Celebrating Pride Month by Sharing LGBTQIA+ History From Across Minnesota
The Minnesota Historical Society launches LGBTQIA+ history map, interactive Pride resources
For immediate release
Dated: May 29, 2025
Contacts: Jack Bernstein, 651-259-3058, jack.bernstein@mnhs.org or Allison Ortiz, 651-259-3051, allison.ortiz@mnhs.org
The Greater Minnesota Two-Spirit & LGBTQIA+ History Map is a participatory storytelling project facilitated by MNHS. LGBTQIA+ stories have always been community history, and this map aims to highlight overlooked Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ sites, people, and themes. Focusing on Greater Minnesota, the map reveals that queer history has unfolded in every corner of the state, from Worthington to the Boundary Waters.
MNHS is seeking to collaborate with community organizations, groups, and individuals to expand the map of sites in greater Minnesota. Additional sites can be submitted through the story suggestion form.
To celebrate the launch of the map, MNHS is hosting a Greater Minnesota Two-Spirit & LGBTQIA+ History Map: Virtual Game Night on June 25. This free event will take place over Zoom from 6:30–8 pm.
On June 13, MNHS will host a history map presentation at the Goodhue County Historical Society. The Greater Minnesota Two-Spirit & LGBTQIA+ History Map exhibit will also be on display at Winona County Historical Society during the month of June.
Additional resources this Pride Month are from the Minnesota Unraveled Podcast, which recently published two episodes spotlighting Minnesota LGBTQIA+ stories:
- Episode 108: Leon Belmont: Gender and Celebrity in Minneapolis in 1880
- Episode 114: Lesbian Feminist Cooperative Farms in Greater Minnesota
If you’re looking for ways to interact with MNHS at Pride festivals this summer, staff members will be setting up informational kiosks at the following events across the state:
- June 7: East Central MN Pride (Pine City)
- June 7: Willmar Pride in the Park (Willmar)
- June 15: Marshall Pride (Marshall)
- June 22: Itasca Pride (Grand Rapids)
- July 12: Lakes Area Pride (Alexandria)
- July 12: Rainbowtonna Pride in the Park (Owatonna)
- July 26: Wright-Sherburne Pride (Monticello)
- August 9: Range Iron Pride (Virginia)
Support for the Greater Minnesota Two-Spirit & LGBTQIA+ History Map is provided by the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008.
About the Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories, and connects people with history.