Have you ever wondered how we became the community that we are today? Did we just appear as a full grown group of Gays in cities in the 20th Century? The answer to this question is complicated and involves radical activists, medical professionals, scientists, and people who volunteered to help define and build a framework for what would become the LGBTQ community.

Join us this LGBTQ History month for “How to Build a Homosexual.” Our archivist, Josh Burford, will look at the medical and scientific establishments' role in creating both definitions and space for a growing community of Queer and Trans people to find themselves and each other. This journey was difficult, often cruel, filled with volunteers and protests, and ultimately one that started a conversation we are still having today.

October 30, 2025

6pm Central / 7pm Eastern

Registration is limited so please only register if you are sure you can attend.

You will need a Zoom account to join the workshop.

Invisible Histories focuses on four key elements related to advancing LGBTQ Southern History:

Community Engagement
Archiving, Preservation, Research & Scholarship
Education
Professional Development & Best Practices

Invisible Histories acts as an intermediary between institutions, organizations, and everyday folks. We strive to break barriers between organizations and their local communities to ensure that preservation and research exist in a co-productive and relationship centered way. In addition to direct collection and preservation, Invisible Histories is invested in providing scholars with direct access to materials as well as creating a network of people conducting LGBTQ Southern archiving, preservation, education and research to make scholarship more accessible. We focus on providing education around the Queer South to those within and outside the region through speaking, exhibiting, online materials, and publications. Finally, Invisible Histories seeks to help develop a new generation of scholars working in the Queer South as well as work alongside other professionals in the field to develop best practices for this work.

How to Build a Homosexual

A virtual LGBTQ history month talk