The LGBTQ+ community has always existed, but only in recent years has it become accepted as an important part of society.
The Center for History and Culture of Southeast Texas presented “Love in Lavender,” Nov. 7, in the Dishman Art Museum. Cassandre Broussard, LU history lecturer, shared her findings documenting the history of the community in Southeast Texas, along with her newest website, “Love in Lavender.”
“Queer history is something that is still growing as a field,” she said. “Finding information is scarce, especially in the state of Texas where the law against homosexuality was around until 2003. There was nothing on this region, and there was nowhere to tell the story of people like me or my friends. Our presence in the historic record needs to be here, we need to be represented.”
Broussard said she uses the term, “queer history,” because the word “queer” used as a derogatory slur and is now reclaimed by some members of the community.
“I use it because ‘gay’ doesn’t really include everyone,” she said. “The word gay generally means loving someone the same gender and that excludes our bisexual, pansexual, and other members of our community. It doesn’t always include all of our transgender members of our community either, so I use that umbrella term.”
Broussard said during her research she ended up with nearly 100 pages of notes over the LGBTQ+ community in the region.
“They were much more present than I realized,” she said. “Some of it was editorials and comment sections with people writing back and forth at one another. There was more support
than anticipated, being a smaller area, but some of it was not quite as fun to read about.
“In 1979, in Houston, there were (queer) landmarks that were being targeted by arsonists. This was not something that was just happening in Texas, it was also happening in Louisiana.”
Broussard said there were also attacks that targeted and killed members of the queer community.
“The thing about these killings is that for decades there was a murder defense used called gay panic,” she said. “Gay panic is based on the theory that some men are prone to an uncontrollable violent reaction in the proposition of fighting. It was used as a defense to make it OK.”
In May of 2023, Broussard said she decided to create a website, loveinlavender.com, where LGBTQ+ people can share personal experiences to help them feel less isolated.
“There are a lot of kids who grow up and they realize that they are either gender non-conforming or they have any sort of sexual orientation outside of the heteronormative category,” she said. “They may not be at a home where they’re accepted, or they may be in a location, a city, a school where they’re not accepted.”
Broussard said the website is a resource where people can find out they are not alone.
“You can hear people telling their stories, and one of them may sound exactly like yours,” she said. “Here’s someone who gets you, you can relate to, and they’re talking about their experience, the horrors, and how they got through it. That can be extremely powerful to have an outlet. That was a big part of it, especially considering current circumstances in the election.”
Broussard chose the word “lavender” because the color has been used as a derogatory term for gay men and is another phrase the community later adopted.
The website has a feature where people can anonymously share their stories, with an email form asking a participant what they want and do not want to submit.
“It’s a way to allow people who feel comfortable sharing, but are not comfortable enough for their name, face and identity being attached to it,” she said. “When it comes to the email I am the only person who has access to it. I am not ever going to betray anything that is said with complete trust.”
For information, visit loveinlavender.com.