Queer history commonly refers to the study and documentation of the lives, experiences, cultures, and struggles and joys of LGBTQ+ people in the past. It covers a wide range of topics, including how gender and sexual diversity has been expressed, understood, and regulated in different societies, as well as how political, social, and cultural movements have sought to challenge discrimination and promote LGBTQ+ rights. In this sense, queer history is about carving out the contours of queer and trans lives, communities and cultures of the past.

Queer history is about challenging traditional ideas about archives and representation. Much of queer history has been erased, suppressed, silenced, or ignored by mainstream historical narratives. Queer historians have had to work creatively to uncover queer histories, using letters, diaries, court records, photographs, and oral histories to reconstruct the lives of LGBTQ+ people.