Nasir Montalvo wants to place Kansas City’s Black queer history front and center

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.