
Fort Worth group documents Tarrant County’s LGBTQ history. ‘We’re not going anywhere’
Todd Camp is the founder and director of YesterQueer, a project that aims to preserve the history of the LGBTQ community of Tarrant County. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
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The name Todd Camp goes hand in hand with Fort Worth gay history. A longtime resident of Cowtown, Camp has unusually close ties to many key moments in Tarrant County LGBTQ history, and he’s working to make sure that history is preserved through a local lens.
Most prominently, Camp is known for his role in championing the LGBTQ community during the aftermath of the Rainbow Lounge raid in 2009. He was celebrating his birthday, which falls on the anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising, at the then-newly opened gay bar when members of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Fort Worth police raided the building and arrested or detained several patrons. The days that followed led to a reckoning over gay rights in Fort Worth.
“I know how hard it is to get people interested in history, but when it’s your own history and your own community, it’s a lot more meaningful,” Camp, 58, said. “So many people feel like just no one gives a sh–, but I do.”
On a much more recent front, Camp is known as the man behind YesterQueer: The Tarrant County LGBTQ History Project, a budding organization dedicated to “preserving the stories, memories, photos and ephemera of the LGBTQ+ community of Tarrant County.”
Founded by Camp during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, YesterQueer documents pieces of history in a physical archive and online platforms while also hosting public forums and social events related to queer history. The organization recently registered as a nonprofit, which Camp said will help expand its work, reach and funding opportunities.
“YesterQueer really just started off as kind of a fun social media project for me, but it quickly became clear to me that this is really important work that needs to be done,” Camp said. “No one else is doing it.”
About Yesterqueer
Website: www.yesterqueerfw.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/fortworthgayhistory
Instagram: @yesterqueerfw
Contact: todd@yesterqueerfw.com
YesterQueer is the only known Tarrant County organization specializing in LGBTQ history preservation. The group grew organically after Camp began posting LGBTQ history facts in a Facebook group dedicated to Fort Worth gay history. Interest in the online forum quickly grew to 1,500 followers, setting the foundation for what the organization is today.
Once social distancing restrictions loosened, Camp cautiously started hosting “gay history” happy hour events at the Liberty Lounge, one of a few LGBTQ bars that remain in Fort Worth.
“I thought it would just be me and a bunch of other old farts reminiscing about how things used to be,” Todd admitted. He was happy to be wrong.
In the last few years, YesterQueer has grown to include a physical archive of LGBTQ memorabilia from across the city and county, comprised of photos, videos, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other assorted paraphernalia from historic moments in Tarrant County.
YesterQueer founder Todd Camp peruses the organization’s book archive. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth report)
Much of YesterQueer’s archive is stored either at Camp’s home or at a storage unit he rents. Some items that have been copied or duplicated are housed in the University of Texas at Arlington’s Special Collections, a history archive in the university’s library.
Special Collections digital archivist Kathryn Slover said the library recently sought to expand its local LGBTQ history collection, and Camp’s donations were key in bolstering it.
“Our job is to document all voices and all stories that come from Tarrant County,” Slover said. “For us, queer history is something that has been in the past a collecting gap in our collections. It wasn’t being actively sought out, but through this relationship with (YesterQueer), we’ve been able to fill some of that gap.”
Running YesterQueer follows a long history of LGBTQ-related work for Camp. He co-founded QCinema, Fort Worth’s Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, where he served as artistic director for 14 years; he published a recurring gay comic strip while working at the now-defunct newspaper The Texas Triangle; and he’s authoring a book on Tarrant County LGBTQ history.
“This is something I genuinely find joy in, and I’m glad it brings joy to others too,” Camp said.
About Todd Camp
Employment highlights:
2008-present: marketing communications manager at American Airlines Federal Credit Union
1990-2008: Writer, editor, graphic designer, film critic, copy editor and cartoonist at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Education:
1988: Bachelor of Arts at Texas Christian University
Volunteer roles:
2020-present: founder/executive director of YesterQueer
2010-2017: co-founder/artistic director of QLive!
1999-2012: co-founder/artistic director of QCinema, Fort Worth’s Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
So far, YesterQueer has been something of a passion project for Camp, but that will soon change as the nonprofit forms its board of directors and finds new volunteers. Camp said it was important that the organization grow both its reach and management to ensure it lives on successfully, regardless of his own involvement with it.
YesterQueer currently has about 15 active members, who all work as volunteers. In July, Camp is hosting a retreat with the organization’s main players to map out its next steps as a nonprofit.
“I don’t want this to be the Todd Camp show,” Camp said. “It’s too important to be in the hands of just one person. I need to know that these materials will be saved and shared.”
YesterQueer founder Todd Camp poses inside the storage unit holding the organization’s archive of Tarrant County LGBTQ memorabilia. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
Although no concrete plans have been made, Camp hopes to one day see YesterQueer’s archive permanently available for public viewing, whether through rotating exhibits at existing museums or even in its own museum.
Soon, Carina Olvera, a Fort Worth ISD teacher who volunteers with YesterQueer, said she hopes to see more young people like herself volunteering with the project. In addition to its history archive, the organization and its social events have served as a community hub for LGBTQ residents of all ages to find community and learn from each other, she said.
“It’s bridging that gap and giving a place where we can all come together, whether you’re older or younger, and interact with our community,” Olvera, 26, said. “I think that’s really cool because we tend to run in our own circles.”
Kyle Trentham, Camp’s longtime best friend and “right-hand man,” said Camp’s work with YesterQueer is especially important when considering today’s political climate. A member of the LGBTQ community, he feels the heat of political pressure against gay rights and worries they could be in danger.
“Everything’s coming to a head,” Trentham, 44, said. “It just seems like now is a very good time to tell these stories and make sure they’re preserved, and make sure that we’re not getting pushed back any further.”
YesterQueer volunteer Kyle Trentham speaks at a happy hour event hosted by YesterQueer at Liberty Lounge in June 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
Echoing Trentham’s concerns about both a local and national spotlight on the LGBTQ community, Camp said he wants YesterQueer to serve as a reminder to young queer people of how far gay rights have come in a short time. He wants them to see the “huge strides” the community has made and know that it will continue to do so for years to come.
However, he was disheartened by what he saw as a backsliding of progress, Camp said, pointing to Fort Worth City Council’s decision not to pass a proclamation to recognize Pride Month in June. He’s hopeful that council members will reinstate the proclamation next year and continue making positive strides in LGBTQ history.
Whatever happens, YesterQueer will be here to document both the wins and the losses of the LGBTQ community, Camp said.
“We are a strong people, and we’re not going anywhere, and we’re definitely not going back into the closet,” he said. “It’s a battle I’m willing to fight.”
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or @bycecilialenzen.
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