We are cultivating a historical archive of Christian sexual and gender minorities who have gone before us, as well as those who are making history today. While many excellent LGBTQ archives exist, the Bakos Archive has two primary distinctions that fill a gap in the preservation and research.
First, the archive centers sexual and gender minorities from evangelical and evangelical-adjacent Christian traditions. These faith communities often erase LGBTQ and intersex people from the record, while mainline Christian and secular archives tend to overlook them.
Second, the archive centers spiritual formation. Christian LGBTQ and intersex leaders are part of the cloud of great witnesses who offer inspiration for how to follow Jesus in this world. By remembering their stories, we learn from their spiritual wisdom and leadership, even as we ourselves strive to be models for the next generation.
The Bakos Archive is in its incipient stages. We are currently working to build online resources, and someday we hope to have a brick-and-mortar research archive housed at a place where formative retreats occur. If you are interested in supporting the Bakos Archive financially or as a research associate contact the Executive Coordinator of Bakos Project and the lead archivist, Karen Keen at 469-708-8211. We also gladly accept donations of books, letters, and other relevant documents and memorabilia.