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Seeking Stories of Queer California: A Hidden Histories Online Exhibit

Newspaper clipping from photograph album showing Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, ca. 1930s

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"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe,” said the French novelist Gustave Flaubert. Poets, novelists, playwrights, and creative writers of all kinds have been interpreting the world around them through writing for millennia. LGBTQ+ authors use their writing to ask questions about themselves and their world, to reveal themselves or hide themselves, to connect with other members of the community, and to understand what they believe.
Contents of this tag:
Contents of this tag:
1. Rock Hudson
2. Blue check women's suit by Gilbert Adrian, 1946-48
3. Lavender Godzilla: Voices of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, April 2003
4. Photo of William Haines at his holiday home, taken by Ruth Harriet Louise for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, circa 1925
5. Asian Pacific group at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, 1993
6. The Golden Bull, 2023
7. Portrait of Morris Kight by Don Bachardy, 1980
8. Poster and Call sheet for Making Love, 1981-1982
9. Membership card to the 1350 Club, 1981
10. Matlovich for Supervisor, undated
11. My Beautiful Laundrette, circa 1985
12. Ron Douglas (left) and Jack Wilson cut their wedding cake at the private marriage ceremony, 1970
13. Dorr Legg at drafting table, circa 1936-1942
14. Kenneth Anger, undated
15. Tan Suit Ensemble by James Galanos, 1962
16. Joseph Hansen, “Why I wrote Early Graves,” circa 1987
17. Gay Men's Chorus 25th Anniversary concert poster, 2004
18. The Gay Times, interview with Joseph Hansen titled “Simple Lessons,” January 1987
19. Jeff Horton, Larry Pickens and their son at Los Angeles gay pride, 1995
20. Gay Dating Service Head, 1982
21. Robert Arthur, Ivy Bottini, Quentin Crisp, Morris Kight, and Patricia Nell Warren, 1994
22. A celebration of adult Bar and Bat Mitvahs at Congregation Kol Ami, 2000
24. Gregg Araki
25. Gay Sunshine no. 6, March 1971,
26. 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."
27. Portrait of Harrison Post, 1920
28. Flier advertising A Different Light bookstore's 1989 Gay Writer Series events
29. Designer Rudi Gernreich in His Office, 1969
30. Painted Rocks by Ray Lowen, undated
31. 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.
32. Charles Pierce and Virginia Grey
33. 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.
34. Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950
35. Salome, 1922
36. Gown by Gilbert Adrian, 1948
37. Photo booth photographs of Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood, March 30, 1953
38. 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.
39. Crystal Beach Bathhouse, 1943
40. Lesbians and Gay Men The Grand Jury's In Town, 1979 All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
41. Newspaper clipping from photograph album showing Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, ca. 1930s
42. The World Book of Naders, undated
43. The Word is Out, 1977
44. Don't Give Him Anything But Love, 1973
45. Ramon Novarro, circa 1920s
46. Souvenir featuring Don Bachardy from a party thrown by producer Allan Carr in honor of Truman Capote, December 13, 1979
47. Excerpt from Sketchbook 11, Morris Scott Dollens, undated
48. Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, circa 1954
49. Data Boy, Issue 136: Film, January 1976
50. Don Bachardy, portrait of Truman Capote, June 26, 1961
51. Cover of manual for "Civil Rights for Lesbians and Gay Men: A Reference Manual for City and County Officials", 1990
52. Tea and Sympathy, 1953-1956
53. Magpie of California, May 1969
54. Gay Fathers Group, 1981
55. Don Bachardy, portrait of Stephen Spender, June 21, 1976
56. Portrait of William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1925