* When students learn that Alan Turing was chemically castrated by the state he helped save, they understand the cost of state-sanctioned homophobia.

* When they hear about Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, they learn that trans women of color were at the forefront of the Stonewall uprising and not on the sidelines.

* When they study the lives of queer writers like Audre Lorde, Virginia Woolf, or James Baldwin, they realize that queerness has always fueled art, not diminished it.

This knowledge inoculates societies against the lie that LGBTQ+ people are a “modern invention” or a “Western import.” Queerness has always existed, everywhere. The difference now is whether societies choose to acknowledge it.

More Than Rainbow Logos: Making History Month Count

One danger of awareness months is that they get reduced to surface-level branding exercises. A corporation changes its logo to a rainbow for 30 days, then quietly reverts to business as usual. This is not enough.

For LGBTQ+ History Month to matter, it has to move beyond symbolism into action. That means:

* Schools incorporating LGBTQ+ figures and movements into the curriculum — not as side notes, but as central threads of history.

* Workplaces holding educational events, panels, and storytelling sessions that go deeper than hashtags.

* Governments officially recognizing LGBTQ+ History Month and supporting initiatives that highlight queer contributions.

* Media and cultural institutions producing documentaries, exhibitions, and art showcases that bring history to life.

It also means communities holding space for dialogue — intergenerational conversations where older queer people can share their lived history, and younger ones can see themselves as part of a long, ongoing struggle.

Global Examples of LGBTQ+ History in Action

LGBTQ+ History Month is not uniform across the globe, and that diversity matters.

* United Kingdom: Each year has a theme. In recent years, these have included “Medicine,” highlighting queer contributions to healthcare, and “Politics in Art,” exploring how LGBTQ+ people used creativity as resistance.

* United States: Universities often spotlight 31 historical figures, one for each day of October. This creates a structured, accessible way to introduce new names and stories.

* Hungary: Despite hostile laws, activists continue to mark LGBTQ+ History Month quietly, often online, ensuring that the history remains visible even in the face of censorship.

* Australia: Observed in October, with schools and organizations focusing on the intersections of Indigenous and queer histories, acknowledging the complexity of identity.

These examples show the adaptability of LGBTQ+ History Month. It’s not about one story but many, reflecting the unique histories of different regions.

The Stakes in 2025

Why is LGBTQ+ History Month more important now than, say, ten years ago? Because history teaches us that progress is never linear. Gains can be reversed. Rights can be rolled back. Visibility can be censored.

In the last decade, we’ve seen enormous victories — marriage equality in dozens of countries, broader representation in media, trans people gaining greater visibility. But with visibility has come backlash. And that backlash is not minor; it is structural, political, and violent.

* Anti-trans legislation in the U.S. has skyrocketed.

* LGBTQ+ books are being banned from schools and libraries.

* Countries once making progress on rights are reversing course.

Against this backdrop, LGBTQ+ History Month is not just about remembering the past. It’s about warning ourselves about the present. It’s a yearly checkpoint: Are we moving forward, or are we sliding backward?

For those asking what role they can play, here are tangible ways to make LGBTQ+ History Month count:

1. Educate yourself: Read queer authors, watch queer documentaries, and learn about LGBTQ+ pioneers whose stories were buried.

2. Support local events: Attend lectures, exhibitions, or community gatherings. Show up, don’t just post online.

3. Push for inclusive education: Advocate for school curriculums that integrate LGBTQ+ history year-round.

4. Challenge erasure: If someone claims LGBTQ+ identities are “new” or “unnatural,” use history to counter that.

5. Amplify voices: Share stories of queer figures past and present, especially those from marginalized intersections of race, class, and disability.

From History to Pride

It’s tempting to think of Pride as a celebration of the present — rainbow flags, parades, and visibility in the here and now. But Pride didn’t emerge in a vacuum. It was built on the shoulders of those who resisted, fought, and refused to be erased.

That’s where LGBTQ+ History Month and Pride connect. History Month is the reminder. Pride is the continuation. One is about memory, the other about presence. Both are about survival.

Without LGBTQ+ History Month, Pride risks becoming hollow, a party without context, stripped of its roots in protest and struggle. By remembering the past, we give Pride its backbone. We remind ourselves that Pride is not just about joy and visibility, but about honoring those who made it possible and also about defending it for those who will come after us.

So when we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month, we’re not just looking backwards. We’re fueling Pride with purpose. We’re shining a light on the road traveled, and the long, winding path still ahead.

Because Pride without history is decoration.

And history without Pride is silence.

Together, they’re unstoppable.

The Future Depends on Memory

Ultimately, LGBTQ+ History Month is not just about looking backward. It’s about equipping ourselves for the battles ahead. It’s about making sure that in a future where lawmakers try to erase us, we can say with certainty: we’ve always been here, and we always will be.

History is the thread that connects past resilience to present struggles and future hopes. And in 2025, as visibility comes under attack, the act of remembering becomes radical.

So let’s remember. Loudly. Publicly. Without apology.

Because in times of erasure, memory is resistance. And LGBTQ+ History Month is one of the sharpest tools we have to resist!