The TWiQH Blog

Deep dives, research guides, and thoughts on LGBTQ+ history and activism

The Secret Forest Bars That Protected Queer Joy During The Lavender Scare Years

When the Lavender Scare and California bar raids made urban queer life dangerous in the 1950s, gay San Franciscans did something extraordinary: they disappeared into the redwood forests along the Russ...

Aug 26, 2026•3 min read

Recent Posts

Blog3 min read

The Secret WWII Coast Guard Patrols That Turned P-Town Into A Queer Sanctuary

During World War II, Coast Guard Beach Patrols walked the shores of Cape Cod watching for German U-boats. Their perimeter faced outward, scanning the Atlantic for enemies. What nobody planned for was ...

Aug 19, 2026

Blog3 min read

Beyond The Parties: How Fire Island Created The Blueprint For Modern Queer Community

Fire Island. Say those two words and most people picture circuit parties, share houses, and beautiful men in swimsuits. But the real story of this thirty-two-mile barrier island off Long Island is so ...

The TWiQH Blog

The Secret Forest Bars That Protected Queer Joy During The Lavender Scare Years

Recent Posts

The Secret WWII Coast Guard Patrols That Turned P-Town Into A Queer Sanctuary

Beyond The Parties: How Fire Island Created The Blueprint For Modern Queer Community

Gay Games II: A Global Declaration in the Middle of a Crisis

Uranian: The History of LGBTQ Slang Names

Dr. James Miranda Barry: Identity Revealed (1865)

New Zealand's Path to Equality

America the Beautiful, 250 Years Later

Jeanne Manford and the Power of Parental Support

This Newspaper Column Changed EVERYTHING for Queer People

When the WHO Finally Admitted Being Gay Isn't a Mental Illness

They Burned the World's First Trans Clinic

New Episode: Ellen DeGeneres Comes Out on 'The Puppy Episode'

Jason Collins Comes Out (April 29, 2013)

Iowa Allows Same-Sex Marriage (April 27, 2009)

Good Queer News This Week (April 28, 2026)

This Day in Queer History — April 25, 1993: The March on Washington

This Day in Queer History — April 23, 1990: The Hate Crimes Statistics Act

Good Queer News — April 22, 2026

Episode: Oscar Wilde's Prosecution for Homosexuality

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

This Day in Queer History — April 21, 1966: The Mattachine Sip-In

🎙️ TWiQH is Now a Podcast!

The First Time We Stood at the White House

The Slogan That Turned Grief Into a Battle Cry

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence: This Week's Episode Is Up!

Good Queer News: Three Reasons to Smile This Week

"Yep, I'm Gay": Ellen DeGeneres on TIME

💬 Ryan White: The Teenager Who Changed How America Saw AIDS — Discussion Guide

📥 Ryan White: The Teenager Who Changed How America Saw AIDS — Supplemental Guide

This Day in Queer History: April 3, 2009

Good Queer News This Week

This Day in Queer History: April 1, 2001

FDA Approves AZT For HIV Treatment — EP 3

This Day in Queer History: March 30, 1958

This Day in Queer History — March 25

FDA Approves AZT For HIV Treatment - EP 2

Good Queer News This Week

This Day in Queer History — March 23

FDA Approves AZT For HIV Treatment - Ep 1

🗓️ Why Palm Springs Became Gay — Visual Timeline

Good Queer News This Week

💬 Why Palm Springs Became Gay: A Queer History of America's Desert Oasis — Discussion Guide

📥 Why Palm Springs Became Gay — Supplemental Guide

Why Palm Springs Became Gay

Good Queer News This Week ✨

🎬 This Week: Why Palm Springs Became Gay

📥 They Tried to Take Our Kids: Supplemental Materials Package — Supplemental Guide

💬 The Secret History of Gay Gyms — Discussion Guide

📥 The Secret History of Gay Gyms — Supplemental Guide

The Secret History of Gay Gyms (They Were Never Just About Fitness)

🕰️ This Day in Queer History - February 28

Blame it on the trans?

💬 Broadway Didn't Just Entertain Us — It Helped Gay People Survive — Discussion Guide

👋 Hey everyone, I'm Kris (with a K)!

🕰️ This Day in Queer History - February 24

🕰️ This Day in Queer History - February 26

📥 Broadway Didn't Just Entertain Us — It Helped Gay People Survive — Supplemental Guide

💬 How Self-Hatred Shaped Anti-LGBTQ Laws — Discussion Guide

📥 How Self-Hatred Shaped Anti-LGBTQ Laws — Supplemental Guide

Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle

📥 How the LGBTQ Community Beat Censorship — Supplemental Guide

💬 Top 10 LGBTQ Protest Tactics That Changed History — Discussion Guide

📥 Top 10 LGBTQ Protest Tactics That Changed History — Supplemental Guide

💬 ACT UP and the Ashes Action — Discussion Guide

📥 ACT UP and the Ashes Action — Supplemental Guide

💬 Dolly's Kingdom: How a Barefoot Girl from Appalachia Became America's Queer Icon - Discussion Guide

📥 The Secret History of Dollywood — Supplemental Guide

💬 Hidden in Plain Sight: How Gay Couples Changed Soap Operas Forever — Discussion Guide

📥 Gay Lovers Hidden as "Best Friends" in Soap Operas — Supplemental Guide

💬 The Queer Comedians Who Changed the World — Discussion Guide

📥 The Queer Comedians Who Changed the World — Supplemental Guide

💬 Resolutions From Gay History: Turning Dreams Into Reality — Discussion Guide

📥 Resolutions From Gay History: Turning Dreams Into Reality — Supplemental Guide

💬 The People Who Funded the Revolution — Discussion Guide

📥 The Secret Gifts That Built LGBTQ History — Supplemental Guide

💬 The Queer DNA of Christmas (And Why It Was Always There) — Discussion Guide

📥 Gay Codes Hidden in Christmas — Supplemental Guide