Rainbow Richmond: LGBTQ History of Richmond, VA

Introduction, Scope and Acknowledgments

Following is an exhibit detailing the LGBTQ history of Richmond, Virginia. Focused on the time period from 1969, the exhibit also includes pre-Stonewall history. Many important events from LGBTQ history in Richmond are included, and we are excited to use this platform to contiinue our efforts to document our community and its people.

The OutHistory.org After Stonewall project provided the impetus to this effort, but Richmond has has made significant efforts to preserve its LGBTQ history before. The Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University holds a substantial collection of material on cour community's history. The Virginia Historical Society - one of the oldest archives in the nation - annually devotes resources to the collection and cataloguing of documents related to LGBT history.

Richmond is an old place, at least in American terms. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people have always been a part of its history. This exhibit is dedicated to all those who challenged the norms of society, who lived free and honest lives, and who moved us forward - maybe just a little, but always forward.

From Cindy Bray, Editor:

Richmond had a rich, varied LGBTQ history prior to the Stonewall era and a history of activism in the post-Stonewall era. There has been a continuing call for equality, sometimes a whisper and sometimes a roar. Today owe a great deal to the people in the past who had the courage to stand up, be heard and come out.

Much of the information contained in this exhibit line came from reading years of newspapers and newsletters including Our Own Community Press and The Richmond Pride, from the book Lesbian and Gay Richmond by Beth Marschak and Alex Lorch, and from numerous conversations with people who lived the history of Richmond since Stonewall. I owe Beth Marschak and Alex Lorch a great deal for allowing me to use the information contained in their book liberally. In addition to Beth, I have had the pleasure of speaking with several people who have been vital in the history of the community through the years, including Barbara “Bobbi” Weinstock, Stanley Kelsey, Stephanie Myers, Guy Kinman and Neil Parsons, and I look forward to more in-depth conversations with them in the future.

The terms “lesbians and gay men” are used frequently throughout the time line instead of LGBTQ or sexual and gender minorities in deference to the wording used in the reference materials and the community understanding at the times that much of the source material was written. Efforts were made to represent the full spectrum of experiences in the LGBTQ community in this history, but the sources were scarce in regards to the People of Color within the LGBTQ community as well as in regards to both the transgender community and the cross-dressing/drag community.

I am compiling this information because I recognize the need for the LGBTQ community to be able to see and recognize ourselves in the history of our community. I personally feel a great depth of gratitude to the men and women who came before me who stood up and fought for their rights as men and women and as gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. I live with a partner in a rural area have little fear of intimidation or harassment as a lesbian; I work at the Gay Community Center of Richmond, an organization dedicated to seeking an society free from bias, and have little fear of reprisals, intimidation or harassment. I know I owe the degree of freedom that I enjoy to those who have come before me.

Please Join Me on a Trip Through the History of Rainbow Richmond!

Exhibit Sections

Rainbow Richmond in the Twenty-First Century

The information contained in this exhibit was compiled by Cindy Bray, Program Director for the Gay Community Center of Richmondand she can be contacted here.