‘Where everything begins’: Traveling exhibits exploring queer history to make first stop in Philly

How is democracy preserved and achieved? And what are the roles and responsibilities of individuals and communities to do so?

The Stonewall National Museum, Archives and Library wants to prompt people to explore these questions through two upcoming exhibits highlighting the history and intersectionality of queer activism. And the traveling exhibits will be making their first stop in Philadelphia starting April 16.

“Philadelphia is the birthplace of the nation,” Robert Kesten, executive director of the Stonewall National Museum and curator of the exhibits, said of the choice to debut the exhibits in Philadelphia.

“Being in a city where so many people of all different races, creeds, and colors have stood up is very important to make an integral part of any call to be awake for the upcoming election, and the role that citizens must play in preserving and strengthening democracy.”

The decision to start the traveling exhibit in Philadelphia is emblematic of the city’s thriving queer communities and history, residents say.

“Many people believe that LGBT history started and was accomplished in cities like New York and San Francisco, but Philly has its own really proud history of change among the LGBT community,” said John Anderies, director of the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives and Library and the William Way LGBT Community Center.

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From the Philadelphia-born Homophile Movement to the Annual Reminder Days picketing in front of Independence Hall in the 1960s, Philly was home to vibrant gay liberation movements and leaders — such as Barbara Gittings — well before the uprising at Stonewall, Anderies said.

“Change very definitely happened here because of the people here and the work that they did,” he said.

One of the upcoming exhibits, named “Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes,” captures the importance of intersectionality in advancing equal rights across communities.

“As we were looking at the history of the LGBTQ liberation movement, it has become clearer and clearer, they’re in many ways built on the movements that came first,” Kesten said. “And yet, historically, often when we looked at the LGBTQ liberation movement, we saw gay white men.”

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“Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes” explores the ways in which philosophies from movements such as labor, women’s, and civil rights have influenced the movement for queer rights, while showcasing the immense diversity that existed within the LGBTQ liberation movement.

The exhibit will feature “bigger-than-life-size” portraits of people who have had a direct impact on LGBTQ rights as far as back as the 1940s, such as Barbara Jordan, the first Black member of Congress from Texas and a lesbian, or Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, trans women who started Star, the first trans organization to support homeless children within the community.

“We’re hoping people recognize that the queer community is every other community,” Kesten said. “What this exhibit says to us is that we really are the bridge to every other community and [we are] the people who can unlock that commonality we all have, because we’re in every religion, every color, every nationality, every ethnicity.”

“I hope that an exhibit like this shows us our power.”

For some queer Philadelphians, the exhibit resonates deeply with a city that has a thriving grassroots activist scene, in many ways thanks to the intersectionality that exists across the city’s diverse communities.

“I have always believed that the LGBTQ community, we truly have something so special in the sense that we are so incredibly diverse,” said Nellie Fitzpatrick, a Philadelphia lawyer. “I hope that an exhibit like this shows us our power, and that coming together and understanding that power is needed now more than ever.”

The other exhibit, “Never Silent,” takes inspiration from the resounding lesson of the AIDS epidemic: Silence equals death.

“We look at what it means to be silent,” Kesten asked. “Those who try to silence are the ones who try to take away democracy and human rights. And those who are the loudest are the ones who are trying to preserve those things.”

The exhibit will be juxtaposing those two types of people — the ones who silence, and the ones who refuse to remain silent — with large portraits of each, such as conservative commentator Candace Owens and queer comedian, actress, and activist Wanda Sykes.

“We look at what it means to be silent.”

There will also be pictures of libraries: shelves devoid of books in school libraries because of growing book bans across the country, and shelves at the Stonewall Museum stacked with books that would have been banned. If people don’t have access to books, Kesten said, there cannot be a more perfect union.

“We are so close to having the world we would like,” the exhibit ends with. “But so are they.”

“Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes” and “Never Silent” will be on display at the Drexel URBN Center. The exhibition is open to the public by appointment only, weekdays from 10am – 4pm, from April 16 – 23. Visitors should schedule a time to access the exhibition by contacting Tashera Dean at 215-895-2319.