As the LGBT rights movement grows and expands around the world, I find myself part of an increasingly fragmented sociological group. The letters capture both sexual and gender identities, which as some have pointed out, aren’t always companions, nor necessarily mutually exclusive. The phrase LGBT has been used to encapsulate an increasingly diverse group of individuals. Magazines from today-those LGBT publications that have been integral to my own cultural awakening as an out, gay, queer, (millennial) guy. While walking through the narrow halls lined with steel bookshelves, I couldn’t help but realize something was missing. In their small center, off the USC college campus, they store an archive of some of the most important LGBT publications throughout history-from the first edition of The Advocate to small, independent art zines. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit the ONE Archives Foundation-an institution that researches, curates and collects items of importance to the LGBT world.
