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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 9m

Femminielli (singular femminiello) are a population of people who embody a third gender role in traditional Neapolitan culture. Femminielli are traditionally believed to bring good luck; for this reason, it is popular in the neighborhoods for a femminiello to hold a newborn baby

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 3h

While hijras have been treated with both fear and respect for thousands of years, much of this respect did not survive Hinduism’s encounter with colonialism. Today, hijra are often almost always excluded from employment and education outside of their ritual roles.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 6h

The growing tide of radical feminism and lesbian separatism played out violently against STAR (...) Blocked from speaking and physically attacked by lesbian feminists for 'parodying womanhood', Sylvia stormed onto the stage, grabbed the mic, and confronted the audience

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 9h

Sarah Hegazi was an Egyptian socialist, writer, and lesbian activist. She was arrested, imprisoned and tortured in Egypt for three months after flying a rainbow flag at a Mashrou' Leila concert in 2017 in Cairo.

Sarah Hegazi smiling near a body of water

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 15h

Jennicet Gutiérrez is an activist for transgender rights and immigrant rights. A founding member of La Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, much of her activist work supports trans women detained for their immigration status.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 18h

Historically and culturally hijras are based in Hinduism and they perform solely for Hindus. However, hijras are not all Hindu themselves. Many are Muslim and a few are Christian. In fact, some hijras follow the beliefs and practices of both Hinduism and Islam.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 21h

In 2015, police blasted Hande Kader with water cannons during Istanbul’s Gay Pride. When the police attempted to disperse the parade, Hande Kader sat down in protest. This action transformed her into the figurehead of the Turkish LGBTI community.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Despite Sylvia’s enthusiasm to be involved in activists groups such as the GLF and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), from the beginning her identities as a street worker, drag queen, poor, and a Latina were troubling to the largely white, middle-class activist groups.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Hande Kader was born in Turkey’s southeastern province of Urfa in 1993. She was living in İstanbul and she was working as a sex worker. She was last seen getting in a customer’s car before her body was found raped, mutilated, and burnt on 12 August 2016.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

"We felt such an empty invitation didn't really mean anything. My instant reaction was, no. You haven't done enough for LGBTQ people. You haven't done enough for women's rights issues. You haven't done enough for racial justice." - Jennicet Gutiérrez

Jennicet Gutiérrez posing in front of a painted wall

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

In Algeria, the association Abu Nawas created the Ten-Ten, a national LGBTQIA+ day, which is celebrated every year on October 10th. On this day, at 8pm, a candle must be lit and a photo posted on Facebook as a sign of solidarity and tolerance towards all people of the community.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Hijra are expected to perform dances, songs, and blessings at both births and weddings of Hindus. To many Hindus, a hijra's blessings of a baby will confer fertility, prosperity, and long life on the child.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Sylvia's experience in school contributed to continued mockery and altercations with other students; her wearing of make-up, which started in fourth grade, contributed to her ultimate abandonment of formal education when she was called "faggot" by a fellow sixth grade classmate.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

"You get beaten up by your own and that’s what hurts." Interview with Sylvia Rivera: makinggayhistory.com/podcast/sylvia…

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

(How are relations between the transvestites and the straight prisoners?) "Oh, the straight prisoners treat transvestites like they’re queens. They send them over cigarettes and candy, envelopes and stamps and stuff like that – when they got money." - Marsha P. Johnson

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Hijra and transgender rights advocate Laxmi Narayan Tripathi speaking at a conference in Australia in 2017.

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi holding a microphone

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

"I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville until I became a drag queen. That’s what made me in New York, that’s what made me in New Jersey, that’s what made me in the world." - Marsha P. Johnson

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

"Before the Stonewall I was involved in the Black liberation movement, the peace movement... I just felt that I had the time and I knew that I had to do something. And then when the Stonewall happened (…) I said 'Now it’s time to do my thing for my own people.'" - Sylvia Rivera

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

The beginning of the sexual rights movement in the Middle East and North Africa began to take shape in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which can be seen in an increased level of politicization and public engagement around issues of gender and sexuality.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Most hijras' defining characteristic is leaving home to become a part of the hijra community, which removes itself from wider society and teaches its lessons in secret. A young person is initiated by following a guru who will teach the chela (disciple) in the hijra ways of life.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

The 1st wave (late 1990s-early 2000s) of sexual rights movements in the MENA region brought forth new collectives & projects to grapple with issues of personal freedoms & health (HIV/AIDS), such as Club Free and Hurriyat Khasa in Lebanon and a group working on HIV/AIDS in Algeria

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

"They have a little backroom deal without inviting (trans activists) with these politicians. The deal was, 'You take them out, we’ll pass the bill.' So, what did nice conservative gay white men do? They sell a community that liberated them down the river" - Sylvia Rivera

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

In the Indian subcontinent, hijra are eunuchs, intersex people, or transgender people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as guru-chela system. Indian society and most hijras consider themselves to be third gender—neither male nor female.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Despite the increasing conservative nature of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), and their attempts to exclude trans people from their work, Sylvia Rivera continued to work within the group in hopes of achieving inclusion for all gender variant people.

Sylvia Rivera sitting with a bear plushie on her lap

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

As a queer, Latina, and drag queen, Sylvia Rivera lived her life on the margins and fought for others who refused to be pushed to the side or silenced in favor of more palatable gay rights legislation.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

The 2nd wave in the MENA region started with organizations explicitly addressing questions of sexual and gender diversity beginning with Lebanon’s Helem in 2004 and Aswat in Palestine. It's characterized by a growing sense of intersectional politics and anti-imperialism.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Sylvia Rivera’s grandmother took care of her for a period of time, but voiced her disapproval not only of Rivera’s mixed background that made her skin darker than she preferred (Venezuelan and Puerto Rican), but also of her behavior, which was deemed too effeminate "for a boy".

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Letter written by Hegazi before her death: "To my siblings – I tried to survive and I failed, forgive me. To my friends – the experience was harsh and I am too weak to resist it, forgive me. To the world – you were cruel to a great extent, but I forgive."

Sarah Hegazi's letter, written in arabic

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Hande Kader was a politically active Turkish transgender woman. Kader became a figurehead for the LGBT community after being photographed at the forefront of the resistance against police forces suppressing the 2015 Gay Pride event in Istanbul.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Informally "adopted" by a group of young drag queens and adopting the name "Sylvia" for herself, Rivera learned how to survive on the streets with their guidance, often changing sleeping location every night depending on where her friends could secure shelter.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

On July 6, 1992, Marsha’s body was found floating in the Hudson River. The police officers ruled her death a suicide. Marsha’s friends and acquaintances strongly disagreed. They thought it was more likely that Marsha was a victim of an attack.

Trans women, particularly women of color, were regular targets of hate crimes. The LGBTQ community was furious the police did not investigate her death. At Marsha's funeral, hundreds of people showed up. The church was so full that the crowd spilled into the street.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

After the country began granting same-sex couples registered partnerships benefits in 1998, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Sarah was jailed for three months at Sayeda Zeinab police station where male agents incited inmates to beat her, and verbally and sexually assault her. She was arrested at home in front of her family and asked about religion, why she removed her hijab, and if she was a virgin.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Marsha P. Johnson Monument in Christopher Park (New York City, USA), with the Gay Liberation Monument in the background. Installed by activists in 2021.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Hijra and transgender rights advocate Laxmi Narayan Tripathi speaking at a conference in Australia in 2017.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Marsha never visited home empty-handed, she would bring her nieces and nephews trinkets and flowers for her mother. Her family was very dear to Marsha’s heart.

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

"The police from the 6th Precinct would come in to each gay bar and collect their payoff. Routine was, 'Faggots over here, dykes over here, and freaks over there,' referring to my side of the community." - Sylvia Rivera

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Sarah Hegazy at a protest in Canada. (Photo courtesy of HuMENA)

Sarah Hegazy holding a sign that says 'Stop Capital punishment'

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

GALZ An Association of LGBTI People in Zimbabwe is an organisation established in 1990 in Harare. GALZ's vision is "a just society that promotes and protects human rights of LGBTI people as equal citizens in Zimbabwe". galz.org

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Queer History Bot @queerhistorybot.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Sylvia's life serves as a testament to the power of resistance, and as a stark reminder that the fight to appear acceptable and palatable to mainstream America adopted by the mainstream gay rights movement is not everyone’s struggle.

Sylvia Rivera lying down and posing at the edge of a fountain

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