Queer Nebraska: A Timeline

"Queer Nebraska: A Timeline" is part of The Reader's Pride feature, which seeks to broadcast voices from Nebraska’s vibrant queer community, spotlighting the struggles and strength of LGBTQ+* Nebraskans. To view the other portion of the feature –– narratives and artwork from members of Omaha's queer community –– click  here .

*LGBTQ+ includes intersex, asexual, two-spirit and any & all other queer community members.

 For centuries prior to forced assimilation and colonization, Native American communities in Nebraska revere Two-Spirit people.  It’s not until white people force Native Americans to assimilate that they began to feel ambivalent toward, or discriminate against, LGBTQ+ members of their community,  according to Native Americans in Omaha. 

1930s -  Vibrant queer community flourishes in Lincoln  - Young queer people dance, drink, hang out with partners and perform drag at hot spots throughout Lincoln, including Sagamore Manor (an inconspicuous house located at 1718 P St.), Volga Villa, also known as Vulgar Villa (710 G St.), Radclyffe Hall (4543 Pioneers Boulevard) and a mansion called Magnolia Manor.  At Magnolia Manor, an older gay man rents out rooms to gay college students,  among whom these gatherings –– discussed in books like  The Other Side of Silence  and  Coming Out Under Fire  –– are particularly popular. At this time, the UNL library also has a robust collection of literature about sexuality.

 October 16, 1959 - "Homosexual" first printed in UNO student newspaper  - In a review of literature from the 1950s, which is republished from a Harper's Magazine article, UNO's student newspaper The Gateway publishes the word "homosexual" three times. (Although the  linked portion  of the book review does not contain the word, the full article, published  here , does.) The word does not appear in The Gateway again  until March 1, 1968  (pictured).

1970 -  First queer studies course offered  - Gay studies pioneer and distinguished 19th-century British literature scholar Louis “Lou” Crompton offers a queer studies course –– called Pro-Seminar in Homophile Studies –– at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Crompton's class is believed to be one of the nation's first courses on LGBTQ+ issues, according to local queer history buff John Skiles Skinner.

August 19, 1972 -  Omaha's first LGBTQ+ newsletter established  - Titled Gay Freedom, the newsletter features comics, editorials and more.

January 1974 -  Metropolitan Community Church of Omaha chartered  -  Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) , established internationally, fight for civil rights and equality –– including marriage equality. Omaha's Metropolitan Community Church continues to thrive and embrace people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, as shown on their  website .

1976 -  Lincoln Legion of Lesbians founded  - UNL scholar Julia Penelope and other feminists create a lesbian feminist collective that seeks to build lesbian solidarity and promote feminist separatism, according to local queer history buff John Skiles Skinner. The Lincoln Legion of Lesbians, which dissolves around 1991, hosts public events, sponsors women-only dances, sells lesbian erotica to women, publishes a periodical and fights for legal LGBTQ+ equality.

1978 -  Consensual sodomy legalized  - Nebraska is  among the first states  to legalize same-sex sexual activity, which the Supreme Court doesn't make legal for another 25 years.

1982 -  Lesbian bar, the Panic Bar, opens in Lincoln  - It remains a safe haven for LGBTQ+ community members, according to  the Bar itself , until closing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Panic Bar shuts its doors, it's one of just  15 remaining  lesbian bars in the U.S.

1984 -  Nebraska AIDS Project (NAP) founded  - Created in response to the 1980s AIDS crisis, the Project –– which remains one of America's few AIDS service organizations and Nebraska's sole community-based AIDS service organization –– fights HIV/AIDS via education, advocacy and support services. NAP also provides resources in parts of Iowa and Wyoming.

June 29, 1985 -  Omaha's First Pride Parade  - Around one hundred people march from 20th & Howard to 16th & Howard for the city's first Pride Parade, as shown on the Queer Omaha Archive's  Pride timeline .

December 31, 1993 -  Brandon Teena's murder  - Brandon Teena, a 21-year-old transgender man, is beaten, raped and murdered by two men in Humboldt, Nebraska. In addition to sparking awareness of anti-trans hate crimes and a push for legislation protecting LGBTQ+ people from hate crimes (according to the below New Voice article) the killing inspires the Academy Award-winning movie  Boys Don’t Cry (1999) .

1993 -  Ernie Chambers co-sponsors employment equality bill  - The  longest-serving lawmaker  in the history of Nebraska,  Chambers  sponsors the bill with senator Tim Hall, and sponsors a similar bill in 1995. Neither bill is successful, but Chambers remains an outspoken LGBTQ+ ally for the duration of his career.

1995 -  To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar filmed in Nebraska  - The cult classic centers three drag queens (played by Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo) who find themselves stuck in a fictionalized middle-of-nowhere village––which is actually Loma, Nebraska. The drag queens win over the townspeople despite the town's initial homophobia.

1998 -  Rocky Horror Picture Show begin at Lincoln's Joyo Theater  - Audience participation is invited in the  queer cult classic , which centers a transvestite. The show becomes a place of queer discovery for many young LGBTQ+ folks, including John Skiles Skinner and his peers, pictured below.

March 26, 2000 -  Boys Don't Cry wins Academy Award  - Hilary Swank is awarded Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards for her role as trans man Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry, a dramatized portrayal of Teena's life and murder in rural Nebraska.

April 10, 2002 -  Human chain demonstration at Nebraska Capitol  - Led by the Nebraska Coalition for LGBT Civil Rights, LGBTQ+ activists hold hands around the Nebraska Capitol, forming a human chain to protest discrimination against the queer community and push for legalization of same-sex marriage. It's the  first time since WWII  that protestors create a human chain around Nebraska's Capitol, according to this 2002  Daily Nebraskan  article.

2005 -  First out lesbian elected to Lincoln School Board  -  Barb Baier  wins the election.

March 13, 2012 -  Omaha City Council adds sexual orientation & transgender status to city's anti-discrimination law  - The anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Omahans pass by a narrow 4-3 margin, as stated in this 2012  Reuters  article.

August 5, 2014 -  Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist published  - Queer author  Roxane Gay  –– who was born and raised in Omaha –– publishes essay collection  Bad Feminist , which becomes a New York Times bestseller. In addition to having published several other essay & short story collections and books about race, sexuality, feminism and body image, Gay writes a popular newsletter and has over 83,000 Twitter followers. One of Gay's essays,  "The Year I Learned Everything,"  is published in the Nebraska literary journal Prairie Schooner.

June 26, 2015 -  First same-sex marriage in Douglas County  - Kathy Pettersen and Beverly Reicks become the first same-sex couple married in Douglas County, following the  Obergefell v. Hodges  Supreme Court decision.

June 26, 2015 -  First same-sex marriage in Lancaster County  - Barbara DiBernard and Judith Gibson become the first same-sex couple married in Lancaster County after the  Obergefell v. Hodges  decision.

2016 -  Queer Omaha Archives established  - Located at the UNO Libraries, the  Queer Omaha Archives  collect, preserve and share LGBTQ+ history in Nebraska and Western Iowa. Featured content, which is available both in person and online, includes interviews with queer community members, LGBTQ+ ephemera and memorabilia, records of activist organizations, and research by  Meredith Bacon , a transgender political science professor who started teaching at UNO in 1976 and retired in 2014, according to  this interview  with Professor Bacon.

January 2017 -  First openly transgender school board member elected  - Jay Irwin, a UNO professor and Director of UNO Women's and Gender Studies, serves on  Ralston's Board of Education .

January 9, 2019 -  First openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to Nebraska Legislature  -  Megan Hunt , who identifies as bisexual, represents District 8.

May 20, 2019 -  First openly LGBTQ+ Lincoln City Council chaiperson elected  -  James Michael Bowers  is elected to the position.

September 30, 2019 -  Queerniverse Burlesque nominated for OEAA  - Omaha's first BIPOC-centric and queer-inclusive burlesque troupe ( Queerniverse Burlesque ) is nominated for Outstanding Local Dance Production and Outstanding Presentation in a Non-Traditional Format at the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards.  Here  they are on the list of nominees.

November 26, 2019 -  First Transgender Day of Remembrance event created by and for trans BIPOC  - Held at the Union for Contemporary Art, the event honors trans people who lost their lives to anti-trans violence, with a particular focus on Black trans women who are marginalized as both Black women and trans women. Prior to this event, local Transgender Days of Remembrance centered white community members, according to transgender woman of color Emiliana Isabella Blanco who is a member of Omaha's queer community.

July 2020 -  Trans Stitchin' established  - The first of its kind in Omaha, according to  co-founder Grady Schmitt ,  Trans Stitchin'  is a free clothing closet created by and for trans people. Community members who are transitioning can donate their old clothes and accessories to the closet and/or find pieces for their new wardrobe.

March 2021 -  State Supreme Court reaffirms same-sex couples' right to adoption  - Reversing a lower-court ruling, the Supreme Court says a married lesbian couple can adopt a three-year-old child they've raised since her birth.

May 4, 2021 -  First out Black lesbian elected in Nebraska  -  Sändra Washington , who was appointed to the Lincoln City Council in June of 2019, holds on to her seat for another term. Currently,  three of the Council's seven seats are held by members of the LGBTQ+ community : Washington,  James Michael Bowers  and  Tom Beckius .

August 1, 2021 -  Funding is awarded to a study exploring how to prevent violence against Native American LGBTQ+ youth  - The study, speaheaded by UNL Professor Katie M. Edwards, seeks to create and evaluate a violence-prevention initiative grounded in Native American culture.

April 2022 -  State legislation passes committing federal money to HIV prevention programs  - It's part of  LB1014 , which appropriates federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

A huge thank you to our timeline contributors, without whom this project would not have been possible. The following individuals proposed milestones and/or provided extensive resources for the timeline:

• Amy C. Schindler, she/her/hers, UNO Libraries Director of  Archives & Special Collections  and Associate Professor
• Emiliana Isabella Blanco, PLMHP, PCMSW, she/her/hers, Activist and Therapist
• Jamison Wyatt, local researcher and English M.A. student
• John Skiles Skinner, genderqueer software engineer who researches Nebraska queer history as a hobby, accepts any pronouns
•  Mr Little Cat , they/them/theirs, Performer and Artist
•  Queer Omaha Archives, UNO Libraries' Archives and Special Collections