http://www.wearinggayhistory.com/ < Link to the project here!

I decided to look at the Wearing Gay History historical project for this blog post. I think queer history is a crucial development in the study of history and diversifying the field itself. This project is unique in its focus on t-shirts as representation within the queer community. It’s a fascinating collection of T-shirts representing the queer community in America. Historians sometimes look at clothing to understand social structure. Take, for example, the medieval period and how clothing determined one’s position on the social ladder. This project seeks to represent queer culture through t-shirts, which I find really cool. T-shirts are essentially wearable art, and to have it mean and preach sexuality is fascinating from a historical perspective.
The project has several goals: to combat the “bicoastal” bias of queer history, to show the distinctness and interconnectedness of queer identity, to bring visibility to smaller queer archives, to uncover ignored history of the diverse LGBT culture, and to use a digital platform to ensure widespread accessibility and relatability.
The project has about 4506 T-shirts and has mapped them to show where these t-shirts pop up and how popular they are. The t-shirts they have spanned the globe. They show up in North America, Europe, South Africa, and sections of Asia. It’s a truly fascinating way to show queer history like this through t-shirts and linking them across the globe. T-shirts can be expressive, and seeing the queer community utilize them in making history is unique. Indeed, I’ve referenced clothing in my work as a history student, but not to this degree. This project shows the diversity of the queer community through its collection of t-shirts.

It’s an elegant way of expressing the culture of the queer community. The t-shirts themselves have a large variety of designs and origins. Many of them are from pride events around the world. Some advocate for AIDS and HIV awareness; some are from other queer-focused events. The project also features collections from different archives that house some of these t-shirts, showing just how big the potential for this project is.
It’s a well-made website that is easy to follow and comprehend. It clearly states the goals as mentioned above. Compared to other historical projects, I think this one is far more accessible. The easy-to-navigate page, the language of the page, is very public-friendly. This plays into the project’s overall goal to lend a voice to queer history. The more people get access to it, the more people learn about queer history. Part of spreading awareness is also spreading knowledge, planting seeds of information to let it grow. This project does that well, form the basis of the project, t-shirts, to the functionality of their website.

I think often, at least now, t-shirts and other articles of clothing are dismissed as fashion or functionality. For myself, I never really consciously connected a t-shirt to this kind of message. I wear t-shirts every day, mostly because I think they look good or just need something to wear. Indeed, I understood that t-shirts can spread the news. Those of the Black Lives Matter movement or Indigenous projects to spread awareness of the unmarked graves of children found last summer. But I never associated a t-shirt with identity in this way. These shirts’ importance to the queer community is far vaster than I thought. These shirts are like beacons of identity that showcase the queer community. The growing collection and variety of artwork are brilliant, not to mention the scope of how far-reaching this project really is. It’s an eye-opening experience that educates the diversity of the queer community on a global scale. It’s a project I’ve learned from.