March 14, 2011
First US LGBT History Museum Opens in San Francisco
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. - San Francisco's GLBT History Museum, which opened in mid-January 2011 in the city's Castro District, has drawn extraordinary media attention from across the United States and around the world, according to a report released by the museum a month after its debut.
Tens of thousands of newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasters, blogs and other outlets in 75 countries and 36 languages covered the launch of the institution, which is the first museum in the United States devoted to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history.
"We never could have anticipated the enormous interest created by the historic opening of The GLBT History Museum," said Amy Sueyoshi, a curator of "Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating San Francisco's GLBT History," the debut exhibition in the museum's main gallery.
"The amazing national and international media coverage speaks to how queer lives are increasingly recognized as integral to both American history and world history. It gives me hope that soon our lives will not be as stigmatized as they are now in the U.S. as well as abroad."
Sueyoshi added that "The GLBT History Museum creates an exciting opportunity for visitors to the Castro District in San Francisco to learn about our history right where so much of it has been made. We also plan to develop online versions of our exhibitions in a number of languages to��share the stories of LGBT struggles and successes with people from around the world who are not able to come to the museum."
An associate professor at San Francisco State University, Sueyoshi also serves as cochair of the board of the GLBT Historical Society, the 25-year-old archives and research center in San Francisco that created the new museum.
Located at 4127 18th St. in San Francisco,�The GLBT History Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $5.00; free for members and free to all visitors the first Wednesday of each month.
For more information, visit�www.glbthistory.org or click here: GLBT History Museum�or call 415-621-1107.
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
