Gay History -- How We Got Here

[Sara B]

Happy anniversary, Tony and Brian!

[ingmarnicebbmt]

Here's another article, this about the composer Harry Partch and the Opus One bar, a gay classical music bar that was in San Francisco in the 50s and 60s:
https://www.ebar.com/bartab/barchive/284898
[Somebody let Ingy know about this article]

I read it now again - many thanks, Michael!

[tfferg]

Happy anniversary, Tony and Brian!

Thank you, Sara!

On that historic day, one of my first Chinese refugee students from Vietnam asked to see me privately after classes. It turned out thet he had heard the news and was very anxious because he thought the government had made homosexuality compulsory. Of course, I put his mind at ease and he went away happily straight.

[Sara B]

LOL!

[killersmom]

Thank you, Sara!

On that historic day, one of my first Chinese refugee students from Vietnam asked to see me privately after classes. It turned out thet he had heard the news and was very anxious because he thought the government had made homosexuality compulsory. Of course, I put his mind at ease and he went away happily straight.

Poor guy. This made me laugh a little.

[fritzkep]

Alan Turing will be featured on the new £50 banknote starting in June. The accompanying video from the Bank of England is quite informative.

https://www.joemygod.com/2021/03/bank-of-england-unveils-alan-turing-50-note-video/

[CellarDweller115]

very cool!  Thanks Fritzie!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

The Los Angeles Black Cat New Year's Eve police raid and subsequent riots in Los Angeles in 1967 are shown in a couple photos, but not specifically mentioned by the narrator. [...] in the beginning of the episode they mention, saying "Did you know there was a riot against the police at Cooper's Donuts in downtown Los Angeles in 1959?" I've read discussions about this online before. This was talked about in a John Rechy novel where most of the information comes from. He says it's true. Some people think he made this up, at worst, or exaggerated it at most. There is not actual evidence of this incident at all. Yet, the Black Cat riot is fully documented. So...?

I talked about this when I was reviewing the PRIDE documentary series that's on Hulu/FX...  This week, L.A. Historian Nathan Marsak, who's an expert on Los Angeles famed Bunker Hill history, wrote an essay about this on his site:

We Need to Talk About Cooper Do-Nuts
https://bunkerhilllosangeles.com/2021/06/15/we-need-to-talk-about-cooper-do-nuts/

It's a fascinating read. (Click on the links in the article, they bring up great photos and other info.)
KNOW THE TRUTH. We don't want others making up history, so we should not be doing it, either!

[CellarDweller115]

American LGBTQ+ Museum coming to N.Y.C.’s oldest museum as part of expansion

By Julianne McShane - July 13, 2021


New York’s oldest museum will soon expand to incorporate a museum dedicated to LGBTQ history.

Representatives for the New-York Historical Society, established in 1804, announced earlier this month that the museum will expand by 70,000 square feet to include space for The American LGBTQ+ Museum.

The new museum is slated to open its doors in 2024 — though it has already begun hosting digital programs — and will be New York City’s first museum dedicated to global, national and local LGBTQ history and culture. Museum leaders hope to begin staging physical exhibitions next year, in partnership with the Historical Society and other cultural institutions throughout the city, according to Richard Burns, The American LGBTQ+ Museum’s board chair.

Through exhibitions, contributions from scholars, public programming and collaborations with other LGBTQ institutions, the museum will aim to act as a “school for activists” by highlighting “the lives of queer people who are not ordinarily reflected in our cultural institutions today,” Burns said. That means spotlighting the stories of those who have lived through decades of LGBTQ struggles, activists currently pushing to change laws for LGBTQ people, and transgender youths being targeted by bills in statehouses across the country, he added.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-community-voices/american-lgbtq-museum-coming-nycs-oldest-museum-part-expansion-rcna1391

[CellarDweller115]

‘Queer America’: SPLC podcast examines history, contributions of LGBTQ community

By Liz Vinson - 07/09/2021

He spoke nonchalantly, a simple statement to share his true self, one that he had been hiding. “I just want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” said Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders. In turn, Nassib last month became the first openly gay active player in the 101-year history of the National Football League.

A day later, Washington Spirit soccer player Kumi Yokoyama came out and said they are transgender – an identity not legally recognized in their native Japan.   

In a tweet, President Joe Biden praised the athletes’ courage, adding, “Because of you, countless kids around the world are seeing themselves in a new light today.”

The revelations caused no shockwaves – as they might have even a decade or two ago. But they reminded Americans that LGBTQ people are simply part of the fabric of our society, contributing in all walks of life even as many have felt the need to conceal their identity. 

That’s one of the messages of Queer America, a podcast released by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice (LFJ) program. The podcast takes listeners on a journey spanning from Harlem to the Frontier West, revealing stories of LGBTQ life that are imperative for students to learn. 

https://www.splcenter.org/news/2021/07/09/queer-america-splc-podcast-examines-history-contributions-lgbtq-community

[Lyle (Mooska)]

American LGBTQ+ Museum coming to N.Y.C.’s oldest museum as part of expansion

I was looking up something recently and one of the links I was reading was:

12 of the World’s Most Enlightening LGBTQ Museums
https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/12-of-the-worlds-most-enlightening-lgbtq-museums

It's on a Fodor's travel site!

In the intro paragraph it says: Plans to open the National Museum of LGBT History & Culture in New York City are in the works for a potential June 2019 opening—to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riot. The link they have for this doesn't work now and a Google search didn't help, so now I wonder if this never happened, or perhaps this new museum is an offshoot of those plans?

In any case, the Fodors article links to these interesting museums:

Schwules Museum (Berlin, Germany)

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art (New York, New York)

One Archive (At USC, Los Angeles, California and One Archive Gallery, West Hollywood, California)

Stonewall National Museum & Archives (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

Lesbian Herstory Archives (Brooklyn, New York)

National Gay & Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame (Chicago, Illinois)

Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia)

GLBT History Museum (San Francisco, California)

Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives (Toronto, Canada)

World AIDS Museum (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

Australia Lesbian & Gay Archives (Melbourne, Australia)

IHLIA LGBT Heritage (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

[Sara B]

Nothing in the UK, though I have seen a few LGBTI exhibitions in London museums.

I went to the. Berlin Schwulesmuseum with Ingy, Sylvain, Michael and Andy - 7 years ago.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

^^^

That's cool, Sara!

Just curious as to what kind of stuff was in there?
Berlin in the 1930's? Anything about the Pink Triangle and WWII?

[fritzkep]

There's an outline of the displays here, in English.

https://www.schwulesmuseum.de/?lang=en

[CellarDweller115]

From Leather Daddies To ‘Drag Race’, Dissecting The Revolutionary History Of The Queer Aesthetic

By - Louis Staples - 24 JULY 2021


Earlier this year, make-up artist Brenna Drury asked herself: “What would the future look like today if these advertisements had been the standard of the past?” She was describing an exhibition of faux beauty ads that she co-created with photographer Julia Comita, which highlights the erasure that queer people have experienced in beauty. The old-school ads, shot in a vintage style, featured gleaming white smiles and 1980s perms. But more unusually they lensed models from a diverse range of LGBTQIA+ identities.

The existence of a so-called “queer aesthetic” – the factors that make someone or something stand out as “looking queer” – has been debated by academics for decades. While there’s little agreement over what this aesthetic is exactly, there is more of a consensus that queerness is constantly evolving: it exists to challenge norms that uphold the status quo. Discussions of fashion and beauty norms often focus on ways in which they restrict us – and they can do, of course. But queer people have created their own visual codes over the years, with aesthetics providing opportunities for identity exploration and even political resistance.

The freedom to experiment with different looks has been drawing people towards queer spaces since their inception, even when they weren’t exactly safe. In the UK, police targeted gay clubs in the aftermath of 1967’s partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality, using new “privacy” laws to arrest same-sex couples for kissing, holding hands and even dancing together in public. But queer nightlife still found ways to thrive. The House of Child, Britain’s first ever voguing house, was formed in the 1980s by professional dancer and choreographer duo Les Child and Roy Brown. Cities like Brighton and Manchester developed gay neighbourhoods. In Earl’s Court, one of ’80s London’s gayest areas, “pretty police” were used to lure gay men into breaching the government’s archaic legislation. The undercover officers often imitated the fashions of the club to blend in, using their perceived notion of what “looked gay” to further the state’s anti-gay agenda.

https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/history-of-the-queer-aesthetic