How To Observe LGBT History Month

Don’t get hung up on the letters. They change almost weekly. And don’t get hung up on what they mean. Your sexuality is your history whether it’s LGBT or Q or XYZ. That’s reason enough to consider how you might observe LGBT History Month your way. Whether to you, it’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History month or some other combination of queer designations or your kind of sexual orientation, we do well to acknowledge and mark our own sexual growth as a community and as individuals with our own sexual histories.

Here are three ways you can observe LGBT History Month:

Commemorate Your Own Sexual Growth

From where have you come in your sexual growth? Maybe you’ve recently come out, grown-up, married, divorced, grown curious, or in some way discovered the awesomeness of your own sexuality. Or not. This is a good time to take note of who you were and who you are sexually regardless of your orientation.

• Write a couple of lines about your sexual history in the comments of this post;
• Frame a photo or piece of art that reminds you of a pivotal point in your sexual development;
• Write something expressing your commitment to living your own sex-positive life;
• Find some friends who share or appreciate your sexual values to celebrate a measure of sexual awakening or curiosity with you.

Learn Something Of The Sexual History of Your Culture

Most of us live in some measure of a sexually repressive culture, and so there’s much to be learned about where we’ve been and how far we’ve come in terms of sex and pleasure in recent decades. You can learn through conversation with others, by reading some excellent books, or through art, drama, or film.

• Check out Huffington Post’s Banned Book Week List;
• Jonathan Margolis, The Intimate History of the Orgasm;
• Amy T. Schalet, Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens and the Culture of Sex;
• Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality or anything by Hanne Blank.

Move The Conversation Forward About Sexuality—Whatever It Is

When you talk about sexuality—in terms of what people desire, how they want to live, and what defines them—with someone who expresses sexual values differently than you do, you appreciate your community in a new way. You can’t help but change and grow. Put yourself in such conversations; be honest, and ask good questions.

• Find an event such as a drama, film, or gathering that expresses sexuality from a perspective different from your own;
• See what you can learn and gain from others in terms of sexual expression, values, and pleasure;
• Dare to apply something of what you learned from your own community to your own sexual expression. Notice how it feels.

LGBT History won’t be confined to a month when what you learn of sexuality and culture takes hold in your own sexual expression. You’ve grown. Your community has grown. From St. Augustine to the Victorian era, to Ginsberg and Howl to Vote “No” or “Yes” or however you’re a part of LGBT History. Commemorate your sexual expression and pleasure.

–Photo Flickr / Fora do Eixo

–Photo Flickr / Elvert Barnes