Why Do This Work?

"Adolf Hitler was named chancellor on January 30, 1933, and enacted policies to rid Germany of Lebensunwertes Leben, or "lives unworthy of living.” What began as a sterilization program ultimately led to the extermination of millions of Jews, Roma, Soviet and Polish citizens—and homosexuals and transgender people.

When the Nazis came for the institute on May 6, 1933, Hirschfeld was out of the country. Giese fled with what little he could. Troops swarmed the building, carrying off a bronze bust of Hirschfeld and all his precious books, which they piled in the street. Soon a towerlike bonfire engulfed more than 20,000 books, some of them rare copies that had helped provide a historiography for nonconforming people."

(excerpt from 'The Forgotten History of the World's First Trans Clinic' by Brandy Schillace on Scientific American)

• Red Flag Alert for the Anti-Trans Agenda of the Trump Administration in the United States by the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security

• “The Mask Is Off:” Dean Spade and Susan Stryker on Trans Resistance in Trump’s America

• After Anti-Trans Success, Here’s How the Right Is Plotting to Undermine Marriage Equality

• Book bans aren’t stopping at libraries—now Texas is targeting bookstores

• Three New Bills That Threaten the Freedom to Read

• What You Need to Know About the Book Bans Sweeping the U.S.

...OVER 727 ACTIVE ANTI-TRANS BILLS IN LEGISLATIVE BODIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AS OF 4/26/2025 AS REPORTED BY TRANSLEGISLATION.COM...

...in response to the inauguration of a fascist dictator in the USA on January 20th, 2025.

The queer community faces horrendous violence from the right wing onslaught against our communities by The Trump Administration as of January 20th, 2025. Due to their extreme fascist agenda, queer and trans media is in peril and at risk of being censored, criminalized and subsequently destroyed.

The RPA serves the community as a symbol of hope for our collective queer futures and continued legacies.

THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE QUEER.

As archivists, we have come together with our personal goal of archiving 3 to 5 pieces of queer media per week as a group effort to save everything we can before it is too late.

Our work is greatly inspired by these two articles by the ever-brilliant The Transfeminine Review...

• The Trans Literature Preservation Project: A Practical Guide to Resisting Censorship
• How To Build Your Trans Micro Library

We will outlive the fascists together, with our history intact carried through the storm.

"The Rainbow Phoenix Archives and its mission is to preserve as much trans and queer media as possible in an effort to save our history for the sake of our community’s survival through this era of fascism."