Disgusted with History Center’s detractors

I am disgusted at those who complained about SLO History Center’s pride flag and partnering with the Central Coast Queer Archive Project. Those people should learn that responsible historians include all types of history; a historical record that leaves a lot out is worthless to the point of being fiction.

Many people try to make queer people into a political issue, but that is a fallacy. Politics is about politicians and policies; it cannot be about favoring or hating a person’s existence, otherwise it quickly gets into the terrain of fascism and bigotry.

Being queer is not a choice or a “lifestyle”; it is who a person is. Queer people exist, the same way that black, white or Hispanic people exist. It is impossible to agree or disagree with someone’s existence. And to exclude them from historical studies is to wish that they did not exist, which does violence to the historical record and to people’s humanity.

Queer people have been slashed from history for centuries and have been forced to live hidden lives. But no longer. Our lives will be recorded, so that those who come after us don’t have to feel as alone as we have felt.