LGBTQ History and Heritage: An American Story

 We have discussed before how history is dominated by the stories of white, heterosexual men. Interestingly, although LGBTQ history is not as predominant, even its history is dominated by stories of white, urban, middle-class men. The National Park Service, America's storyteller, is dedicated to telling all our stories through research, interpretation, and collaboration. In recent years they have been able to increase the number of preserved sites that tell the story and history of underrepresented groups in America. In 2014, the National Park Service announced their LGBTQ Heritage Initiative, and in 2016, they published their LBGTQ Theme Study.

The histories of the LGBTQ community have often been erased through punishing laws and prejudice. There are bits and pieces of information scattered throughout court documents, medical reports, military hearing records, and immigration records. Many places that are significant to this community are not interpreted as such or have been demolished. Some have known associations to LGBTQ history, such as the Stonewall Inn, which was the first National Historic Landmark listed for its importance to LGBTQ history. Other places have hidden queer histories. Either way, these private residences, hotels, bars, government agencies, hospitals, parks and community centers are all assets that tell the story of the LGBTQ experience in America, and those stories are important for community building.

The Stonewall Inn, the first National Heritage 
Landmark listed for its significance in LGBTQ 
history (photo courtesy of nps.org)

The LGBTQ experience reveals the complexities of our society, highlighting how personal lives are impacted by politics, economics, laws, and other social influences. Personal identity and gender are important aspects of the American experience. The LGBTQ Theme Study is an interesting read because it incorporates diverse stories within the queer community. It also expands its reach to areas of the country not often discussed or thought about when discussing LGBTQ history, such as rural America, which often have quite a distinctive experience from other parts of the country. Something else we, as archaeologists, like about this study is that it includes a discussion on how archaeology has the ability to reveal important contextual information that may remain intact even after physical structures have been destroyed. The Theme Study also provides a section with resources for interpreters and teachers, but really we feel that anybody, including parents, can benefit from this section. 

What is Queer Archaeology?

 As we mentioned in previous posts, archaeology is a way to get at the real story and tell the stories of those not written about in the history books. Archaeology helps round out our views of the past by studying the marginalized, the underrepresented. However, there is a problem. Archaeology, as a profession, lacks diversity in some regards. The majority of archaeologists are heterosexual cisgender white people. And while the majority of archaeologists are now women, true diversity still has yet to be achieved within the profession. Now, what does this have to do with studying marginalized people from the past? Why does this matter? Well, our current normative views help shape our notions of the past. As hard as we may try to remain unbiased, having diversity in the profession can only help us broaden our perspective on the past. 

Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, ancient Egyptians,
traditionally interpreted as "brothers" or "good friends" 
despite the fact that they are depicted in a pose often
used to depict husbands and wives. (photo courtesy of 
Binghampton University).

Queer archaeology is a way for us to question the approach and biases of archaeology as a discipline. It gives us the ability to challenge  normative assumptions and broaden our perspective on the past. The term queer means different things to different people. Queer, simply put, can be defined as anything that is at odds with what is considered to be the norm. Queer archaeology is not just about gender or sexuality, but seeks to study all of those that fall outside of what is considered to be the norm. This is why it is important to have more diversity in the field. Queer archaeology is not about designing projects that specifically look for these differences, but rather it is about being open to them by viewing the past through a diverse and queer lens. Queer archaeology is not a restrictive set of rules but is more of a critique and a conceptual framework from which to work off of in order to broaden our perspective. 

So why does a broader perspective matter? For one, many societies have had more fluid ideas about gender and sexuality than we do today. Without diversity in the profession we start to believe that heterosexual and cigendered people have always been the norm. We start to believe that men have always had political authority. We start to believe that women have always been relegated to  domestic duties. Archaeology is well positioned to challenge these assumptions because we study the marginalized and otherwise forgotten. We have the ability to prove that what we consider to be the norm hasn't always been so, thus lending legitimacy to those that are currently discriminated against and marginalized in our society. Queer archaeology can help us dispel assumptions of the past that have been used to enact legislation under the guise of "traditional societal values" which disenfranchise those that fall outside of today's norm. Archaeologists are not only well positioned to study this, but it is their ethical duty to do so and to make this information publicly available. After all, the past often informs the present, so we need to make sure that we are accurately interpreting the past.