State of LGBTQ+ Healthcare Experiences
Presented by Optum
Hester Gallery: December 1, 2023 – February 25, 2024
There is a need to increase public awareness of LGBTQ+ Health disparities. Through this exhibit, we aim to close gaps in awareness to foster greater public discourse around the state of LGBTQ+ health, while highlighting progress made and possible solutions that are advancing positive change.
A.I.D.S – Awareness – Involvement – Dedication – Survival
Hester Gallery: December 1, 2023 – February 4, 2024
Our world was transformed by HIV AIDS, the strength of our community organizations, the definition of community, establishment of new types of treatments, new ways of caring for the ill, and a deeper understanding of PRIDE emerged because of the devastation of this disease. This exhibit walks us from fear to strength and the coming of age of the LGBTQIA+ community. All seen through the archival record found at Stonewall.
Special thanks to Scott Burgh, ACT UP, Women and AIDS, AMFAR and others.
If You Could See Me Through My Eyes
Ross Gallery; September 2023 – December 1, 2023
Some of us wake up every morning in the hope of seeing “ourselves” in the mirror, that is, seeing ourselves as our internal camera sees us, not as we appear when we open our eyes. Imagine seeing your own reflection and being certain it is not really you. Then imagine being forced to wear clothes that make you more uncomfortable because they make you self-conscious as they misrepresent who you are to the world around you. All this muddling your brain before you are old enough to understand why.
It does not take long before you are conditioned to feel bad, fearful, and abnormal. It is no surprise that trans children commit suicide at rates far above that of others.
Just as organizations were becoming more supportive and trans people and stories were becoming more visible across all media outlets, the Culture Warriors declared war on us. This has increased violence and negative legislation directed at us specifically. Legislation has targeted our access to healthcare, our ability to tell our stories, and our responsibility to care for our youth so they do not have to live through our experiences without a shoulder to lean on. How do we save lives when ours feel so marginalized and threatened?
Women of color have long been the backbone of the social justice movement and trans women of color are no exception. We just like to do it with a little more sparkle.
Media Makes a Difference
Hester Gallery; September 2023 – December 1, 2023
History is written by the victors. By and large that has been true. In most schools across the United States and Europe you would not know there were great civilizations and leaders in other parts of the world. You might think White men did everything by themselves.
Today there is a Culture War with some trying to preserve that myopic view of the world. They wage this war against Blacks, other people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other minority groups including Jews, Muslims, and everyone who disagrees with them.
From the august pages of the New York Times, LIFE magazine, and the national television networks we do not have to go very far back to see they reflected those same values. Over recent decades that thas moderated and we see changes in representation of marginalized people. With every effort to see people as they truly are there is pushback by radical right publications and media that deny any view of history but the one they promote, and when it cannot be ignored it is challenged, attacked, and misrepresented.
As you look through this exhibit view the subtle changes in how others see us and how we see ourselves.
Rewind: History on Repeat
Ross Gallery; June 2, 2023 – September 8, 2023
Artist: Beau McCall
Curator: Souleo
Rewind History on Repeat is a timely and heartfelt exhibition spotlighting the Black LGBTQ+ experience in America and featuring collages by creative artist, Beau McCall and archival material from the Stonewall National Museum, Library, & Archives (SNMAL).
The collages are drawn from McCall’s debut artists’ book, REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT which honors the legacy of ten of McCall’s deceased friends. Each collage is composed of McCall’s personal archival photos and papers, along with images from his clothing button embellished artwork. The collages capture the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, from Philadelphia to New York, during the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the height of disco music and the AIDS crisis.
McCall’s work is rooted in framing personal memories and experiences within historical and social contexts. To aid in this narrative select collages are paired with an archival item from SNMAL that relates to the theme of McCall’s artwork. This pairing draws a parallel between the personal experiences of McCall and his friends and the larger historical moments that impacted their lives.
Collectively, McCall’s collages and Stonewall’s archive reflect the joys and struggles of the Black LGBTQ+ community and demonstrate how art and archives can be used as tools to better understand our lives, find connections between the past and present, and imagine a brighter future.
Pride in the Face of Prejudice
Hester Gallery: May 21, 2023 – September 8, 2023
Curator: Robert Kesten
PRIDE 2023 is a game-changer and Stonewall’s exhibits and programs will reflect that!
This year’s PRIDE will take a look at how we turn allies into friends, friends into family, and how, since the 1969 Stonewall Riots and first Pride parade, we have gone from Gay to LGBTQIA+!
Lesbian Land Exhibition
Hester Gallery; March 3, 2023 – June 2023
Curator: Lean Appleton, Associate Director, Leonard Pearlstein Gallery / Curator, Drexel University
This exhibition series draws its title from Lesbian Land, a collection of writings by lesbians who founded lands in the 1970s and 1980s in an effort to drop out of society and form new revolutionary communities and bring about liberation. Land dykes published women-authored books and magazines, supported musical networks, and made essential contributions to the history of photography. This crucial history is for the most part unknown.
Hey, Groomer Exhibition
Ross Gallery; October 7, 2022 – April 29, 2023
Curator: Robert Kesten
Code words have often been used to marginalize people, turn them into villains, and make them pariahs, even in their own communities. These tactics have been used throughout history and are evident today. What lessons have been shared with us, have we learned from them? How do we use these tools to fight back, how do we ensure that the past does not repeat, how do we build the world we want and save future generations from the bias, hate, prejudice, and scapegoating recent years have once again subjected us to? We can be sure of one thing, “Silence=Death” and words on a wall are only as powerful as how we incorporate them into our daily lives. If we are unable to make them part of our DNA, if we are unable to act on them, we change nothing. “Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?” – Les Misérables
History=Pride Exhibition
Library; December 2022 – February 2023
Curator: Robert Kesten
This exhibition ties the past to the present, reminds us of those who were brave so we can live lives out in the open with less fear and in the belief that things will continue to get better. We stand on the shoulders of heroes, women and men, nonbinary, trans, gays and lesbians, who always got back up when they were knocked down and insisted on truth no matter how painful. Those we celebrate have moved mountains for Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, challenged hate, anti- Semitism, Islamophobia, struggled for economic justice, voting rights, and did so for every one of us so we too could have a dream that one day we would be measured by our character and not who we love. From the mountain tops and sea to shining sea we find strength and courage in recognizing some of the individuals who made Stonewall possible, who made marriage possible, who made serving openly in government and in the military possible, who made being who you are, not a privilege but a right, who made adoption possible, and who made living life out loud a reality.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road Exhibition
Hester Gallery; October 2022- February 2023
Curator: Robert Kesten
The events prior to Stonewall in 1969 were important moments in LGBTQ+ history but like Kansas, they remained in black and white, it was Stonewall that thrust us into the age of color, flags, and pride. This exhibit marks key moments in our history along with moments in Stonewall National Museum-Archives-Library history. These two trajectories travel along the same yellow brick road heading towards Oz, which has always been just a little out of reach, although we may have thought we arrived there at least a few times only to be disappointed. The exhibit will use references from the Wizard of Oz (something that has become part of our community’s culture) as an illustration of our own ups and downs over the past 50 years.
Katz (Not the Musical) Exhibition
Library; October – December 2022
Curator: Ben Smith
Jonathan Ned Katz, one of the foremost scholars of LGBTQ+ history donated a significant part of his library to Stonewall very recently. The collection of over 850 volumes is the largest the organization has received from any one donor. This will be our first chance to put some of this extensive collection on display, including some rare books and materials that inform what we know about ourselves and our community at large. Some of the books have Mr. Katz’s notes and markings on display, giving us insight on how he derived at his conclusions and why his books remain important even as he approaches his mid-80s. It is collections like these, and our ability to display them in context, that keeps Stonewall National vibrant and relevant to both the general public and the academic communities we serve. As we approach our 50th anniversary and walk down memory lane, it is good to take stock of what is still out there and how much work lies ahead of us. This exhibit brings all that into view and the book titles alone should help people recognize just how amazing our community is and how much we have impacted the rest of the world.
HerStory: Women’s Fund
Hester Gallery; July – September 2022
Curator: Paola Sierra
This exhibition looked at the legacies of activists, campaigns, policy-makers, and subcultures, which have contributed to the ongoing fight for the liberation of all women. The items in this exhibition pointed to the nonlinear shape of the lesbian and feminist movement; and their entanglement with the unique and collective prejudices women face. Where there is history there is herstory. Present anti-abortion laws, trans-phobic policies in sports, and anti-gay protocols in schools make learning from the past essential.
Early Gay Gathering from 1957-1965
Ross Gallery; July – September 2022
Curator: Paola Sierra
This exhibition looked at the ways in which gays and lesbians gathered in response to their subjugation and the outcomes of their organizing efforts. Some gays and lesbians met privately in their homes when gathering in public became unsafe, which ultimately led to the founding of two early homophile organizations: Mattachine Society (1950) and Daughters of Bilitis (1955). Early Gay Gatherings from 1957-1965 examined publications and newsletters disseminated by both organizations held in SNMA’s Pre-Stonewall Collection.
ArtsUnited – Local Artists
Various dates and locations
Works by South Florida visual artists.
Pride: Party or Protest (part of a Washington-based One in Ten exhibition)
2006
Organizers: Keith Clark, John Coppola and Jeff Donahue
Gay Activist Frank Kameny
2006
Organizers: Various
Days Without Sunshine – Anita Bryant’s Anti-Gay Crusade
June 4 -June 30, 2007
Curator: John Coppola
Broward County Public Library – Main Branch and Summer 2014 Hester Gallery
Using objects from SNMA’s Archives, the exhibition explored the efforts by anti- gay activist Anita Bryant’s efforts to repeal a law that prohibited discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation based on one’s sexual orientation.
Gala Exhibit 2007: Barbara Gittings and Kay Lahusen
Curator: John Coppola
Using photographs, archival documents, artifacts and video, the exhibition focused on gay life from the 1950s to Stonewall.
Out of the Shadows – Gay America from Kinsey to Stonewall
June 2 – 28, 2008
Broward County Public Library – Main Branch
Curator: John Coppola
Gala Exhibit 2008: Barney Frank
November 15, 2008
Curator: John Coppola and Charles Ross
For Women Only: Spaces, Organizations, Events and Publications Created
by and for Women
October 2009
Curator: Charles Ross
Turn the Beat Around: Disco 1974-1984
October-December 2009
Curator: Charles Ross
What a Laugh! Single-Panel Cartoons
January-February 2010
Hester Gallery – Stonewall Library and Archives
Curator: Charles Ross
The Harlem Renaissance: As Gay as It Was Black
February 2010.
Broward County Public Library – Main Branch and
Florida Atlantic University Library, Boca Raton
Curators: John Coppola, Charles Ross and Jack Rutland
Concentrated Juice: Pulp Fiction: 1950-1975
March-April 2010
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
The L of It: Lesbian Magazines
May-June 2010
Hester Gallery
Where the Boys Are: Gay Fort Lauderdale
June 2010
Hester Gallery
Curators: Charles Ross and Jack Rutland
Gay Games: 1982-2010
July-August 2010
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
“Oh, Mary!” That’s So Camp!
September-October 2010
Hester Gallery
Curators: Charles Ross and Jack Rutland
He’s A Rebel, An Exploration of Leather Culture
October 15 – November 16, 2010
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
Exhibition explored the lure of leather and its ongoing influence on the gay male community.
The Other Gay 90s – Coming Out With America
January 3-February 26, 2011
Charles L. Ross Gallery – Stonewall Library and Archives
Curator: Christopher J. Finlay
Survey of the national LGBT landscape from the past decade from the perspective of questions and gay youth.
Illustrations from America’s Pioneering Homosexual Magazine
February 1-26, 2011
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
Reproductions of drawings from ONE (1953-1967).
Breaking the Sound Barrier: The Women’s Music Movement 1970-2010
March 1 – April 30, 2011
Charles L. Ross Gallery
Curator: Anne Doten
A look at the women, many who were lesbian, created opportunities for female musicians and their fans.
Curtain Up! Homosexual Characters on Broadway: From The God of Vengeance to The Boys in the Band
May 2- June 30, 2011
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
The Secret Symphony: Gay Composers of Classical Music
June 7 – 30, 2012
Hester Gallery and Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Miami Beach
Curator: Charles Ross
Profiles of gay composers.
Winners – Gay Athletes in America
July 23-September 1, 2012
Hester Gallery
Curators: Rob Delahanty and John Coppola
A celebration of LGBT professional, amateur and recreational and athletic organizations.
Our Stars – LGBTQ Icons
Nov-Dec 2012,
Hester Gallery
Curators: Brian McNaught and Bryan Knicely
Musical Theater
January 2013
Hester Gallery
Curator: Bryan Knicely
Sing Out, Sondheim! The Musical Life of Stephen Sondheim
January 10 – 2013
Charles L. Ross Gallery
Examined the life and musical career of Stephen Sondheim on his 80th birthday.
Our Faces: Our Youth Tell Us Their Stories
March 1-March 16, 2013
Curator: Kim Cohane
Hester Gallery
Explored the world of LGBTQ creative performers in South Florida with an emphasis on gender identity and expression.
Stonewall National Museum & Archives 40th Anniversary
April 2013
Hester Gallery
Curators: Charles Ross and others
Away We Went: IGLTA
April 2013
Hester Gallery
Curator: LuAnn Holden
The Big Picture: Gay Movie Posters 1953-1978
September – October 2013
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
Using movie posters from the Archives, the exhibition examined gay-themed movies.
Color Coding Gays – Visible Signals for Invisible People
September/October 2013
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
How gay men and lesbians used color codes and symbols to identify each other.
Halloween in New Orleans: Benefiting Project Lazarus
October 2013
Strike a Pose: Mid-Century Beefcake
November 2013
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
A Queer Geography: Where We’ve Been and Where We Are: 1975-2013 LGBT Maps Miami-Dade and Broward Counties
November 2013
Hester Gallery
Curator: Kai Kenttamaa Squires
From the archives, mapping the geographic migration of gay populations throughout Florida.
Dear Abby – Letters and Advice on Homosexuality
January 2014
Ross Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
Clippings from the syndicated newspaper Dear Abby column on understanding homosexuality.
Snap Judgment: Marvin and Morgan Smith
January/February 2014
Ross Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
From the Archives, two photographers who set up a photo studio in Harlem.
A Man Called David
March/April 2014
Hester Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
The story behind the Michelangelo’s ionic statue and other men named David.
The Times of Our Lives: LGBT People and Issues on the Cover of Time Magazine
March/April 2014
Mona Pittenger Gallery – Wilton Manors
Curator: Charles Ross
Issues of Time magazine that featured gay men and lesbians on its covers.
Days without Sunshine: Anita Bryant’s Anti-Gay Crusade
June 2014
Pittenger Gallery
Curators: John Coppola and Charles Ross
A Snapshot of Service: The Pride Center at Equality Park
August 2014
Pittenger Gallery
Transcending Gender: Bodies & Lives
September – October 2014
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Emery Grant
A timeline of transgender history, people of accomplishment, and vocabulary.
Queer Kids
Fall 2014
Pittenger Gallery
Photographs by Michael Sharkey telling the story of LGBTQ youth.
David Leddick: Portrait of a Man
January 2015
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
A retrospective of the life of South Florida author.
Stroke: From Under the Mattress to the Museum Walls
February 2015
Pittenger Gallery
Curators: Robert W. Richards and Hunter O’Hanian
Original illustrations from men’s magazines from the 1950s to 2000.
As Seen on TV: An Exploration of LGBT Characters 1954-1979
March – April 2015
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Charles Ross
An exploration of gay television characters from 1954-1979.
Living in Limbo: Lesbian Families of the Deep South
Summer 2015
Pittenger Gallery
Organized by Birmingham Museum of Modern Art
Carolyn Sherer’s photography honors lesbian family life in Southeastern United States.
Out of the Shadows: A Gay American Timeline from Police Raids to Stonewall Riots – 1903-1969
July 2015
Pittenger Gallery
Curators: John Coppola and Charles Ross
“I am too.” Coming Out Stories
October – November 2015
Pittenger Gallery
An examination of generations of similar experiences telling friends and family one is gay.
Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Posters from the Wolfsonian Collection
November –January 2016
Pittenger Gallery
An examination of graphic posters which were used to educate others about the ways HIV and AIDS can spread.
Strike a Pose: South Florida’s Ballroom Scene
January 2016
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Emery Grant
A guide to Miami’s vogue and ballroom culture that put South Florida on the culture club map.
HERE & NOW: Queer Culture Across America
March – April 2016
Organized by Silver Eye Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Various artists who explore physical and emotional journeys as they define and discover queerness across the American landscape.
Blake Little: Photography from the Gay Rodeo
May/June 2016
Organized by Eitelkorg Museum
Examines photos by Blake Little as he explored the maleness of the rodeo circuit in the American West.
Marilyn Monroe: Kissing an Icon
July 2016
Curators: Sue Wilder and Charles Ross
Featured ephemera and artifacts of Marilyn Monroe.
Secret Dressing: Subliminal Messages in Male Clothing Catalogs
August/September 2016
Curator: Charles Ross
Clothing catalogs
I Am Here: The Lesbian Portraits of Robert Kalman
September/November 2016
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Sue Wilder
First Comes Love: Portraits of Enduring LGBTQ Relationships Photography by B. Proud
November/December 2016
Pittenger Gallery
The Lure of Provincetown: Photography by Midge Battelle and Al Kaplan, Paintings by Len Paoletti
December 2016 – January 2017
Pittenger Gallery
Body Work: The Art of the Male Form
February/March 2017
Pittenger Gallery
Paintings and photographs of men
Home: Three Photographers Document Intimate Spaces
March/April 2017
Pittenger Gallery
Photography by Luke Austin, Matthew Clowney, Alix Smith
Game On! Female Athletes Competing with Homophobia in Sports
May/June 2017
Pittenger Gallery
Curators: Sue Wilder, Charles Ross
PULSE
June 2017
Human Rights Campaign Fund Headquarters – Washington, DC
Curator: Christopher Rudisill
Out Write: LGBTQ Authors from Special Collections
Summer 2017
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: John Coppola
Selling| Out: History of Gay Male Images in Advertising
March 16- May 13, 2018
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Blaine Branchick
Advertisements which depicted gay subjects.
TransCuba: Photographs by Mariette Pathy Allen
May 16- July 15, 2018
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Christopher Rudisill
Photographs of the contemporary transgender community in Cuba.
Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945
July 20 – October 14, 2018
Pittenger Gallery
Organized by US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Tracing the path from prejudice to persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany.
Nightbirds – Michael Fazakerley
October 18, 2018 – January 20, 2019
Pittenger Gallery
Photos of NYC’s club culture personalities (1986-1995).
Sisters of the Commonwealth- Photographs by Meg Birnbaum
January 25 – April 28, 2019
Pittenger Gallery
Photos of members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in Boston, MA.
Stonewall: 50 Years in the Fight for Equality
MAY to August 11, 2019
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Emery Grant
Photographs by Diana Davies, Fred McDarrah, and Kay Tobin depicting the Stonewall uprising period in the 1960s and early 1970s.
PULP: Erotic Paperbacks in Gay Male Culture
August 16 – November 10, 2019
Pittenger Gallery
Curator: Joe Madura
Examination of the gay male erotic novels from the 1960s.
Transcending Love – Photographs of Transgender and Non-Binary Couples
Pittenger Gallery
November 15 to February 16, 2020
Photographs of and stories about contemporary transgender couples by B. Proud.
Safe/Haven: Gay Life in 1950s Cherry Grove
Pittenger Gallery
February 21 – March 25, 2020
Presented in conjunction with the Cherry Grove Archives Collection.
Pride Across the US
Examination of pride marches across the US from the early 1970s to the present day
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Click HERE for Virtual Exhibit
June 2020
Into the Light New York: Pride Marches, 1978 – 1991, Photographs by Stanley Stellar
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Click HERE for Virtual Exhibition
June 2020
Celebrating Tom of Finland’s 100th Birthday
A celebration of a gay icon
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Click HERE for Virtual Exhibition
July 2020
BLK – The National Black Lesbian and Gay News Magazine
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
A look at the seminal LGBTQ publication for the black community
Click HERE for Virtual Exhibition
July 1, 2020 – August 28, 2020
First Look – Objects, papers, serials and findings that caught the eye and imagination of Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian upon his arrival at SNMA.
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Click HERE for Virtual Exhibition
August 21, 2020 – October 2, 2020
Elected Sisters – Pioneering Bi, Lesbian and Trans Political Leaders
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Examination of queer women who were the first to gain elected office
Click HERE for a recored tour and curatorial talk
September 4, 2020 – November 15, 2020
Life Letters: Correspondance between LGBTQ friends, family and lovers.
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Life and love shared between LGBTQ folks and their families
Click HERE for a recorded tour and curatorial talk
October 2, 2020 – January 30, 2021
Queers @ Home
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
An examination of LGBTQ domestic life
Click HERE for a virtual exhibition
Click HERE for a recorded tour and curatorial talk
December 5, 2020 – February 13, 2021
The Saint
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
A look at the historic gay nightclub and its demise in NYC
Click HERE for a virtual exhibition
Click HERE for a recorded tour and curatorial talk
March 1, 2021- May 14, 2021
Off Our Backs: Lesbian Feminist Periodicals 1956-2000
Curator: Meaghan Kent
A look at Off Our Backs (1976-2005) and On Our Backs (1985-2001)
Click HERE for a virtual exhibition
Click HERE for a recorded tour and curatorial talk
March 13, 2021- September 24, 2021
Don’t Ask, Do Tell
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
October 21, 2021 – January 20, 2022
Robert Giard: Photographs
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
February 10, 2022 – April 15, 2022
Voices from OutWrite
May 16, 2022 – July 16, 2022
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
Mis-Information
October 2021 – July 2022
Curator: Hunter O’Hanian
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
