Cincinnati black gay bars

'Cincinnati was a remarkably queer place': The untold stories of the Queen City's gay history

Northern Kentucky University student Jacob Hogue started researching gay history in the region for a master's project when he noticed there was almost nothing written about it. Hogue is documenting his findings in his first book. It's a monumental task. He spends hours researching old newspapers and old biographies of people long-dead.

According to Hogue, the history is so easily forgotten because of they way society treated queer people at the time. Hogue said you can't just search in the word "homosexual" into an archive website to find all the answers. The farther black in time you go, the more you need to change your terminology. That's not the case up until very, very, very recently," he said.

A story for a gay Black person is going to be extremely different than a story for gay a white gay person. According to Hogue, there was a time in Cincinnati when gay Black men weren't allowed in certain gay bars without a white person essentially vouching for them. And, you know, my original purpose was essentially to re-position queer history for everybody, especially for people in Cincinnati," he said.

He's worried that his book will cause a lot of controversy. He runs a popular Instagram page called " Queen City Queer History " where he previews many of the people that will be featured in cincinnati book. Hogue will also be speaking about his research at the Cincinnati Observatory's Pride Night on June Hogue bar cover two of the very first trials concerning homosexuality in the region, analyze the role of female and male impersonation on political discourse in Cincinnati and so much more.

Click here to learn more. News Local News Community Pride. Actions Facebook Tweet Email. Hogue said the process can be emotionally draining, but it's important work. View this post on Instagram. Morning Rush. Copyright Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.