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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. Lavender Godzilla: Voices of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, April 2003
2. Rock Hudson
3. Blue check women's suit by Gilbert Adrian, 1946-48
4. Dorr Legg at drafting table, circa 1936-1942
5. Kenneth Anger, undated
6. Tan Suit Ensemble by James Galanos, 1962
7. Joseph Hansen, “Why I wrote Early Graves,” circa 1987
8. Gay Men's Chorus 25th Anniversary concert poster, 2004
9. The Gay Times, interview with Joseph Hansen titled “Simple Lessons,” January 1987
10. Jeff Horton, Larry Pickens and their son at Los Angeles gay pride, 1995
11. Gay Dating Service Head, 1982
12. Robert Arthur, Ivy Bottini, Quentin Crisp, Morris Kight, and Patricia Nell Warren, 1994
13. A celebration of adult Bar and Bat Mitvahs at Congregation Kol Ami, 2000
14. Photo of William Haines at his holiday home, taken by Ruth Harriet Louise for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, circa 1925
15. Asian Pacific group at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, 1993
16. Portrait of Morris Kight by Don Bachardy, 1980
17. The Golden Bull, 2023
18. Matlovich for Supervisor, undated
19. Poster and Call sheet for Making Love, 1981-1982
20. Membership card to the 1350 Club, 1981
21. Ron Douglas (left) and Jack Wilson cut their wedding cake at the private marriage ceremony, 1970
22. My Beautiful Laundrette, circa 1985
23. 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.
24. Newspaper clipping from photograph album showing Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, ca. 1930s
25. The World Book of Naders, undated
26. The Word is Out, 1977
27. Don't Give Him Anything But Love, 1973
28. Ramon Novarro, circa 1920s
29. Souvenir featuring Don Bachardy from a party thrown by producer Allan Carr in honor of Truman Capote, December 13, 1979
30. Excerpt from Sketchbook 11, Morris Scott Dollens, undated
31. Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, circa 1954
32. Data Boy, Issue 136: Film, January 1976
33. Don Bachardy, portrait of Truman Capote, June 26, 1961
34. Cover of manual for "Civil Rights for Lesbians and Gay Men: A Reference Manual for City and County Officials", 1990
35. Tea and Sympathy, 1953-1956
36. Magpie of California, May 1969
37. Gay Fathers Group, 1981
38. Don Bachardy, portrait of Stephen Spender, June 21, 1976
39. Portrait of William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1925
41. Gregg Araki
42. Gay Sunshine no. 6, March 1971,
43. 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."
44. Portrait of Harrison Post, 1920
45. Flier advertising A Different Light bookstore's 1989 Gay Writer Series events
46. Designer Rudi Gernreich in His Office, 1969
47. Painted Rocks by Ray Lowen, undated
48. 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.
49. Charles Pierce and Virginia Grey
50. 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.
51. Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950
52. Salome, 1922
53. Gown by Gilbert Adrian, 1948
54. Photo booth photographs of Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood, March 30, 1953
55. 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.
56. Crystal Beach Bathhouse, 1943