In Florida, one of the world’s biggest LGBTQ+ archives is preserving the history of equality

Nestled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is one of the world’s biggest collections of LGBTQ+ historical material. It resides in Stonewall National Museum, Archives and Library, or SNMAL, which has called Fort Lauderdale home since 1972, some 53 years. In that time, it has been dedicated to, as they share, “inspir[ing] and promot[ing] understanding through collecting, preserving, and sharing the proud culture of LGBTQIA+ people of all stories, and their significant role in American society.”

At SNMAL, there’s not just a lending library filled with books chronicling the queer experience–one of the U.S.’s largest with over 30,000 titles of books and media–but archives filled with objects that illustrate the depth of the queer community’s impact on American culture and history. There are newsletters from the 1950s from the Daughters of Bilitis, the country’s first lesbian civil rights organization; garments from RuPaul and John Waters; fine art prints from lauded photographers like George Platt Lynes and Herb Ritts; and so much more--like the below boot from the original Broadway production of Kinky Boots, autographed by its star Billy Porter. The space also holds regular historical exhibitions that detail facets of LGBTQ+ life, like their current exhibition on trailblazing lesbian activist Edie Windsor and forthcoming exhibitions on Bayard Rustin, queer baseball, and queer life in Broward County, where the museum is located.

There are also digital archives for people to peruse featuring “over 6 million pages of materials documenting LGBTQ+ political, cultural and social history.” SNMAL functions as a community space as well, inviting in the vibrant South Florida queer community for conversation, films, and book talks. While Florida might seem like an anomaly for such vibrant queer life, especially at our current cultural moment, Wilton Manors, a city adjacent to the museum, was once named the “second gayest city in America” behind Palm Springs.

It’s from the book talks that I best know SNMAL, which welcomed me in January 2024 as I presented my book about drag history. Being there was special as both a historian and a native of Broward County. In preparation for the evening, SNMAL put out some fabulous drag archival material it had collected through the years: 1950s-era programs from the legendary Jewel Box Revue drag troupe; a costume from the lauded drag performer Lady Bunny; greeting cards and magazines featuring 1990s drag stars, and more. It was such an honor and a pleasure to see items like this in person, not just because I had studied materials like these as I was writing my book, but because they’re so rare and it’s so powerful to have a piece of a history like this in front of your very eyes. I was touched by their thoughtfulness and entranced by the breadth of their collection. SNMAL is a gem and it was moving to be surrounded by such archival material. The same opportunity to experience it is given to anyone who visits SNMAL for exhibitions or to use the library–the archive requires an appointment. When a community can experience its own history, its members know they're never alone.

I’ve learned recently that, despite being a part of Broward County’s thriving queer community, SNMAL has had funding cut by the federal government. In a recent segment with South Florida’s WPLG Local 10 News, Executive Director Robert Kesten shared that while there are states that fund LGBTQ+ archives, Florida is not one of them. The archive also faced state budget cuts under Governor Ron DeSantis last year.

But even with this in mind, along with the state’s attacks on the LGBTQ+ community in the last few years, SNMAL doesn’t want to move. “It’s so important to have a presence in a place that doesn’t want you,” Kesten told WPLG. “You have to go where the fight is.” SNMAL has received other national grants, however, and they are mobilizing to stay open with their own fundraising. Their gala, for example, is coming up this weekend, and people can always donate online.

Archival material and literature from LGBTQ+ history is compelling and important, and places that preserve it like SNMAL remind us that queer culture has always been a part of American history, and that it can’t just be erased.