FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The country’s first national LGBTQ museum in Fort Lauderdale has been fighting to stay afloat after losing all of its federal funding under the Trump administration.

But a new exhibit may be prompting an about-face from the federal government.

The Stonewall National Museum, Archives and Library has struggled to keep its doors open, according to director Robert Kesten.

“We were notified that the federal government would not be giving any grants,” Kesten said.

So when the museum began planning its latest exhibit, Kesten was surprised to learn it had received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“And we were told that we got the grant and so I remember calling to find out if that was true,” he said.

The grant is funding an exhibit about the Revolutionary War and the story of Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a military general who many historians believe was gay.

Around 1778, the Americans were looking for military help. Kesten said von Steuben had some of the best military training in Europe.

“He had the best training in Europe,” he said.

According to the exhibit, von Steuben was wanted for arrest in Europe over homosexual activities before being recruited to America by Benjamin Franklin.

“He really was expert at military strategy,” Kesten said.

Historians believe von Steuben became one of George Washington’s most trusted military advisers.

“Some people would say he is the father of the U.S. Army,” Kesten said.

Von Steuben also wrote the military training manual known as the “Blue Book.”

“That book is still in print, and still available, and still used,” Kesten said.

The exhibit highlights von Steuben’s role in helping the Americans defeat the British during the Revolutionary War.

“He gave them strategy, he gave them a sense of purpose,” Kesten said.

The exhibit is now open and is part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration.

Kesten said he believes it may be the only diversity, equity and inclusion-related exhibit in the country that is partly funded by the federal government.

Kesten said the exhibit’s message is especially relevant during Pride Month.

“We hurt ourselves when we dismiss people because we are uncomfortable with their lifestyle that has no impact on their ability to protect and defend the country,” he said.

The exhibit will remain on display through June as the museum faces additional state funding cuts in the coming months.

The museum has largely been operating on donations from residents, according to Kesten.

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