Who is Rodney Wilson and why is he important to LGBTQ+ History Month?

Who is Rodney Wilson?

Rodney Wilson via Equality Forum

Rodney Wilson is widely credited as the founder of LGBTQ+ History Month, which initially started as Gay History Month back in 1994. His upbringing in Missouri as a fundamentalist Christian led to his eventual calling as a teacher, where he wrestled with his internal sexuality and did everything he could to research what it meant to be gay.

He first came out publicly while teaching a history class lesson about the Holocaust in 1994 at Mehlville High School in a suburban area of St. Louis. This made him the first K-12 teacher in the state to do so. He was inspired by Black History Month and Women’s History Month, to create Gay History Month.

Why is it in October?

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LGBTQ+ History Month and Pride Month aren’t the same thing, even though it may seem otherwise. Pride happens during June, when most schools are out on vacation, and everyone is out celebrating summer. Pride is also a time for adult members of the community to let loose and have fun. It's a time to celebrate who we are and how far we've come now that we're allowed to be more open in society (for the most part, anyway.)

On the flip side, LGBTQ+ History Month happens during October because it correlates with the academic calendar, and most schools are in session. Additionally, National Coming Out Day is on October 11 because of the first and second LGBTQ+ Marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987, so it also has historical significance within the community. The month is geared toward actual education on events like The Stonewall Uprising and to mark our incredible progress since then.

How did Wilson publicize LGBTQ+ History Month?

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In 1994, Wilson wrote a letter to the Missouri Historical Society about “Lesbian and Gay History Month,” wherein he detailed the importance of learning about gay history. Subsequently, the University of Missouri-St. Louis became the first college in the United States to hold a Gay History Month function, which Wilson helped organize.

In 1995, Newsweek gave it the first national mention after an endorsement from the National Education Association. That led to immediate backlash, particularly from the Concern Women of America group who feared what teaching gay history would accomplish.

After the backlash from conservative parents over the same things they complain about these days — ie “endangering youth” by teaching gay history — Wilson sought endorsements from other educational outlets. It gained some momentum in the mid-to-late '90s, but lost steam until the Equality Forum created LGBTHistoryMonth.com in 2006.

Why is this month important? What does it do for the LGBTQ+ community?

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Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month is important for the community because it highlights achievements and accomplishments within the community and helps give a broader education about what it means to be queer as a whole. Events like Pride tend to get shrouded in the topic of sex, which puts off a lot of more conservative people and doesn't help progress the conversation forward.

Having a month dedicated to the positive impact queer members of the community play in society as a whole is vital to people outside of the community understanding who we are, what we've been through, what we're capable of, and why it's so important to stop doing things that attempt to write us out of both the present day and history.

What other notable achievements does Wilson have?

Rodney Wilson/YouTube

Wilson was the subject of a documentary called Taboo Teaching: A Profile of Missouri Teacher Rodney Wilson. It interviews him, friends, coworkers, and students, and dives deep into not only his role in creating LGBTQ+ History Month but also the profound impact it's had worldwide. It also explores the pushback he received.

Where is Rodney Wilson now?

This year marks the 30th anniversary of LGBTQ+ History Month, and Wilson has done a lot in his time since being a 29-year-old high school teacher in 1994. Most of his work continues to push toward advocacy, and a lot of his focus remains on his home state of Missouri. He's had a lot of global success with LGBTQ+ History Month, which is celebrated by over 20 countries worldwide -- though not all of them celebrate it in October.

In his push for advocacy, Wilson also posts a lot on his social media about the importance of voting, and has been singing the praises of Kamala Harris ever since she became the Democratic nominee.