The American LGBTQ+ Museum

MARCHING MAD: The 1987 March on Washington and its Impact on our Nation, 35th Anniversary Panel

Tuesday October 11, 2022, at 6:30PM

In 1987 — as rightwing politicians attacked LGBTQ+ people and the AIDS epidemic raged — more than half-a-million queer people and their allies gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand their full civil rights and immediate action to address the AIDS crisis. Around the United States, LGBTQ+ people gathered in local communities to plan for the march, building organizations that drove the movement in the years ahead. The 1987 March on Washington was a landmark, galvanizing event in the history of LGBTQ+ civil rights. On October 11th, a panel of movement activists, Leti Gomez, Joyce Hunter, and Steve Ault, will join moderator Ann Northrop, to discuss the march, their roles in organizing it, and its impact.

Optional Film Viewing:

In addition to the panel discussion, the museum has organized a rare virtual screening of JEB’s 1990 documentary on the 1987 march: “For Love and for Life: The 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.” Registrants for the event will receive a link to view the documentary on their own schedule, at any time in the month of October.

To view the archive of this panel, and for details on streaming the march documentary, click the button below.

RECKONING WITH THE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT: Modern Queer Wiccan and Pagan Communities

Friday October 14, 2022, at 6:00PM

As witchcraft practitioners, contemporary religious scholars, and cultural (re)organizers, queer leaders of Pagan and Wiccan communities share experiences reconciling the historical trauma of past witch trials and attempted cultural erasure with their work building dynamic communities. In partnership, the American LGBTQ+ Museum and New-York Historical’s Center for Women’s History welcome you to celebrate the new exhibition, The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming (on view in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery from October 7, 2022 to January 22, 2023).

The evening will commence with a performance by Catherine Cabeen, modern dancer and choreographer, followed by a discussion about the role and power of queerness in the reclaiming of witchcraft as an identity today. Join  Marcelitte Failla, a Black and biracial educator, researcher, and scholar of African heritage religions in the United States and throughout the African diaspora; Christopher Penczak, modern Witch and co-founder of the Temple of Witchcraft tradition and community; and Raquel Salas Rivera, a Puerto Rican poet, translator, editor, and founding member of the Yerbamala Collective in conversation with moderator Ben Garcia, Executive Director of the American LGBTQ+ Museum as they discuss the role queerness plays in the difficult task of reclaiming witchcraft.

After the panel attendees are invited to tour the exhibition and experience an environmental performance created by Catherine Cabeen and dancers Marie Lloyd Paspe and Diovanna Obafunmilayo, as well as a reading from Raquel Salas Rivera.

To read more about the event, click the buttons below.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF “THE COCKETTES” DOCUMENTARY

October 16, 2022: Screening at 5:00PM, Q&A at 6:30PM

In partnership with NewFest, the LGBTQ film festival, the Museum will host a screening and panel discussion of the documentary described by Daily Variety as capturing “the anarchic, freewheeling spirit of San Francisco in the late ’60s-early ’70’s better than any film I’ve ever seen.”  “The Cockettes,” directed by David Weissman and Bill Weber — both who will participate in the post-screening Q&A moderated by award-winning filmmaker Stephen Winter — focuses on the performance group of the same name.

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