Why Queer History Matters: Preserving Pride, Power, and Our Stories – Adrian Cardwell
Update: 2025-12-19
Description
In this powerful episode, LGBTQ+ historian and collector Adrian Cardwell shares how his project, Badge of Pride, is preserving 30 years of queer history to ensure our stories are never forgotten.
From the AIDS crisis to modern-day equality movements, Adrian’s journey reminds us that visibility, unity, and storytelling are the backbone of our community’s strength. We explore what it means to protect queer archives, how personal stories shape collective progress, and why showing up—especially in politically divisive times—matters more than ever. Our stories aren’t just history—they’re our legacy, our power, and our connection to each other.
3 Key Takeaways From This Episode:
Adrian Cardwell is the founder and executive director of Badge Of Pride, an organization dedicated to activating LGBTQ+ history through artifacts and storytelling.
For more than 30 years, Adrian has been building a nationally significant collection of Queer history—over 10,000 artifacts—through relationships with LGBTQ+ activists and communities around the world. After a more than 25-year career in corporate leadership, directing national sales and marketing for a global telecommunications firm and serving on international committees to expand broadband access in underserved and conflict-affected regions, Adrian pivoted in 2022 to launch Badge Of Pride. His goal: to bring this collection out of the shadows and into public spaces as a tool for truth-telling, resistance, and connection.
He is the curator of Badge Of Pride: From Silence…To Celebration!, the largest artifact-centered exhibition of LGBTQ+ history ever presented in Texas, and a bold counterpoint to today’s climate of censorship and cultural erasure.
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Break free of fears. Make bold moves. Live life without apologies
From the AIDS crisis to modern-day equality movements, Adrian’s journey reminds us that visibility, unity, and storytelling are the backbone of our community’s strength. We explore what it means to protect queer archives, how personal stories shape collective progress, and why showing up—especially in politically divisive times—matters more than ever. Our stories aren’t just history—they’re our legacy, our power, and our connection to each other.
3 Key Takeaways From This Episode:
- How storytelling and archiving protect LGBTQ+ legacy and visibility.
- The role of Badge of Pride in connecting and empowering queer communities.
- Why unity and solidarity are vital to progress in challenging political times.
About Adrian
Adrian Cardwell is the founder and executive director of Badge Of Pride, an organization dedicated to activating LGBTQ+ history through artifacts and storytelling.
For more than 30 years, Adrian has been building a nationally significant collection of Queer history—over 10,000 artifacts—through relationships with LGBTQ+ activists and communities around the world. After a more than 25-year career in corporate leadership, directing national sales and marketing for a global telecommunications firm and serving on international committees to expand broadband access in underserved and conflict-affected regions, Adrian pivoted in 2022 to launch Badge Of Pride. His goal: to bring this collection out of the shadows and into public spaces as a tool for truth-telling, resistance, and connection.
He is the curator of Badge Of Pride: From Silence…To Celebration!, the largest artifact-centered exhibition of LGBTQ+ history ever presented in Texas, and a bold counterpoint to today’s climate of censorship and cultural erasure.
Connect With Adrian
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Hey Guys, Check This Out!
Are you a guy who keeps struggling to do that thing? You know the thing you keep telling yourself and others you’re going to do, but never do? Then it’s time to get real and figure out why.
Join the 40 Plus: Gay Men Gay Talk, monthly chats. They happen the third Monday of each month at 5:00 pm Pacific - Learn More!
Also, join our Facebook Community - 40 Plus: Gay Men, Gay Talk Community
Break free of fears. Make bold moves. Live life without apologies
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