L.A. Times Publishes ‘Our Queerest Century’ Highlighting the Contributions of LGBTQ+ People Over the Past 100 Years

Today, the Los Angeles Times published Our Queerest Century, an extensive package that highlights the contributions of LGBTQ+ people since the 1924 founding of the nation’s first gay rights organization.

The project features six personal essays by queer writers; four news analysis pieces examining the views of adults in California and across the nation through a groundbreaking poll; a portrait series and Q&A with young queer people in California; and a curated LGBTQ+ timeline from 1924-2024. It also includes a callout for readers to share how LGBTQ+ people have had a positive influence in their lives.

Staff Writer Kevin Rector, who spearheaded the effort along with Deputy Managing Editor Maria L. La Ganga, started the project nearly one year ago with the goal of capturing the contributions of queer people and considering the question, “If queer people were silenced and not able to thrive, what’s at stake?”

A lynchpin of the package is a national poll conducted for The Times by NORC at the University of Chicago with funding from the California Endowment. The new poll poses questions about gay and lesbian people that are similar to those from a 1985 poll by The Times, to examine change over time. The poll also asked questions about transgender and nonbinary people, and many pressing issues facing queer people in society today.

The personal essays, written by a slate of queer writers including Times staff and contributors, and featured alongside illustrations by queer artists, provide historic insights and personal perspectives on the importance of queer contributions over the past century.

Among the essays: Rector provides a central thesis for the project, writing “queer people should not just be accepted but celebrated;” Times Columnist LZ Granderson writes about the brave role LGBTQ+ people have played in fighting HIV/AIDS; contributor and former Times columnist Erika D. Smith highlights how queer people of color have led in many important political movements; Times Deputy Editor Matt Brennan explains how we’ve been telling the wrong story about queer people in Hollywood; contributor Eva Recinos writes about the ways LGBTQ+ visual artists have shared their view of the world; and Times Staff Writer Jaclyn Cosgrove pens an essay that considers their own journey as a nonbinary person from Oklahoma.

Rector said the team “tried to be really intentional” about how they approached the package by pulling together a lineup of queer essayists and visual artists “who bring their own lived experience to the table.”

A premium print edition of the package will be available June 23 for home delivery subscribers and is available now on Shop L.A. Times for pre-order.

Explore the project at latimes.com/ourqueerestcentury.