Posted on Feb 23, 2023
Nasir Montalvo wants to place Kansas City’s Black queer history front and center
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Spread across two coffee shops and a bookstore, the “Black/Queer Kansas City” exhibit will showcase forgotten figures of local LGBTQ history — and hopefully encourage more Kansas Citians to share their own stories.
When Nasir Anthony Montalvo first moved to Kansas City more than a year ago, one of their first priorities was to join the local Black and queer community. But when they searched online, only a few organizations came up.
That got Montalvo curious, so they began researching the impact of Black and queer people in Kansas City’s history. They found a collaborator in UMKC’s Gay and Lesbian Archives of Mid-America and curator Stuart Hinds.
When Nasir Anthony Montalvo first moved to Kansas City more than a year ago, one of their first priorities was to join the local Black and queer community. But when they searched online, only a few organizations came up.
That got Montalvo curious, so they began researching the impact of Black and queer people in Kansas City’s history. They found a collaborator in UMKC’s Gay and Lesbian Archives of Mid-America and curator Stuart Hinds.
Nasir Montalvo wants to place Kansas City’s Black queer history front and center
Posted from kcur.org
Kansas City
LGBTQ+
American History
University of Missouri – Kansas City
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."When Nasir Anthony Montalvo first moved to Kansas City more than a year ago, one of their first priorities was to join the local Black and queer community. But when they searched online, only a few organizations came up.
That got Montalvo curious, so they began researching the impact of Black and queer people in Kansas City’s history. They found a collaborator in UMKC’s Gay and Lesbian Archives of Mid-America and curator Stuart Hinds.
“I felt like I needed to do something to aid the community and, in doing that, finding community myself,” Montalvo says. “I thought the information was amazing, rich — albeit there was only a small portion of Black queer history there. A lot of the history in Kansas City is around white queer history, but I felt like I needed to share it.”
The result of Montalvo’s research was a series of three articles published through The Kansas City Defender.
They told the stories of Edye Gregory and Ray Rondell, the first documented Black drag queens in Kansas City; the history of Men of All Colors Together, an organization fighting racism among gay men; and a gay and lesbian variety show that aired on cable in the ‘90s and featured Lea Hopkins – a Kansas City organizer who founded the city’s first Gay Pride Parade in 1979."...
..."When Nasir Anthony Montalvo first moved to Kansas City more than a year ago, one of their first priorities was to join the local Black and queer community. But when they searched online, only a few organizations came up.
That got Montalvo curious, so they began researching the impact of Black and queer people in Kansas City’s history. They found a collaborator in UMKC’s Gay and Lesbian Archives of Mid-America and curator Stuart Hinds.
“I felt like I needed to do something to aid the community and, in doing that, finding community myself,” Montalvo says. “I thought the information was amazing, rich — albeit there was only a small portion of Black queer history there. A lot of the history in Kansas City is around white queer history, but I felt like I needed to share it.”
The result of Montalvo’s research was a series of three articles published through The Kansas City Defender.
They told the stories of Edye Gregory and Ray Rondell, the first documented Black drag queens in Kansas City; the history of Men of All Colors Together, an organization fighting racism among gay men; and a gay and lesbian variety show that aired on cable in the ‘90s and featured Lea Hopkins – a Kansas City organizer who founded the city’s first Gay Pride Parade in 1979."...
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