The Minnesota Historical Society recently added more than 500 new photographs telling the story of Minnesota’s LGBTQ+ community to its collections. Capturing a decade of Minnesota history from 2006-2016, the photos were donated by photographer Randy Stern, a contributing writer for Lavender magazine.

The photo collection has images of events like the Minnesota AIDS Walk and Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League games, as well as Pride celebrations around the state, including Twin Cities, South Central, and Duluth-Superior Pride. The collection also documents the Marriage Equality Street Team’s work to advocate for same-sex marriage and defeat Minnesota Amendment 1 in 2012.

The photos join a variety of other LGBTQ+ items in MNHS’ collections, including the Minnesota GLBT Movement Papers (1964-2014) collected by gay rights activist Leo Treadway, the History is Now! Celebrating Marriage Equality Project, and Not Waiting for a Cure Oral History Project, documenting Minnesota’s response to AIDS.

Stern's photos have been digitized and are available to view on the MNHS website. Digitization of collections items for online access is made possible by the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008.