LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH HALL OF ELDERS
The People Who Paved the Way:
Honoring Our Hall of Elders
Every October, LGBTQ+ History Month gives us an opportunity to look back at the people, movements, and moments that shaped our community.
At Brave Trails, that history is part of what we carry with us all year long.
Walk through camp and you'll find our Hall of Elders, a space dedicated to LGBTQ+ trailblazers whose lives helped shape the world our campers are growing up in today.
Some fought in the streets. Some created art. Some built organizations or changed laws. Others simply refused to hide who they were at a time when living authentically could come with enormous consequences.
Together, their stories remind us that LGBTQ+ people have always been here.
Our History Belongs at Camp
For many LGBTQ+ young people, learning queer and trans history can be a powerful experience.
Suddenly, you're discovering people who asked some of the same questions you have asked. You see people who found community, challenged expectations, created change, and imagined something different for the generations who would follow them.
That's why LGBTQ+ history has a home at Brave Trails.
Our mission is to help build the next generation of LGBTQ+ leaders, and we believe leadership also means understanding the people whose work helped make our lives possible.
The Hall of Elders gives campers an opportunity to encounter those stories throughout their time at camp. A name on the wall can become a conversation. A conversation can become curiosity. Sometimes, learning about one person can completely change the way a young person understands their own place in our community.
Who Lives in Our Hall of Elders?
Our Hall of Elders stretches across generations, identities, movements, and communities. Each person represents a different piece of our history and a different way of creating change. We call them our Trailblazers because they helped create paths others could follow.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE TRAILBLAZERS WE HONOR IN THE HALL OF ELDERS
Marsha P. Johnson
(1945–1992)
A force of joy, resistance, and care, Marsha was a leader in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation and co-founded STAR to support unhoused queer youth. Her reminder to “Pay It No Mind” continues to inspire radical self-acceptance.
At camp, her legacy lives in every camper who learns their joy is powerful.
Sylvia Rivera
(1951–2002)
A relentless advocate for trans people, especially those most marginalized, Sylvia fought to ensure no one was left behind.
Her spirit shows up in every Brave Trails space where equity and inclusion lead the way.
Lou Sullivan
(1951–1991)
A trailblazer for trans men, Lou built community and visibility where none existed before, documenting his journey with honesty and care.
His story affirms for campers that there is no one way to be fully themselves.
Gladys Bentley
(1907–1960)
A bold blues performer of the Harlem Renaissance, Gladys challenged norms through music, fashion, and unapologetic expression.
She reminds our youth that creativity can be both liberation and legacy.
Alan L. Hart
(1890–1962)
A physician, writer, and one of the first trans men in the U.S. to undergo gender-affirming surgery, Alan helped pioneer tuberculosis screening while quietly living his truth.
His story reminds our campers that living authentically is its own form of leadership.
We’wha
(1849–1896)
A respected Zuni lhamana (third gender role), We’wha lived authentically in a way that honored cultural traditions beyond Western binaries.
Their presence reminds us that gender diversity has always existed across cultures.
Lili Elbe
(1882–1931)
A pioneering artist and one of the first people to undergo gender-affirming surgeries, Lili’s journey was one of courage and self-discovery.
Her story encourages campers to honor who they are, even when the path is uncertain.
Now, Build Your Own
Hall of Elders
This LGBTQ+ History Month, we want to challenge our campers, staff, families, alumni, and friends to create a Hall of Elders of your own.
Start with one question: Who helped create the world that allows you to be who you are today?
Maybe it's a well-known activist whose name appears in history books. Maybe it's an artist whose work helped you understand yourself. It could be an organizer from your hometown, an elder in your community, or someone whose story you discover for the first time this month.
Choose a few people and learn about them.
Find out where they came from. Learn what they cared about and what they fought for. Look beyond the most famous moment of their life and discover who they were as a person.
Then find a way to carry their story forward.
Put their photo on your wall. Tell a friend about them. Share their work. Read something they wrote. Learn about the organizations or movements they helped build.
Your Hall of Elders doesn't have to look like ours.
It just has to mean something to you.
History Is Still Being Written
The Hall of Elders is ultimately about more than looking backward. Every generation inherits something from the people who came before it, and then decides what it will leave for the people who come next. The LGBTQ+ trailblazers we honor did not know exactly what the future would look like. They simply kept building toward one they believed could be better.
Today, LGBTQ+ young people are inheriting that work. Our campers are already organizing in their schools, creating art, caring for their friends, asking difficult questions, finding new ways to build community, and imagining what comes next.
Someday, another generation will learn the stories of the people creating change right now.
This LGBTQ+ History Month, take some time to learn whose shoulders you stand on. Honor the trailblazers who came before us, then think about the trail you're leaving for whoever comes next.
“History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.”