By moving its documents to a university archive, an Anabaptist LGBTQ advocacy group avoids “revision and erasure” of history, its director says.

The Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Interests, or BMC, has deposited its archive at the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota.

The Tretter Collection is the largest LGBTQ-specific archive in the upper Midwest.

The materials were previously housed at the Brethren Historical Library and Archive in Elgin, Ill., and Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis.

Created between the 1970s and the 2020s, BMC’s archive offers a look into the grassroots activism of LGBTQ Anabaptists across Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church Canada and the Church of the Brethren. 

“At the Tretter Collection, BMC’s archives exist in a setting where LGBTQIA+ people are inherently valued, celebrated and cared for by archivists who reflect our community’s demographics and commitments,” said Annabeth Roeschley, BMC executive director, in a June 28 news release.

“Doing archival work from a queer and trans vantage point enables us to counteract the ongoing revision and erasure of our vital histories by religious institutions. With this move, we claim the power to tell our own story.”

BMC board chair Xaris A. Martínez said the BMC board hopes the organization’s archive will be an ever-expanding resource for the LGBTQ community, researchers and activists alike.

“Learning from our past is crucial as we continue to call on faith communities and other entities to welcome the gifts of all of our queer and trans kin,” Martínez said.

Martínez noted that BMC plans to observe its 50th anniversary in Minneapolis in 2026, which will provide opportunities for its multigenerational constituency to engage with BMC’s archive and other materials in the Tretter Collection.

“Bringing this collection to the Tretter is an expression of our long-standing investment in LGBTQIA+ history and culture, while underscoring our commitment to capturing the full breadth of queer and trans life, including at the intersection of religion and spirituality,” said Aiden Bettine, curator of the Tretter Collection.

Doris Malkmus, archivist for the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, said: “When LGBTQ organizations like BMC locate their records within denominational archives, the size and scale of LGBTQ religious movements across all denominations is lost. At the Tretter Collection, BMC’s records will more readily be included in the story of LGBTQ religious history.”

Malkmus and Bettine will co-host a “Behind the Scenes at the Archives” webinar on July 24 that will feature the accession of BMC’s archive by the Tretter Collection, followed by “Queering Our Anabaptist Archive,” a virtual BMC community event hosted by Roeschley and Martínez that will provide details about the move of archival materials to the Tretter Collection.

“It is rare to find such a robust collection that dates back 50 years, showing decades of organizing and activism in the LGBTQIA+ community,” Bettine said. “It is truly a gift to be able to share and create intergenerational memory through physical records that show our community has always been here. The BMC records are a treasure for the present community and future generations.”

The BMC archive is being processed and is slated to be opened by the end of the year. BMC plans to maintain connections to Mennonite and Brethren archives in North America and beyond to ensure that queer and trans Anabaptists remain part of each denomination’s history and future.

BMC’s Supportive Communities Network now includes nearly 150 publicly affirming churches and organizations.

The Tretter Collection, which holds about 3,500 linear feet of material, hosts panel discussions, community conversations, exhibits and other events designed to support critical inquiry into LGBTQ history. It is housed at the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.