Legacy Project

The award-winning Legacy Project is a Chicago-based cultural and educational non-profit dedicated to researching and promoting the contributions Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people have made to world history and culture.  It is driven by a core of historians, biographers, educators, youth advocates, social activists, and community and business leaders who share a commitment to celebrating the mostly-unrecognized contributions of LGBT people throughout history. 

The Legacy Walk – the world’s only outdoor LGBT History installation – is visited annually by over 1,000,000 people. Our traveling installation – the Legacy Wall – has (thus far) visited fourteen (14) sites to provide over 155,000 people with an opportunity to learn about the contributions of LGBT people. The Legacy Project Education Initiative’s lesson plans, study guides and multimedia are available for free download. And the Legacy LIVE Series of lectures, live performances, and film screenings brings our stories “to life”. 

Together these free/open-access platforms vividly explore the fascinating stories behind LGBT achievements in science, art, social justice, diplomacy, medicine, theater, film, athletics, education and a dozen other fields – all accomplished by people from every walk of life, from over 36 countries, spanning 4000 years of history. Our content is professionally crafted by educators, is age-appropriate, and benefits all audiences – especially LGBT youth. By providing historically significant role models for young people, the Legacy Project fills the enormous void left by the systematic redaction of LGBT achievements with inspirational stories of triumph over adversity. 

Because this multicultural endeavor is international in its cultural scope, the Legacy Project emphasizes the intersectionality of LGBT life experiences across all borders of human awareness. Through its multifaceted approach to raising public awareness, the organization provides a unique lens through which people from many backgrounds can re-evaluate their previous assumptions to find new opportunities for mutual support and respect. 

Because no other single charity shares this unique combination of approaches to historical redaction, the Legacy Project provides a vital service that is a lifeline to those who suffer in solitude, silence and fear. This is critically important for LGBT youth, whose marginalization at the most vulnerable time in their lives leaves them struggling with self-esteem issues and thoughts of suicide. 

Though we are geographically based in Chicago, the scope of our local physical installation and digitally interactive traveling installation, combines with the reach of our virtual presence to make our resources accessible worldwide.