History isn't a smooth, single thread - it's a patchwork of lives, voices, and experiences, many of which never made it into the official story. In this episode, I explore what happens when certain people - particularly queer, trans, and nonconforming individuals - are deliberately edited out of the historical narrative. From the revision of the Stonewall Uprising on official websites to the renaming of the U.S.S. Harvey Milk, we examine how erasure doesn't merely omit facts, it weakens the fabric of who we are.
Drawing from the metaphor of a quilt, I reflect on what it means to hold together stories that don't "fit," and why discomfort is often the doorway to deeper understanding. I also explore research that shows how embracing difference makes communities, businesses, and ecosystems stronger and more resilient.
This isn't just about setting the record straight. It's about recognizing that the lives we're most tempted to erase are often the very ones that held the seams together. When we stitch all the pieces back in - even the ones that challenge us - we don't just honor the past. We make the future stronger, wiser, and more whole.
Joni Miller, Ph.D., is a writer, researcher, spiritual coach, and speaker who uses her knowledge, education, and love of all things spiritual to help spiritual wanderers find a place they can call home, navigating by the light of Love. www.SpiritualGeography.net
Picture by the author
