FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2019

MEDIA CONTACT
Mark Sawchuk
(415) 777-5455 ext. 8
mark@glbthistory.org
September History Programs Highlight Latinx Families, the Stonewall Riots, Early AIDS Activism and World War II
San Francisco — The program series for September 2019 sponsored by the GLBT Historical Society will highlight the resilience of Latinx LGBTQ families, a new book on the Stonewall Riots as viewed in the pages of a major queer journal, the birth of militant AIDS activism in the early 1980s and LGBTQ heroes in World War II. All events take place from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the GLBT Historical Society Museum at 4127 18th St. in the Castro District. For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org .


Panel Discussion
Queering Familias: Building Resilience and Hope
Thursday, September 12
7:00–9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
 
Rooted in a history of resistance, LGBTQ Latinx people in the Bay Area have created numerous activist groups and institutions that have built a strong foundation for subsequent generations. Over time, they have forged personal and community bonds that create familias, or chosen families. This intergenerational panel brings together Latinx activists, artists, performers and community leaders to discuss the unique ways they have mobilized by building strong bonds of kinship. The event is being held in conjunction with the exhibition “ Chosen Familias: Bay Area LGBTQ Latinx Stories,” now on view at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/2KkUXHv.


Book Launch
In Search of Stonewall
Thursday, September 19
7:00–9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
 
The year 1994 marked the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, and it was also the year in which a new journal, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review (known since 1998 as The Gay & Lesbian Review/Worldwide), published its first issue. In honor of its own 25th anniversary, the journal has released a book, In Search of Stonewall: The Riots at 50, The Gay & Lesbian Review at 25 (G & LR Books, 2019) collecting Stonewall-related articles published in the Review over the past quarter century. Join four contributors to the collection, Jewelle Gomez, Steven Dansky, Will Roscoe and Eve Goldberg, for a panel discussion about Stonewall scholarship and for readings from the collection. Copies of In Search of Stonewall will be available for purchase and signing. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/2GGYMWG.


Living History Discussion
Enola Gay: The Birth of Militant AIDS Activism
Friday, September 20
7:00–9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
 
In September 1984, members of Enola Gay, a gay men’s direct-action affinity group, blocked the entrance to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during a large demonstration against the development of nuclear weapons. The activists poured real human blood on the doors and chanted “money for AIDS, not for war!” This act of civil disobedience calling attention to government neglect in the face of a deadly epidemic has been described by one historian as “the first recorded instance of civil disobedience to confront AIDS.” To mark the 35th anniversary of the protest, Enola Gay members Robert Glück, Richard Bell and Jack Davis will share photographs and stories from the group’s history, discuss the shifting priorities for sexual politics during the 1980s and reflect on direct action and intersectional organizing during the early years of the AIDS crisis. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/2GHTV7u.


Book Launch
The Ventriloquists: A Novel of Queer Resistance
Thursday, September 26
7:00–9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
 
Novelist E. R. Ramzipoor will read selections from her new novel, The Ventriloquists (Park Row Books, 2019), a work inspired by the true story of a ragtag gang of journalists and resistance fighters who published a false, satirical edition of the Nazi-controlled Brussels newspaper Le Soir during World War II. Inviting the reader on a fast-paced, high-stakes caper featuring a diverse cast of queer heroes, the novel highlights the LGBTQ community’s role in reclaiming occupied spaces. Ramzipoor will supplement her talk by discussing stories of everyday queer heroes from World War II until the present, focusing on ordinary people who carried out daring feats of resistance. Tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/2Kck5S4.


ABOUT THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
   
Open since January 2011, the GLBT Historical Society Museum is the first stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States. Its Main Gallery features a long-term exhibition on San Francisco LGBTQ history, "Queer Past Becomes Present." Its Front Gallery and Community Gallery host changing exhibitions. The institution also sponsors forums, author talks and other programs.

The GLBT Historical Society Museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, a public history center and archives that collects, preserves and interprets the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and the communities that support them. Founded in 1985, the society maintains one of the world's largest collections of LGBTQ historical materials. For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org .

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GRAPHICS: The following images may be reproduced only in association with coverage of the GLBT Historical Society program series. Credits noted in captions are mandatory.
September 12: Panel Discussion
One of the pages in the family albums displayed in the exhibition “Chosen Familias: Bay Area LGBTQ Latinx Stories,” now on view at the GLBT Historical Society Museum; photograph by Nalini Elias.
September 19: In Search of Stonewall Book Launch
Cover illustration of In Search of Stonewall, courtesy of G & LR Books.
September 20: Living History Discussion
Members of the gay men’s affinity and antinuclear group Enola Gay pour blood on the road outside Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, September 24, 1984; photo by Jack Davis, used with permission.
September 26: The Ventriloquists Book Launch
Cover illustration of The Ventriloquists , courtesy of Park Row Books.
The GLBT Historical Society | (415) 777-5455 | info@glbthistory.org | www.glbthistory.org