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Before LGBTQ+ History Month Ends, Here’s Where You Can Learn About LA’s Queer Past And Present
An exhibit item in Phranc: The Butch Closet titled, Shirt and Tie (2022) by Phranc. The mediums used for this piece were kraft paper, gouache and thread.
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Courtesy of Circa
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Topline:
Peak Spooky Season is coming up, but there’s another important thing to remember about this time: LGBTQ+ History Month also ends on Oct. 31. We have the rundown of things to do to get connected.
Why do we have LGBTQ+ history month? It goes back to 1994 when a Missouri high school teacher, Rodney Wilson, felt we needed to dedicate time to learning and teaching LGBTQ+ history, which isn’t consistently covered in education. October was chosen to support the academic focus with public schools in session.
How can I learn more? Los Angeles has a rich LGBTQ+ history, including civil rights protests that predate the Stonewall Uprising, but there’s a lot more to learn. The One Institute in Hollywood keeps decades of archives on this, and this year, it put on Circa, what it’s calling the first queer histories festival in the U.S.
What’s there to check out? Aside from its ongoing art exhibitions, Circa has lectures, panel conversations and performances through Sunday at different locations around L.A. County. There’s also an exhibit on butch clothing, an interactive community archiving event, and Dear Lover/Dear Habibi — a live storytelling session with LGBTQ+ artists of Southwest Asian and North African descent. And if you’d like to learn from L.A.’s LGBTQ+ elders, there’s also Coming Out West, an oral history exhibit at the Santa Monica History Museum.
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