#quistapp

October was LGBT History Month and chances are you have no idea how deep your gay/bi/trans heritage goes. Guys have been into guys for all time and they have some pretty fascinating stories to show for it.

The free Quist app delivers a daily dose of LGBTQ history to the palm of your hand. Some of the stories include:

Jack Baker and Mike McConnell attempt to legally marry each other in Minneapolis in 1970, making them considered to be the first same-sex couple to request a marriage license in the U.S, as well as the first to sue for being denied it.

A 1799 letter to George Washington from the Marquis de Lafayette saying “happy in our union, in the pleasure of living near to you, in the pleasing satisfaction of partaking every sentiment of your heart, every event of your life, I have taken such a habit of being inseparable from you, that I cannot now accustom myself to your absence.”

Al-Hakam II (915-976) rules in Al-Andalus (now Spain) as an open homosexual. He keeps a male harem, a problem since it is essential for the Caliph to produce an heir. A resolution is reached by having the female concubine and sultana Subh dress in boys’ clothes and use the masculine name of Jafar. They have a son, Hisham II, who succeeds Al-Hakam and who also keeps a male harem.

Frederick the Great and his presumed lover Hans Hermann von Katte attempt to flee Prussia together in1730 but are caught.

Willem Arondeus (pictured above) was an anti-Nazi activist for the Dutch Resistance who was openly gay while carrying out his heroic acts. His last words when he was about to be executed in 1943 were “Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.”

Mwanga II (1868-1903, pictured below), King of Buganda (now Uganda), keeps a harem of males along with his 16 wives.

Elagabalus (203-222) was a Roman Emperor who married 5 women and 2 men during his 18-year life. He would wear make-up and wigs, seduce men, and wished to be called “queen” instead of emperor.

There are 1,000 more of these plus a world map with 700 LGBT sites pinned waiting for you in the free Quist app for iOS, Android, and Windows. Download here and learn your heritage!

Welcome to Quist 2.0! Our new features include:

The option for daily push notifications

A tutorial

Choice of language (only Spanish is live so far, but sign up for our email list to find out as others are released)

Dozens of new historical events, mostly from outside the U.S.

Improved accuracy in keyword search

Released for Windows phones for the first time (updated on iOS/Apple and Android devices)

And a geotagged global map of LGBT historic sites as well LGBT/HIV-related archives, museums, and memorials

The first three features are easy to find. Simply tap the Menu button in the top right corner of any screen and select “Settings” at the bottom of the list to get this screen (below) to toggle any of your options.

Now to the juicy stuff – the unprecedented map!

From that top right right menu button, choose “Browse by Location.” A Google map that is zoomed out a bit above your current location (if you allow us to know your location) will appear.

There are five types of locations on this supermap:

means that something related to LGBTQ/HIV history happened at this location. It could be the site of a protest, wedding, murder, etc. Places like parliaments have multiple related events. For our U.S. historic places, many are from a partnership with the U.S. National Park Service, who shared their research with us. There are already 0ver 300 of these on the map and we add many more every day.

is for a museum related specifically to the history of sexuality or has another connection to LGBTQ/HIV history. You’ll find erotic art museums, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the World AIDS Museum and over 20 more.

represents an archives location. Most are stand-alone LGBT archives but there are also notable university collections, LGBT libraries, and a few AIDS-related archives. There are around 50 of these so far.

is for a LGBTQ monument or memorial. This could be a pink triangle memorial plaque or a statue of a LGBTQ person, for example. There are about 60 of these on the map to start.

means that an AIDS memorial is at the location. There are about 120 of these in the world and we partnered with AIDSmemorial.info who provided us with the locations, images, and descriptions of each one.

So as you zoom in and out by pinching the screen like with any mobile device, give the map a second to load the hundreds of markers in that area. You can tell certain cities in the California example below have multiple locations in them.

At a closer level you’ll be able to see where those multiple markers actually are.

When you click on an icon (from any level of zoom), you’ll see a pop-up like one of the two below. It will either show you a description or related historical events. If you click on a related historical event it will take you to that event’s page, not the location page.

When you tap on the hyperlinked name of the location, you’ll come to the location’s full page with reference, related Quist events, description, and more.

When you tap on the top image banner, you’ll to see the full photo with the credit information and caption.

Whenever you tap on space on a country that isn’t a marker, you’ll get a list of all the historical events Quist has for that country like the example below.

Et voilà! Share the good news with your friends and enjoy.