LGBTQ Cincinnati

By Ken Schneck and Jim Obergefell

Cincinnati's LGBTQ history is a study in riveting contradictions. Seen as one of the more conservative cities in Ohio, Cincinnati is also the home of the first Pride march in the entire state. A strong move to censor the LGBTQ-related art of Robert Mapplethorpe at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center resulted in a nationally publicized trial where freedom of expression emerged victorious in the face of those who zealously sought to suppress the LGBTQ community's voice. The passage of Issue 3 in 1993 epitomized the tenet that minority rights should never be up for majority vote, while the repeal of Article XII eleven years later displayed the sheer power of mobilization. Through protests, celebrations, and demonstrations of unadulterated pride, Cincinnati has proven itself over and over again as a community of individuals trying to make the Queen City live up to its royal--and decidedly LGBTQ--name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jun 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781439670224

Ken Schneck

Ken Schneck is an author, radio host, and professor at Baldwin Wallace University, where he teaches courses on antiracism, ethical leadership, and creating community-based change. He went from house to house to gather images and stories from the advocates, rabble-rousers, and change-makers who have fought for decades to bring LGBTQ visibility and equality to Cincinnati.

Book preview

Wesselkamper—tywessphotography.com

INTRODUCTION

We do have people who are individuals. Nobody makes your decisions, and you don’t take anybody’s word as gospel, or take a position just because it’s politically correct. Of course, there are plenty of people who criticize us for having our own opinions.

—Barron Wilson, longtime member of Cincinnati’s Gay Community To the Root(s), Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer 1988

I drove to Cincinnati for the first time with far too much confidence. Having completed the Cleveland and Columbus editions of these LGBTQ history books both within the past 13 months, I went to the Queen City—a gay-adjacent moniker that never ceases to make me smile—wholly unconcerned about the process of collecting images and stories from its residents.

I knew Cincinnati did not have an LGBTQ center or LGBTQ collections in the local museums as their sister cities have, but that would not be a problem. I knew Cincinnati had some sort of history with an Issue 3 or an Article 12 or some other piece of numbered legislation, but that would be easy for me to grasp. And I knew that I did not have any real connections in Cincinnati, but they would doubtlessly welcome me with open arms. I figured I would speed through this last of the big C cities and complete my gay Ohio city Lord of the Rings trilogy in no time at all.

I was wrong.

My first stop in my Cincinnati journey was at the house of Cheryl Eagleson: for years, the driving force behind Alternating Currents, the second longest-running LGBTQ radio show in the United States. To get a general feel for the project ahead, I began by asking her how she would describe LGBTQ history in