A new, definitive queer history of the Commonwealth

Queer Virginia is a long-needed record of the courageous and creative ways that LGBTQ+ people across the commonwealth have persevered and fought for their rights. The history recovered here is remarkable and illuminating, including the life of Hannah Nokes, a Black transgender woman who overcame severe discrimination in Loudoun County during the 1930s; the story of the Hershee Bar, a historic lesbian bar in Norfolk and longtime community focal point; efforts to gather oral histories and produce a queer digital archive in the old capital of the Confederacy, and much more. Full of poignant and telling glimpses of LGBTQ+ life through the decades, this volume reveals generations of widespread prejudice and oppressive laws and the inspiring resilience that queer Virginians brought to this struggle.

Charles H. Ford, Professor of History at Norfolk State University, and Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Professor of History at Sam Houston State University, are the authors of Elusive Equality: Desegregation and Resegregation in Norfolk Public Schools.