Beginning a century ago, Black LGBTQ entertainers & writers expressed their identities freely. We have them to thank for much of our present society.

She was famous for her bawdy performances and a chorus line of eight effeminate male dancers.

The “bizarre and eccentric vagabond poet” was open about his sexuality, and then married a woman.

Harlem Renaissance dancer, domestic worker, archivist, philanthropist, early lesbian activist; in her lifetime, Mabel Hampton was many, many things.

Richard Barthé was one of America’s best sculptors – and he didn’t shy away from his sexuality.

Josephine Baker became a celebrity in France. When Germany invaded, she used her skills for espionage.

“Nobody was in the closet. There wasn’t any closet.”