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Seeking Stories of Queer California: A Hidden Histories Online Exhibit Main Menu Introduction Galleries A guide to each of the online galleries in this digital exhibit, grouped by topic or theme. Arts Asian & AAPI LGBTQ+ people Bisexual People Black LGBTQ+ People Communities Defying Expectations Gay men HIV/AIDS Latino/a/x LGBTQ+ people Lesbians LGBTQ+ Activism LGBTQ+ Discrimination Marriage and Families Politics Pride Religion and Spirituality Transgender People

LGBTQ+ Life in California

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Many of the photographs and ephemera in this exhibit are not only symbols of queer experience, defiance, or activism. They are windows into people's day-to-day lives. With family and friends, at work or at leisure, they are evidence of queer people simply living their lives, not unlike the thousands of other people from other communities they interact with. While the LGBTQ+ experience is unique and special in many ways, it is, at its core, a human experience.

Collection Information

For more information on the materials in this gallery, see their holding institutions.

California History Section, California State Library
Contact: A Directory of Gay, Homosexual, and Lesbian Feminist Organizations and Resources
Gay & Lesbian L.A. history map
Gay U.S.A. '76 broadside>
The Prodigal, Vol. II, No. 20
Fun Map Palm Springs/San Diego

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
Prop 8 What Should We Amend Next?
March on Irvine for Lesbian and Gay Rights

Gerth Archives & Special Collections, California State University Dominguez Hills
Finocchio's: House of the Fabulous Female Impressonators
Having A Drink on Catalina Island
Mother, Vol. 1, no. 1

The Huntington Library
A letter from the California Lavender Smokefree Network sent to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina

Santa Monica History Museum
Bathers on Crystal Beach
Ginger Rogers Beach
Main Street, Santa Monica
Mr. Muscle Beach Contest

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Clark Library vestibule ceiling
Portrait of Harrison Post
Portrait of William Andrews Clark

Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum
Men in drag, photo and inscription
Two women embracing and kissing

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Seeking Stories in Queer California Beth McDonald
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Two cross-dressing women, undated
Crowd at Gay Community Services Center, 1971
Two cross-dressing women, undated
Prop 8 What Should We Amend Next?, 2008
Having A Drink on Catalina Island, undated
Finocchio's: House of the Fabulous Female Impressonators, undated A postcard of Finocchio's, that was a nightclub and bar in San Francisco. It shows five female impersonators standing in the back and five sitting in the front. The steps are a black and white checkered pattern and the background appears to be the stage. From left to right, starting in the back, a performer is wearing a bright pink robe with light pink feather lining, a silver patterned dress, silver shoes, and bright pink long earrings. Next the performer is wearing a pink and gold robe with a high collar, a pink dress, and a pink wig. The center performer is wearing a bright pink dress with a black belt. Next the performer is wearing a black and silver waistcoat with bright pink harem pants. At the end of the back row is a performer in a dark purple robe and dress, with peacock feathers and a peacock feather headdress. The five women in the front row are seated, all in similar 1920s flapper dancer outfits in different colors. From left to right, the first two women are turned slightly to the left and are in light purple outfits with pink feather headbands. In the center, facing forward, she is in a yellow dress with a green feather headband. Next, turned slightly to the right, she is in a dark purple dress and a dark purple feathered headband. Lastly, also turned to the right, she is in an orange dress and has an orange feathered headband.
Clark Library vestibule ceiling, 1925
March on Irvine for Lesbian and Gay Rights, 1990
Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950
Mother Vol. 1, no. 1, June 1971
Ginger Rogers Beach, 1941
Contact: A Directory of Gay, Homosexual, and Lesbian Feminist Organizations and Resources, 1977
Men in drag, circa 1900s, image (front) and inscription (back)
Bathers on Crystal Beach, 1920
Fun Map Palm Springs/San Diego, 1991
Two women embracing and kissing, 1923
Main Street, Santa Monica, undated
Gay & Lesbian L.A. history map, 2000
A letter from the California Lavender Smokefree Network sent to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, March 31, 1995
Gay U.S.A. '76 broadside, 1976
Portrait of William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1925
The Prodigal, Vol. II, No. 20, May 21, 1971
Portrait of Harrison Post, 1920