Coming soon in 2025!
We are currently collecting individual coming out stories. Want share your coming out story? Email the LGBTQ+ Project below.
info@lgbtqplusproject.org
The LGBTQ+ Project is dedicated to safeguarding and celebrating LGBTQ+ history. As a digital repository, we preserve artifacts, stories, and pivotal moments from our past, ensuring they remain accessible for future generations. By keeping our history alive online, we strive to educate, inspire, and empower individuals worldwide.
Digital Archives | The LGBTQ+ Project, in partnership with Archive.org, presents a comprehensive repository of LGBTQ+ history, offering access to a wide range of digital content. Dive into historical documents, photographs, videos, and more that shaped our community.
Explore pivotal topics like Stonewall Riots, Harvey Milk, Lavender Scare, ACT UP, and Marsha P. Johnson. This archive is your gateway to preserving LGBTQ+ heritage.
Begin your search and help keep history alive for future generations.
The International Male Leather (IML) contest stands as a powerful testament to the LGBTQ+ community’s commitment to visibility, authenticity, and cultural preservation. Since its founding in 1979 by Chuck Renslow—a pioneering gay rights activist, businessman, and publisher—the event has become an essential part of LGBTQ+ history, celebrating the resilience and unity of the Leather and BDSM subcultures.
Renslow, instrumental in shaping queer culture in Chicago through establishments like the Gold Coast leather bar and publications like GayLife, envisioned IML as more than a contest. His goal was to create a platform where leather enthusiasts could express themselves openly and proudly, defying societal shame and stigma.
Held annually over Memorial Day weekend in Chicago, IML attracts thousands of participants and attendees worldwide. Contestants vying for the title of International Mr. Leather are not just judged on appearance, but on their ability to represent the values of the leather community—authenticity, advocacy, and leadership.
Figures such as Guy Baldwin (IML 1989) and Jeff Tucker (IML 1994) have used their titles to promote acceptance and understanding of the leather lifestyle while addressing broader LGBTQ+ issues. Baldwin, a psychotherapist and author, contributed significantly to discussions about BDSM psychology, consent, and identity. Tucker has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about health, diversity, and representation.
Explore the IML Archives & Upcoming Event Info. Visit the IML Archives or get news on the Upcoming IML Event
Government Layoffs, Discrimination & Queer Resilience
In the 1950s, LGBTQ+ federal workers were targeted and fired in what came to be known as the Lavender Scare. Labeled as "security risks" and moral threats, thousands of queer individuals lost their jobs under government-sanctioned discrimination—many forced into silence or exile.
Today, we are witnessing new waves of layoffs in public education, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors—many affecting LGBTQ+ workers and allies. While not labeled as such, the echoes of systemic exclusion are loud and clear.
This section draws a direct line between then and now—because understanding the past is essential to reshaping our future.
LGBTQPlusProject.org is committed to preserving these stories—both historical and contemporary. Explore archival footage, listen to firsthand accounts, and reflect on what it means to be queer in a system that still fails to protect its own.
Eisenhower signs an order banning homosexuals from federal jobs, institutionalizing the Lavender Scare.
After being dismissed for being gay, Frank Kameny fights back, becoming a pioneer in LGBTQ+ activism.
LGBTQ+ individuals picket the White House demanding civil rights protections for federal employees.
The U.S. Civil Service Commission lifts its ban on hiring gay employees after years of protest.
Activists today work to restore the voices of Trans and Queer people erased by the Lavender Scare.
Bayard Rustin was a brilliant strategist, openly gay Black civil rights leader, and a key advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. He organized the 1963 March on Washington and taught Dr. King the principles of nonviolence. Despite being pushed to the background due to his sexuality, his legacy is monumental.
“We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” — Bayard Rustin
We'd love to hear your journey! 💖 Your story is an important part of our LGBTQ+ history. By sharing, you’re helping others feel seen and heard. Take a moment, tell us about your experience, and let’s make the world a more inclusive place together. 🌈
Remember, no matter your story—it’s valid, it’s powerful, and it deserves to be shared!