National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

"In a rare congressional effort crossing party lines, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are calling for funding for a new women’s history museum on the National Mall that would join museums celebrating African American and Native American history."

Just a few days ago historian Wendy Rouse published the article "Confronting the Rainbow Panic: Historical Erasure and Censorship of LGBTQ+ History in the 2020s." Rouse is a historian whose research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality, and she has published three books on the history of women and children.

The article highlights the dramatic actions we have seen from the Executive Branch in 2025, but it puts these actions within the context of a larger history of erasure.

An excerpt from the article reads as follows:

"This erasure has a long history. Suffrage leaders themselves, concerned with countering antisuffrage criticism, obscured the queerness of the movement by promoting a public image of suffragists as womanly women and respectable wives and mothers. In uplifting an image of ideal femininity and heteronormative respectability, suffrage organizations marginalized gender nonconforming and nonheterosexual suffragists, pushing them out of the movement or concealing their queerness from public view."

We encourage our community to read the article in full to understand the full impact on queer history and individuals through to today.

Have you read this month's newsletter? 📨 We highlighted Juneteenth, women's historical markers, and updates on what's happening with the National Park Service. Read more here:

Mayor Greenberg unveils first Louisville historical marker in new program, honoring women’s rights activist Dixie Demuth. The marker is a part of the Metro Historical Marker Program, an initiative established by the Metro Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission to commemorate significant people, places, and events that have shaped Louisville’s history.