One of the queerest places on my Queer Across America road trip is … Nebraska? Yes! It’s actually quite queer. This seems to be a common theme in my travels. The “flyover” states like Utah and New Mexico have shown me thriving queer communities while major hotspots like Seattle, New Orleans, and Las Vegas have had some disappointments.
I’ll admit, the drive from Denver to Lincoln, Nebraska is a bit painful. There’s not much to look at, and it reeks of cow manure. However, it’s a small price to pay for a fairly short (compared to my other trips) seven-hour drive.
Downtown Lincoln is charming and surprisingly diverse. I stop at Crescent Moon Cafe, an underground coffee shop that hosts open mic nights, fundraisers for immigrants, and boasts a Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar menu since the movie was filmed locally.
I drive a couple miles south to Lincoln Memorial Cemetery. During the pandemic, I consumed as many queer films and books as I could. Some of them led to giving me locations I wanted to visit along my travels. One of the stories I had learned about was Brandon Teena’s through the very-hard-to-watch Academy Award winning movie Boys Don’t Cry and a biographical book that misgenders him throughout.
Brandon was a transgender man from Lincoln who was brutally murdered in 1993 by his friends for being trans. He was only 21 years old, and, after learning about his story, I wanted to pay my respects at his grave.
Much like visiting Matthew Shepard’s memorial in Laramie, sitting at Brandon’s grave is a transformative experience. The plot is covered with trinkets made as offerings from fellow queer people that have made the same pilgrimage as I have. What’s even more special is that Brandon’s chosen name has been written on papers covering his dead name, and the incorrect epitaphs of “daughter” and “sister” have been replaced with the appropriate “son” and “brother.”
After taking a moment to thank Brandon for paving the way for the LGBTQ+ community, I return to my car and make my way to the only queer bar in the city. DAME, the lesbian-owned lounge, opened in 2024 and feels welcoming of all queer folks and allies.
Though there aren’t a lot of overt queer spots in Lincoln, the city of Omaha is only an hour away and holds my final destination on this leg of my adventure: the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO).
I’ve decided to try something that I haven’t yet done on my Queer Across America travels. I’m going to check out the LGBTQ+ archives held at UNO. I came up with the idea when I noticed there wasn’t a “gayborhood” or many queer bars in the area. Maybe the archives will reveal some of the queer history in the state.
It’s surprisingly easy to visit archives at universities. Most of them, you can walk into without an appointment. You don’t have to be a researcher or anything fancy like that; the archives are preserved for anyone to enjoy.
Seeing the archives is one of the best decisions I’ve made. I get a glimpse into Nebraska’s queer history including a local band, Lavender Couch, the evolution of queer legislation, and personal pictures of groups of queer friends.
These pictures make me emotional. Too often, queer history is thought of as being dark and miserable, but these photos show memories of chosen families. They show queer people hanging out, having fun, and enjoying life.
The pictures are pretty mundane, but that’s the beauty of them. They make me think of how homophobic people view our community as monsters that are trying to corrupt the world when, in reality, we just want to hang out and enjoy each other’s existence. These archives present a down-to-Earth queer experience that isn’t pop stars, protests, or brutal murders. They show everyday queer life.
Nebraska has been a welcoming state with a rich history that continues to evolve. It’s shown me that, no matter where you are, there’s a queer community for you.
My Queer Across America adventure continues next week when I reach Salem, Massachusetts, making my road trip officially coast to coast in a city full of witchy camp!
Photos courtesy London Alexander
