Queer California : Untold Stories

A couple at Mona’s 440, a famous San Francisco lesbian bar, circa 1945. Photograph: Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society

The 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots is being celebrated across the country in so many different ways .  At the Oakland Museum of California they have a new exhibition that not only looks back at this pivotal time for the our community but also  at 200 years of California’s LGBTQ history. 

It’s the focus on all aspects of gay life that have tended been overlooked that makes Queer California: Untold Stories that make the exhibit that more vital. Such as the Los Angeles’ 1959 Cooper Do-nuts uprising, during which onlookers chucked coffee and garbage at the officers in response to a raid at an LGBTQ-friendly hangout.  Plus the Compton’s Cafeteria riot that took place in San Francisco in August 1966. Police descended on an all-night diner in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, and a group of drag queens and transgender women fought back.

The exhibit that runs until August 11, 2019 has assembled an amazing collection photographs, videos and works by contemporary artists that  completely reflect the important role that the LGBTQ community in California played in our develpment  

http://museumca.org/exhibit/queer-california-untold-stories

 

Chuck Stallard, San Francisco “die-in” protest – AIDS and Trans activist Connie Norman with Robert Birch. Harry Hay in the background. Courtesy of ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries

 


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