LGBTQ Wichita

Located in the middle of the nation’s heartland, Wichita, Kansas, has been a regional hub for LGBTQ persons, forming a community that extended well beyond just local residents. In spite of the area’s restrictive laws and conservative attitudes, these people have, since the 1960s, found space among an ever-fluid bar and club scene and a larger network from community centers to rodeos to religious organizations to art and activism groups. It has a history that includes one of the nation’s earliest gay rights ordinances as well as pioneering figures in AIDS research. The community has faced discrimination and hostility and the AIDS crisis. Since then, it has celebrated milestones like the legalization of gay marriage and the losses of many of its key leaders. With a legacy that extends from homophile to gender fluid, this story provides a window into how LGBTQ persons in the center of the country have both faced challenges and lived ordinary lives.

Paperback | 6 x 9 | 128 Pages