US: Today in LGBT history app launched in Maryland
A new mobile app has been created by a resident of the US state of Maryland, which allows users to see a ‘today in history’ page about LGBT history.
The app, named Quist, was created by Maryland resident Sarah Prager, and was designed by Baltimore-based firm Natural Fusion, and aims to provide an interactive look at events and milestones often forgotten in mainstream historical data.
The free app which is available through both the Apple and Google Play stores, does focus on specific events, however, also aims to trace a broader, mapped history of LGBT history.
Despite there being various more traditional resources available to look at LGBT history, Prager said she wanted to tap into the growing demand for information via mobile platforms, particularly as many pieces of LGBT history are not included in school curricula.
“I really want to bring these stories to the next generation … and make sure they’re accessible,” she said. “We’re meeting people where they are, not asking them to seek it out extra by Googling it themselves.”
Prager said the project was personally important to her, as she knew first-hand the importance of a broader perspective about being an LGBT person.
“I came out as a lesbian when I was 14, and I read LGBT history books in high school,” Prager said. “Even though I was the only out person in my school, hearing these stories of people before me made me feel like I wasn’t alone, and that other people had gone through this. … That was a feeling I hope to bring the next 14-year-olds coming out.”
In response to some complaints that the LGBT community’s moves towards the mainstream had diluted its rebellious beginnings, Prager said she made a “conscious effort to keep the drag queens and leather daddies in.”
She said she wanted to make an effort to represent members of the LGBT community from ethnic minorities.
