The Route: May Edition
THE ROUTE
June 2026
Welcome to the January edition of The Route, your monthly(ish) update from Rainbow Routes, filled with queer joy, global connection, and updates from our growing community.
Updates
Our first-ever program is just six weeks away! The California Queer History Field Study, our inaugural pilot in partnership with the University of Northern Colorado, heads to San Francisco and Los Angeles on June 27. Thanks to the Hewit Foundation's $15,000 instructional grant and to the many of you who have donated to Rainbow Routes over the past two years, students are joining at roughly one-third of what this program actually costs to run.
The program is offered for one credit unit, and faculty-led by Kelly Langley Cook, a University of Northern Colorado lecturer whose work sits at the intersection of LGBTQ+ history, pedagogy, and teacher education. Over seven days, students will move through historic archives, queer neighborhoods, and community sites across both cities, learning alongside local historians and community educators at every stop.
A few ways to be part of what's coming:
Are you at a university with students who'd be interested in a program like this, or curious about bringing them to another city? Let's talk!
Donate: Contributions go directly toward keeping future program fees as accessible as this first one.
Forward this newsletter to someone who should know about us.
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and share what we're building.
Queer History Spotlight: San Francisco
San Francisco's queerness didn’t begin in the famous Castro District. The Ramaytush Ohlone recognized Two-Spirit people long before the land was colonized. Spanish colonizers worked to erase those traditions when they arrived in the late 1700s, but community organizations and events like the Bay Area Two-Spirit Powwow (the largest Indigiqueer gathering in the world) have been working to reclaim them ever since.
During World War II, Fort Mason was the largest military embarkation point on the West Coast. Servicemembers shipped out from San Francisco to the Pacific and came back through it. Some had been given a “blue discharge” for being LGBTQ+, that stripped them of veterans' benefits. Going home meant returning to the families and communities with that on their record. San Francisco had become a known safe harbor with people in similar situations. Many of them stayed.
What came after: the Compton's Cafeteria riot in 1966, three years before Stonewall, when trans women and sex workers in the Tenderloin fought back against police harassment. Harvey Milk's 1977 election to the Board of Supervisors, the first openly gay person elected to public office in California, and the organizing explosion that followed his assassination. The AIDS crisis, and the community infrastructure that San Francisco built in the absence of government help. The GLBT Historical Society Museum, where our students will spend an afternoon, holds records from all of this.
Sparking Queer Joy
With what can feel like a constant flow of bad news these days, we’re making space to celebrate moments of joy alongside resources for our community:
Netherlands' first gay Prime Minister: The first country that legalized same-sex, back in 2001, now has its first openly gay head of government. Rob Jetten was sworn in in February at 38, also making him the youngest PM in Dutch history.
Pride is global, and ‘tis the season: Bangkok (May 31). Vienna (May 30). Cologne, Madrid, Paris, Toronto, São Paulo, NYC (all in June). Hundreds of cities around the world are gearing up for 2026 Pride. If you're traveling this summer or just want to feel the scale of it, the full international calendar is worth a look.
Ukraine's Supreme Court recognizes a same-sex couple: In March, Ukraine's Supreme Court upheld recognition of a gay couple as a legal family unit, in a case that started when a diplomat was denied the right to bring his partner on a diplomatic posting.
QueerJoyFest: An Albuquerque evening of comedy and culture on May 30, with Marga Gomez headlining. The name alone earns its place in this section!
Thanks for being on this journey with us!
Until next month,
Lizzy (Founder & CEO)
