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In a greying political climate in the USA and beyond, which is increasingly seeing trans people in particular and their rights come under attack<\/a>, the book serves as an important reminder that LGBTQ+ people have always existed, taken up space, and contributed hugely to the physical spaces that we move around everyday.<\/p>\n \u201cOur country has begun to experience a new wave of anti-LGBTQ+ backlash,\u201d says Zinaman. \u201cWhen LGBTQ+ rights \u2013 especially the rights and lives of trans people \u2013 are under attack, one of the first things that gets erased is its history. We\u2019ve already started to see that in instances like our current administration removing references to transgender and queer people from several federal government websites.\u201d<\/p>\n But at the same time, it\u2019s a memento of hope. Within the darker periods of history, the community have found ways to emerge stronger than before. \u201cOne of the biggest takeaways from working on this book is seeing just how cyclical queer history can be,\u201d Zinaman says. \u201cFor every moment of progress, there\u2019s often been a corresponding backlash, whether it\u2019s through criminalisation, surveillance, censorship or outright violence. The AIDS crisis<\/a>, for example, decimated entire communities and revealed how quickly queer lives could be devalued by the broader public.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd yet even in the midst of that devastation, queer people organised, cared for one another, and created new forms of visibility and resistance,\u201d he continues. \u201cSo documenting this history isn\u2019t just about preserving the past \u2013 it can also be about equipping ourselves for the present. It can remind us that we\u2019ve been through dark times before, and still, we\u2019ve survived, created beauty, found joy, and fought for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC\u2019s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places is published by Prestel<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Subscribe to Marc Zinaman\u2019s Queer Happened Here on Substack<\/a>\u00a0and follow him on Instagram<\/a>. Isaac Muk is Huck\u2019s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Buy your copy of Huck 81 here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Enjoyed this article? Follow Huck on Instagram<\/a> and sign up to our newsletter<\/a> for more from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture.<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Support stories like this by becoming a member of Club Huck<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/em>
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