LGBTQ Historic Context Statements: Ensuring history is understood for an inclusive future

Planning has long shaped the physical and social landscapes of our cities, sometimes to the detriment of LGBTQ communities, and sometimes in ways that have created space for visibility, safety, and resilience. This webinar explores how Historic Context Statements focused on LGBTQ history offer a critical tool for reckoning with past harms and guiding more inclusive planning practices going forward. Panelists from cities across the United States will discuss how they developed LGBTQ Historic Context Statements, what these documents revealed about the role of planning in both marginalizing and empowering queer communities, and how they are now influencing preservation, policy, and community engagement. The conversation will examine how zoning, urban renewal, and housing policy have historically displaced queer people, and how modern planning tools can begin to address that legacy. Attendees will come away with a deeper understanding of how LGBTQ history intersects with the planning profession—and how planners can help ensure this history is acknowledged, preserved, and honored through meaningful action.