The Living Archive Honors: Save the Date (09/26/26)
A new way to honor Boston’s LGBTQ+ history!
Save Saturday, September 26th, 2026 in your calendar for The Living Archive Honors!
After years of celebrating Boston's queer and trans history through our annual History Maker Awards, we're shaking things up and expanding!
This fall, we're launching The Living Archive Honors — an awards ceremony featuring five distinct honors, including two awards open to community nomination (The Lavender Community Honors) for the first time. We're also trying a new venue and format for the event, including shifting to a brunch!
We hope you all will enjoy and witness QHB’s mission to document Boston’s LGBTQ+ history live and in action!
Introducing the five awards
The History Maker Award
The History Maker Award is Queer History Boston's highest honor, presented annually to a living legend whose life and work have left an indelible mark on LGBTQ+ history in Boston and New England. This lifetime achievement recognition celebrates someone whose contributions — whether through activism, community building, public service, or cultural leadership — have shaped the world that queer Bostonians inhabit today.
A History Maker is not simply someone who witnessed history; they are someone who made it.
The History Project Award
The History Project Award honors the essential, often unsung work of preserving and transmitting LGBTQ+ history for future generations. Presented in recognition of Queer History Boston's origins as The History Project, this award may recognize an archivist, historian, educator, or archives materials donor whose contributions — whether a groundbreaking research project, a lifetime of teaching, or a significant gift of records to QHB's collections — have ensured that queer stories survive and are shared.
History doesn't preserve itself; this award honors the people who make sure it gets done.
The Queer Commonwealth Award
The Queer Commonwealth Award honors an organization, venue, publication, or business that has served as a gathering place — literal or figurative — for the greater good of Boston's LGBTQ+ community. This award recognizes the institutions that have created meaningful space for our community to find one another: the bars and community centers that offered belonging, the publications that gave us a shared voice, the organizations that brought us together to organize, celebrate, grieve, and persist.
The commons are what we build when we show up for each other.
The Lavender Rhino Award
The Lavender Rhino Award is a community nominated award that honors a contemporary advocate whose tireless work advances LGBTQ+ rights, visibility, and justice in our community today. Named for the symbol of queer resistance that appeared on the streets of Boston in 1974, this award recognizes someone who is actively in the fight — organizing, agitating, representing, and refusing to be ignored.
The Lavender Rhino looks forward, celebrating the person who is writing the next chapter of our history right now.
Nominate someone for the Lavender Rhino here.
The Lavender Laureate Award
The Lavender Laureate Award is a community nominated award presented to an artist whose creative work reflects, preserves, or advances LGBTQ+ culture and community in Boston. From visual artists and writers to performers, drag artists, and musicians, this award celebrates the full spectrum of queer creative expression — and recognizes that art is itself a form of historical record.
The Lavender Laureate's work bears witness to and captures the spirit of Boston’s LGBTQ+ community.
Nominations are open for the Lavender Community Honors!
Lavender Rhino + Lavender Laureate
Fill out the nomination form by the end of day Monday, June 8th, 2026!
Anyone can nominate — our selection committee will review all submissions and choose the final recipients.
Nominations don't determine the winner by volume; one strong nomination is as meaningful as ten.
You can nominate as many people as you'd like, including yourself. Just submit and start a new form for each nomination.
