One Institute is the presenter of Circa, the first and only LGBTQ+ histories festival in the United States, held each October during LGBTQ+ History Month. Established in 2023, it is a month-long, LA County-wide programming series showcasing the trailblazing histories and vibrant cultural contributions of LGBTQ+ communities through the lens of present-day challenges and triumphs. Through exhibitions, performance, readings, screenings, lectures, dialogues, and parties, Circa features queer and trans artists, activists, and educators leading the movement for LGBTQ+ liberation.

The theme for Circa 2025 is RECLAIMING FREEDOM. Where they question are we free even when discrimination, surveillance, and inequality persist? How have we insisted on the fight towards liberation despite threats to our rights? With the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on queer and trans communities, immigrants, HIV/AIDS funding, LGBTQ+ inclusion in public schools, women’s reproductive rights, and more, the notion of reclaiming our freedom even when we are not completely free is relevant and urgent.

Coming up in October 29th is  Scandalous Conduct: A Fairy Extravaganza is a musical documentary about homophobia, surveillance, the military, and drag. It tells the story of the Newport Sex Scandal of 1919, the result of an anti-gay sex sting conducted by the US Navy shortly after the end of World War I. 

In this artist talk, Matthew Lawrence and Jason Tranchida will discuss several years of research that went into their project and their use of source materials in their multi-channel video installation. They will also show excerpts from the video and open the discussion up for a Q&A period. The artists will also speak a bit about a proposed sequel project, one that follows the truly fascinating afterlife of one of the accused men. 

The Newport Sex Scandal took place over a century ago, but its themes are as timely today as ever. Sailors were recruited to seduce and entrap other sailors, reporting every detail of their sexual encounters back to their creepy higher-ups. Those first-hand reports (housed at the National Archives) became the foundation of their hour-long multi-channel video. The reports are paired with movement-based choreography inspired by archival photographs, and juxtaposed with recreations of five musical numbers from The Strange Adventures of Jack and the Beanstalk, a vaudeville/drag production staged in Newport by the Navy while the scandal unfolded.

Scandalous Conduct: A Fairy Extravaganza premiered in 2024 in Newport, Rhode Island, just blocks away from the parks and theaters and YMCA that acted as cruising grounds for some of the 30,000 sailors living in the city at that time.