Historical Queeries

American writer Audre Lorde was a poet, feminist, womanist and civil rights activist. She was born in New York City…

Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, was comprised of controversy. He is known for being the…

Barbara Smith is a queer feminist activist and scholar who was instrumental in the advent of the Combahee River Collective…

(“Queer History” is a continuation of a series previously titled “A Test of Character”) Billie Jean King is a bisexual…

Alice Walker is an American author and activist. Her work includes poetry, short stories and novels, most notably “The Color…

Helene Cixous is a revolutionary French feminist theorist and experimental novelist and dramatist. Her work extols female homoeroticism and feminist…

Alan Turing is considered the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. Though he helped save an estimated 14…

Lesbian writer and illustrator Alison Bechdel is a living legend. Her graphic novel-turned-Tony-winning musical and comic strip Dykes to Watch…

Julie d’Aubigny was quite possibly the closest the world will ever get to a real-life Wonder Woman. Nicknamed Mademoiselle Maupin…

Bisexual Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico City in 1907. At age 18, she was confined to bed…

Dear West Chester, I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving already—I’m nearly in shock. Though it will be a much…

Astronaut Sally Ride is well-known as the first American woman to travel to space. Lesser known is that Ride was…

The Greek poet Sappho is the original queer icon. The term “lesbian” is derived from the name of the island…

Josephine Baker was much more than a showgirl. She actively worked to make the world a better, more accepting place…

Barbara Gittings was a highly influential lesbian activist of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and 70s. Gittings organized the New York chapter…

In a 1967 letter to the National Organization of Women, Anne “Pauli” Murray said, “I hold the status of multiple…

This past Thursday, April 27, Philips Autograph Library provided a stage for the 45th annual reading of West Chester University’s…