Jeffrey Gent has made it his mission to bring to light the stories of hundreds of LGBT individuals who have lived their lives almost entirely in the closet.

Gent developed an immense passion and curiosity for LGBT vintage photography after his grandfather handed him a cabinet card of a young man from the 1890s, telling him, “I just realized the other day that you look so much like my Great Uncle Clarence. It’s funny, he was a confirmed bachelor his whole life, just like you.”

“That photo made me wonder if this bachelor uncle not only looked like me, but was also gay,” Gent told The Huffington Post. “If so, how sad that Uncle Clarence’s family knew nothing about his life, and that he wasn’t able to speak openly about it.”

Gent began forming a massive compilation of vintage photographs that showcased same-sex couples on a website he named “Homo History.”

“These photos represent just a small fragment of our Gay and Lesbian History. Unfortunately, so many of these photos were purposely destroyed by horrified family members,” Gent said.

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“Since most of the men and women in these photos are unknown, it’s hard to know for sure if they were a gay couple or just ‘good friends.’ For every photo that I may have mistakenly identified as gay, thousands more were burned or torn into pieces to keep a family secret… I hope that by sharing these photos of vintage gay and lesbian couples, we can correct the social injustice that they endured by seeing them in a brand new light.”

We have hand-selected some of our favorites from the the Homo History collection below:

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[Photos Courtesy Of Jeffrey Gent]