Up next we visit the rise up exhibit in washington d. C. To learn about the stonewall riots, and how they served as a catalyst for the modern lgbtq Rights Movement. Welcome to the museum, im patty Vice President of exhibits and clinton. Here we are at the prologue of our newest exhibit, rise up stonewall and the lgbtq human Rights Movement. Stonewall was an event in the summer of 1969, an uprising and a gay bar in new york city. That propelled forward, the modernday lgbtq Rights Movement. This is where we tell that story, of how ordinary americans, use their First Amendment freedoms, freedom of speech, the price, petition, assembly and religion, to advocate for change, and release change society. Now we will walk around the corner, in this prologue area. We will look at some artifacts from two of the earliest lgbtq rights organizations, that rose up in the 19 sixties and fifties. Game eric and lived in fear and secrecy for much of the force of the early century. They arrested for showing this displays in public, they be arrested it was a difficult time for being a gay american. The story you see the rise of a few early lgbtq roofs, social groups. Such as the magazine society, where people are meeting in secret to talk about how what its like to be a gay man, or woman. To socialize and dance and have fun. Out of these social groups, rose movements for social justice. Instead of simply seeking tolerance by the public, they decided they wanted to actual acceptance. Now we see some artifacts from the machine society, a matchbook they will be passed on the people in public spaces, of people out they thought where like minded people. A secret way of saying our uk, i am to lets talk about it. Heres a legal book that was published for a gay people arrested by police to give them the rights what their rights were when dealing with police. This was a lot of that was put up by the daughters of ally this, and one. The First Amendment case that was one of the Supreme Court, next we are going to go down to the main gallery of this exhibit. Right now we are in an area right before the main gallery of rise up. We decided Popular Culture was a good place to start. Popular culture played such an Important Role in shaping attitudes. Early in 1961, the first images that you see of homosexuals, because that is what the people were called back then was in a pbs documentary that aired in San Francisco called the rejected. It talked about homosexuality as an issue, as a problem. Gradually you see more lgbtq being represented in sports, television and movies. Here is one tennis players racket, she was a incredible athlete and champion who comes out as being gay. Rock hudson, a famous hollywood celebrity who reveals that he is dying of aids. A huge earthquake in Popular Culture and in the lgbtq Rights Movement. You saw in philadelphia, tom hanks for 3 a man in with a some sex portrays tom hanks portrays a man with a. Of course ellen degeneres, she came out as gay and her show was canceled. That moment was seen as a powerful moment in lgbtq writes. Then you have, President Biden who spoke about the show will and grace even joe biden had comments about more to get more americans used to the idea of samesex marriage than anything else because they invited give people to their living rooms, in places were people thought they might not know about gay people in their lives. We had films like birkbeck mountain, modern family a hugely popular sitcom, then, Caitlyn Jenner coming out on the cover of vanity fair as a transgender woman. These were movements that brought moments that brought popular understanding to the issues that lgbtq society was facing. Lets go to the gallery and see what happened in Stonewall Inn 50 years ago. We go back to a hot summer night in june of 1969 to Greenwich Village in new york city the Stonewall Inn. Stonewall inn was not particularly a nice bar, the drinks were watered down. It was run by the mafia. But it was a place that where gay people could come and have fun. They could actually dance together. The Stonewall Inn preyed on the wall street workers who socialize there. It was a place but the people can call their own. There was a Police Crackdown on such establishments going on, and when police came in, they were a bit rough with a lesbian and through her out on the streets. And the crowd went wild. This is a pentup feeling by people at the Stonewall Inn. Police had been harassing gay people for a long time, arresting them for showing affection. At this time, we had all kinds of youth movement, counterculture, sexual revolution happening, and people were just not going to take it anymore, they were done with not being accepted for being gay, they were fed up. So this starts six nights of on and off uprising, glass throwing, brickthrowing, interactions with police. From this moment springs forth what we call the modern lgbtq to lgbtq Rights Movement. You see here a headline from the mainstream media. You can see how dismissive mainstream publications were of gay people. The headline is nest raided. Queen bees are stinging mad. It was very condescending. Some publications did not even cover it. Here we have other publications of how the gay rights was covered by other publications. This was an early lgbtq publication based in a light. Here we have the ladder, a lesbian publication based in los angeles. Then we have Time Magazine a few months after stonewall has a cover in which they are saying, never before have homosexuals in at the forefront of conversations or more was going on in the United States today. So out of this moment springs forth the modern lgbtq Rights Movement. We organize to the exhibit not chronologically at so much as within seems. The next thing is fighting for the right to work and to serve. We come to the story of a harvard educated phd and Government Employee who was fired from his job because of an arrest for solicitation. Solicitation was a charge, used against gay people. Often times they would fight that because of the repercussions of fighting back for such a crime. You could lose your job for being gay. Your neighbors would distance themselves from you. If you had a family, you could lose your children. To be gay was to live a life of fear and secrecy in the 1960s. So frank decided he was going to fight back against the government rule against gay people. President eisenhower actually signed a law into effect saying that homosexuals could not be hired by the federal government. Frank believe homosexuals deserve the rights to work in federal government and anywhere else. So he organized a series of protests as early as 1965 where gay people would picket it in front of the white house and Civil Service commission going public with signs like this america, the land of opportunity for homosexuals too. Quarter million Civil Service employees protest. So he is a figure who is considered the father of the lgbtq Rights Movement, and his story pops up throughout the exhibit. We will talk about a woman who took it upon herself to fight back against the American Psychiatric organization which at this point had deemed homosexuality and illness. Barbara giddings was a College Student in 1949 when she was diagnosed as being homosexual. She did research about what that meant and found out that homosexual people were frequently institutionalized, had electroshock treatment and various other horrible things. She thought there was something very wrong about that. So she took on the American Psychiatric association. In 1972 she appeared at their convention in dallas texas and spoke on a panel with a gay psychiatrist who was so fearful of the repercussions of coming out and making publicly as a gay person that he wore a mask. Barbara had an information booth, you can see the sign, that give positive images of what the people were all about. A year later, the American Psychiatric association took away the designation of homosexuality as a mental illness. Frank who we heard from before, sent a letter to his friend saying, it is a miracle, we have been cured. Next, well talk about harvey milk, one of the pioneering lgbt people to be elected to office in the United States. Harvey milk was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1977. He proceeded to get various laws passed increasing rents for rgb to cute citizens and surf for about a year before he was assassinated by a former police man and former commissioner himself. In this case, you can see an envelope that was found in milks jacket and the bullet holes that were left in the card that he had written to someone. The light sentence of the person who shot harvey milk that resulted in the white night riot when peoples were just coming forth with fury and frustration at the lack of attention. In this case, we have artefacts from Tammy Baldwin a pioneering person. She was the first gay woman elected to congress. This was what she wore when she was elected. Here we have a magazine featuring barney frank on it. He served three terms as congressman of massachusetts before he came out as being gay. The citizens of massachusetts reelected him several more times and after he left office, he married his longtime partner. This is a button that they handed out at their wedding. We walked around the corner and explore the story of lgbtq activists fighting for the right to serve in their military. In 1974, this was a sergeant in the air force. He was a decorated vietnam war veteran who had served three tours of duty and had a bronze star. He decided to challenge the military ban on gay people serving. Working with the father of the lgbtq Rights Movement, he decided to push back against the air force. The air force discharged him and offered a settlement is that of offering to change its policy. But you see this persons brave stance, going on the cover of Time Magazine in 1975 saying, i am a homosexual. These stories start to chip away at attitudes that prevented gay people from serving in the military. In this case, you can see News Coverage of the repeal of dont ask dont tell, the policy of the Clinton Administration that allowed people to serve in a military as long as they were quiet about who they were and what their Sexual Orientation was. Here you see the gavel that nancy pelosi used to announce the repeal of dont ask, dont tell in 2010. Out of stonewall comes protests. They were called because they were called zaps which were provocative, designed to get press coverage and attention to what the activists were fighting for you have groups. Like the gay raiders out of philadelphia who got themselves into the cbs evening news with walter cronkite, had a protest and disappeared as americans watched their evening newscast. Cronkite took time after the newscast to talk to them and it changed the way cbs covered the gay movement at the time. Various groups and nationalities that were not having their stories were not being told by the Mainstream Press, they would start their own newspapers and magazines. Here you see gay activist and commit many publications rose up here you see the gay activist and other publications that rose up. This woman was encouraged to come up with a flood that symbolized the gay movement. You will notice it has to them more stripes than has now. The reason is because two of the colors were harder to produce. The flag was made by gilbert. This was the sewing machine on which he created the original flag. It is not the original but it is one of the flags with that template. Next we will talk about the aids crisis and how it activated and mobilized lgbtq activists. In every movement, you see signs of progress and then push back. With this incredible spirit of openness come gay people being public about their sexuality, who they were, their Sexual Orientation, protesting, on the heels of that comes the aids crisis. In the early 1980s, stories about aids, Mysterious Illness that was striking gay men in los angeles and new york, comes to the forefront in Gay Publications first. Quickly, the Mainstream Press catches up. That because nobody knows what causes aids, there was more fear mongering than anything else, at least in the Lgbtq Community being further ostracized. Here are two journalists who were part of the Mainstream Press. In the 1980s, wasnt particularly welcoming to be on the staff of a major newspaper. Both of these journalists. Reported about the aids crisis and both of them succumbed to aids as well. It was not until 1992 that drugs were found that actually made a not a death sentence, but a disease that people could live with. Here you saw again gay activists using using zaps, a very provocative protest. There were protests up outside of the f. D. A. Where they advocated for drugs to come up or quicker, for more research by the government and for more research into aids. The Gay Community was providing meals, support, information about drug trials, organizations like act up and others that were really advocating for people with aids of the community as a whole. For the 362,000 americans more than 362,000 americans died of aids before treatment became more widespread in the 1990s. The aids quilt project laid patches of a quilt here in washington, d. C. This is evidence that while aids is now a treatable disease, the crisis was not over. This tells a story of a transgender woman in atlanta who died in 2016. Her name was Cheryl Courtney evans. Next we go to a section that talks about the battle for samesex marriage and the role that faith and religion played in that. Some faith communities welcomed members of the Gay Community but not all. In 1977, deighton county, florida joined about a dozen others in passing legislation aims to prevent his commission against gay people in housing and other areas. Anita bryant was a christian singer and a spokesman for the florida juice industry. She thought this law would end up having children corrupted by the Gay Community, so she fought back against it with her save the children campaign. Here again, you see the creativity of lgbtq activist who fought back against her. You see an album that was put out by a lesbian record label called lesbian concentrate. And there were a variety of songs pushing out against anita bryant and orange juice. Orange juice sales plummeted as a result. Bartenders started serving a drink called the anita bryant, which is apple juice and vodka instead. So you see the Lgbtq Community rising up against people trying to he wrote their rights. Then you see reverend jerry falwell, billy graham, powerful evangelical leaders who were blaming gay people for the aids crisis. Again, a setback for the community because these powerful spokesman of faith were pushing back against there is essential rights. Next we come to the section about the historic ruling that led to same sex marriage being made legal across the country. The First Amendment gives every american the power to petition the government for change. If there are policies or loss or things that are happening that they dont like. That is evidenced throughout the exhibit. This man had been planning to marry his longtime partner but in their home state of ohio, it was illegal for two men to marry. Mr. Arthur was dying of an neurological disease at the time. He died a few months later he was dying of his disease at the time. He died a few months later. They joined 14 other couples in a Supreme Court case in 2015 that made samesex marriage legal across the country. Year you can see the jacket and bowtie he wore on his wedding day and on announcement day. And the fuse leading ratings, his and john arthurs fused wedding rings, his and john arthurs. These are the first artifacts that we got on loan for this exhibit and it is a really powerful statement because at its essence, this exhibit is about, who you love and who you have the right to love. So this is a powerful exhibit that tells a story of how Everyday Americans petitioned the government for change using their First Amendment freedoms. The struggle for samesex marriage was a long process. Here in 1953, the pioneering lgbt publication one puts it on the cover. Homosexual . Of course it wasnt decades later but the samesex ruling in 2015 made marriage legal in the country. But these were narratives that played a role at chipping away at attitudes that prevented samesex marriage. She will was one of best this was one of those people. Edith windsor. When her partner died, she was talk with a large tax bill and she decided to challenge the i. R. S. Saying that she was being denied the same rights that heterosexual couples had. Years later, the Supreme Court decided in her favor. This is a copy of the check she got from the i. R. S. For back payment for those inheritance taxes she had paid and with interest. Is a favorite artifact for people to see especially around tax time here. Here are posters that were used by protesters who were heralding the Supreme Court decision that Edith Windsor took part in. On the wall, you see iconic figures who 50 years ago would never have been open about their Sexual Orientation, they are sexuality. We call the wall once rejected, now embraced, because now you see all these people who are politicians, activists, actors, journalists, people who are admired for who they are and what they do. Here at the museum, our mission is to promote understanding of the importance of the free press and the First Amendment. We hope more people come to visit the exhibit because the events at stonewall and rise up, the stonewall and lgbtq Rights Movement tells the story of how Everyday Americans, used their First Amendment right of the press, speech, religion, to rise up, push back and advocate for change, and that is what we are about here at the museum. Explaining the movement. This movement embodies something about the First Amendment. We hope people will come to experience it as well as the movies and other interactives that we tell here at the exhibit. You can tell this and every american Artifact Program any time by visiting our website, cspan. Org history. We last night, the traffic was a mess, but somehow between the dusk to dawn when the music
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