Browse Exhibits (8 total)

"Gay is Good": DC-based gay rights activist Dr. Franklin Kameny coined this slogan in the 1960s to convince gay people of their dignity and self-worth. As co-founder and leader of the Mattachine Society of Washington, Kameny played a role in dismantling anti-gay federal policies, including those that barred homosexuals from federal employment. Kameny and his fellow activists also challenged the American Psychiatric Association for pathologizing homosexuality. This exhibit explores gay and lesbian organizing in DC, 1961-1975, in its historical and political context.

Dr. H. Lynn (Herman Lynn) Womack was a pioneer in fighting to expand the rights of gay men to have access to gay-themed content. His efforts to fight the use of obscenity laws to prevent gay content from being distributed through the U.S. Mail resulted in key decisions from the United States Supreme Court that expanded First Amendment protections for gay men throughout the United States. This exhibit explores Womack's role as first amendment pioneer, publisher, and gay rights advocate.

Womack was a pioneer in First Amendment Law, Publisher, Educator, & Supporter of Gay Activism.

The Gay Women's Alternative of DC (GWA-DC) created a safe space for lesbian women in the metropolitan area to socialize and explore relavent issues through a network of social  and educational events. The GWA-DC served as an alternative to both the closet and bars to the lesbian community of greater-Washington DC from 1981 through 1993. 

The founding members of GWA-DC created a community oriented educational and social resource for lesbians of Washington, DC over the organization's 12-year existence.

The GWA-DC sponsored a diverse range of events that defined it as an organization and provided invaluable social and educational resources to the community. 

Gay Pride is more than 30 years old, but it's hard to get an historical perspective on it. After all, the photos are in color, we remember wearing the clothes, having the haircuts. We were there, so how could it be history?

Nonetheless, it is history, and it's our history. This exhibit, "PRIDE: Party or Protest," is about documenting our lives through our stories and artifacts from events in our lives. This exhibit is about documenting the history of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender communities. Pride is a story that, for the most part, is unwritten. It is a tale taht is still being told, year after year, passed from generation to generation.

In organizing this exhibit, One in Ten and the Rainbow History Project researched and pieced together all the different parts of Pride in Washington, D.C., to tell the story in a cohesive way. There are aspects of telling this story that you may agree with and other parts you might disagree with. As with any good story, it will continue to grow and gain perspective. But this exhibit is a start.  

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From January 13 - June 11, 2006, this exhibit was on display at the Charles Sumner School, in Washington, D.C. This online component was adapted from the exhibition panels.