Initially, Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown, authors of the book We Are Everywhere: Power, Protest, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation did not know much about gay history.  But as the couple began collecting queer periodicals and photographs, they became entranced by what they found and set out to visually document the historical fight for queer liberation.  

This led them to create an Instagram account, @lgtb_history, where they shared their collected images and what they were learning about the gay liberation struggle. The community added details, pushed interpretations, called for more diversity of perspective, and championed the need for a visual history. The result is We Are Everywhere, published in 2019 in time for the 50th anniversary of The Stonewall uprising.  

From a surreptitious black and white shot from a 1950s bar, to a wide-scale image of thousands marching on Christopher Street in the 1970s, from a woman with a sign “Grandma for Gays,” to the violent confrontation of Stonewall, We Are Everywhere offers a visual representation of the remarkably diverse movement for LGBTQ rights. As renowned historian and author of Gay New York, George Chauncey put it, “These stunning photographs–many never before published–convey the fierce diversity, defiance, sorrow and joy of queer life across the twentieth century…they will change the way you see the queer past.” 

Explore our Summer of Color Collection that celebrates pride and diversity. 

And find how to get a copy of We Are Everywhere: Power, Protest, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation here.