(LGBT) We're here, we're queer, we're Yiddish: LGBTQ stories, and silences, in the Forward archives

It’s traditional for the gay community to gather for brunch before a Pride march during Pride month, or nachas khoydesh in Yiddish.

Today, we propose instead a forshpayz, an appetizer-sized portion of queer archival Forverts history — rare treasures celebrating LGBTQ dignity, visibility and equality: our first archival Pride march back in time.

For me, it’s a march that’s deeply meaningful — and also fraught.

As a young Jewish lesbian, I came out in the 1980s to the beat of the second National March on DC for LGBTQ rights, and the massive NAMES project quilt celebrating the lives of those lost to the AIDS pandemic. I lived on San Francisco’s gayest Castro Street, in a communal apartment above the Castro Street Station, one of many popular gay bars that were community gathering spots, especially on Friday nights.


Mark Weston, a transgender athlete, and his new wife Alberta Brey appeared on the Forward’s front page in 1936. Courtesy of Forward Association

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