Ohio History Connection has lost a grant that would have allowed the organization to highlight more of the state's LGBTQ+ history.
Ohio History Connection is the latest local organization impacted by sweeping Trump administration funding cuts.
Ohio History Connection's Ohio Historical Markers program has placed around 1,750 brown historical markers around the state. Just three signs highlight LGBTQ+ history, including a marker for Summit Station in Columbus, which was one Ohio's longest-running lesbian bars.
A nearly $250,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, or IMLS, was set to fund the installation of 10 more LGBTQ+ markers in a project called Marking Diverse Ohio.
Ohio History Connection spokesman Neil Thompson says IMLS withdrew the funding last week. IMLS is an agency of the federal government.
Thompson said the stories for those LGBTQ+ markers already "would have been processed," when the funding was withdrawn. It's unclear now what will happen with these markers.
In the meantime, Thompson said Ohio History Connection is still working to tell stories all over Ohio.
"There's a broad effort that we've been undertaking to get more and more history recorded throughout the state," Thompson said.
Thompson said that effort included Marking Diverse Ohio, as well as efforts to get more markers into counties with three markers or less. Thompson also said Ohio History Connection is trying to encourage more applications that highlight communities' religious stories.
