A new project is shining the light on many LGBTQ+ stories that have either not been told or faded with time.
LGBTQ+ History of Delaware: We have Always Been Here, explores the people, places, and key artifacts that have shaped queer history in Delaware.
The Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is rolling out this project that looks to tell untold stories, or stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people who were living hidden in plain sight for many years.
The project has been put together for a little over a year, and be presented online
Meg Hutchins is the Engagement and Collections Manager for the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.
"The way that it's going to look is we're going to have a timeline. We'll have what we're calling vignettes. So these are particularly looking at different stories, and we kind of started with the model that was people, places, and objects to tell stories in different ways. So some people are larger than life figures, some are places," said Hutchins.
Hutchins notes the places are ones that hold significance to the community and the objects include things like a flag, letters or photographs that capture the humanity of people and their stories.
"Things that prompted the project: one me being a queer person and a queer historian and I have a background and doing research into queer history, and so it's always been sort of a personal project of mine to want to do this," said Hutchins. "I'm not originally from Delaware but I wanted to tell a story that had not been told."
Hutchins says discussions with the former director at the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs about telling the stories of the LGBTQ+ community also helped get the project rolling.
She notes telling stories like this are important so people can feel seen and understand they fit into this world, and that their history didn’t start yesterday.
Visit the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs for more on the "LGBTQ+ History of Delaware" project.
