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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 LGBTQ+ Life in California Marriage and Families Politics Pride Religion and Spirituality Transgender People

Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950

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LGBTQ+ Life in California Beth McDonald
Contents of this tag:
1. Two cross-dressing women, undated
2. Two cross-dressing women, undated
3. Crowd at Gay Community Services Center, 1971
4. 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.
5. Prop 8 What Should We Amend Next?, 2008
6. Having A Drink on Catalina Island, undated
7. Gay U.S.A. '76 broadside, 1976
8. Portrait of William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1925
9. The Prodigal, Vol. II, No. 20, May 21, 1971
10. Portrait of Harrison Post, 1920
11. Clark Library vestibule ceiling, 1925
12. March on Irvine for Lesbian and Gay Rights, 1990
13. Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950
14. Mother Vol. 1, no. 1, June 1971
15. Ginger Rogers Beach, 1941
16. Bathers on Crystal Beach, 1920
17. Contact: A Directory of Gay, Homosexual, and Lesbian Feminist Organizations and Resources, 1977
18. Men in drag, circa 1900s, image (front) and inscription (back)
19. Main Street, Santa Monica, undated
20. Fun Map Palm Springs/San Diego, 1991
21. Two women embracing and kissing, 1923
22. Gay & Lesbian L.A. history map, 2000
23. A letter from the California Lavender Smokefree Network sent to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, March 31, 1995
Gay men Beth McDonald
Contents of this tag:
1. Blue check women's suit by Gilbert Adrian, 1946-48
2. Lavender Godzilla: Voices of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, April 2003
3. Rock Hudson
4. Matlovich for Supervisor, undated
5. Poster and Call sheet for Making Love, 1981-1982
6. Membership card to the 1350 Club, 1981
7. Ron Douglas (left) and Jack Wilson cut their wedding cake at the private marriage ceremony, 1970
8. My Beautiful Laundrette, circa 1985
9. Joseph Hansen, “Why I wrote Early Graves,” circa 1987
10. Dorr Legg at drafting table, circa 1936-1942
11. Kenneth Anger, undated
12. Tan Suit Ensemble by James Galanos, 1962
13. The Gay Times, interview with Joseph Hansen titled “Simple Lessons,” January 1987
14. Gay Men's Chorus 25th Anniversary concert poster, 2004
15. Jeff Horton, Larry Pickens and their son at Los Angeles gay pride, 1995
16. Gay Dating Service Head, 1982
17. A celebration of adult Bar and Bat Mitvahs at Congregation Kol Ami, 2000
18. Robert Arthur, Ivy Bottini, Quentin Crisp, Morris Kight, and Patricia Nell Warren, 1994
19. Asian Pacific group at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, 1993
20. Photo of William Haines at his holiday home, taken by Ruth Harriet Louise for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, circa 1925
21. The Golden Bull, 2023
22. Portrait of Morris Kight by Don Bachardy, 1980
23. Butch/Top, 2007 Artrist: Miguel Angel Reyes. Influenced by oddly-toned color ads from 1970's fashion magazines, play with the labels men use to describe themselves for "sex hook-ups" internet personal advertisements. Though proudly gay, the butch-top asserts his sexually dominant role as a man, dispelling the commonly-held notion that homosexual men are feminine and passive. His attitude challenges any question of machismo. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
24. Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950
25. Charles Pierce and Virginia Grey
26. Y Que, 2007 Artist: Ruben Esparza. A deliberate flat artwork with limited colors boldly represents a shirtless, masculine, queer Chicano in a powerful stance. Y Que (translates to So What). The tattoo utilizes a decorative type treatment used in gang culture; the pearl necklace is a gay code representing a particular body fluid. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
27. Crystal Beach Bathhouse, 1943
28. Salome, 1922
29. Gown by Gilbert Adrian, 1948
30. Photo booth photographs of Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood, March 30, 1953
31. The World Book of Naders, undated
32. Lesbians and Gay Men The Grand Jury's In Town, 1979
33. Newspaper clipping from photograph album showing Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, ca. 1930s
34. Excerpt from Sketchbook 11, Morris Scott Dollens, undated
35. The Word is Out, 1977
36. Don't Give Him Anything But Love, 1973
37. Ramon Novarro, circa 1920s
38. Souvenir featuring Don Bachardy from a party thrown by producer Allan Carr in honor of Truman Capote, December 13, 1979
39. Cover of manual for "Civil Rights for Lesbians and Gay Men: A Reference Manual for City and County Officials", 1990
40. Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, circa 1954
41. Data Boy, Issue 136: Film, January 1976
42. Don Bachardy, portrait of Truman Capote, June 26, 1961
43. Portrait of William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1925
44. Tea and Sympathy, 1953-1956
45. Magpie of California, May 1969
46. Gay Fathers Group, 1981
47. Don Bachardy, portrait of Stephen Spender, June 21, 1976
48. Portrait of Harrison Post, 1920
49. Miguel Criado Outwords profile
50. Gregg Araki
51. Gay Sunshine no. 6, March 1971,
52. Gay Marriage Case in Court, 1979 Rob Brown, Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library. Photograph caption reads, "From left, attorney David M. Brown, plaintiffs, Anthony Corbett Sullivan, Richard Frank Adams. Sullivan and Adams are married, Adams a US citizen and Sullivan an Australian citizen. Both were issued a marriage license in Bolder [sic] Colorado and were married in Bolder [sic]. When Sullivan reapplied in Los Angeles in November 1975, the District Director of Immigration and Naturalization Service an immigrant visa. 'You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots', Dist Director."
53. Intertwined, 2007 Artist: Luciano Martinez. As real and imagined borders separate same-sex partners, the artist considers a new obstacle Gay Latino men face: gay marriage. Intertwined addresses the forbidden love between two men, sometimes complicated by geographic and cultural differences, trapped by an invisible cell that confines yet separates them. The prison-like bars that separate the lovers in the artwork are not only geographic, racial, and cultural but ominously political, highlighting the cross-national restrictions on gay marriage and the difficulties of recognizing same-sex partners within conservative societies. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
54. Flier advertising A Different Light bookstore's 1989 Gay Writer Series events
55. Designer Rudi Gernreich in His Office, 1969
56. Painted Rocks by Ray Lowen, undated