Colonial Williamsburg is bringing a slice of gay and transgender history to life this Fall. Starting in October, a new musical called Ladies of Llangollen will be featured, based on diary entries, letters, and poetry of two women who ran away from Ireland and eloped in Wales during the 18th century. The Colonial Williamsburg foundation created a Gender and Sexuality Diversity Committee in 2019 with the purpose of researching gay and transgender issues in the colonies. The result of the committee found multiple instances of lesbian and transgender people in the early years of America’s founding. The question in front of the researchers that framed the committee was: “What is the Western population’s view on sexuality and gender and how did they determine who was a man and who was a woman?”