Exhibition Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the First Gay Rights March, Held on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall on July Fourth
Planned to coincide with Gay Pride Month in June and the 50th anniversary the first in a series gay rights marches, which took place on the Fourth of July on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, the William Way LGBT Community Center will present Speaking Out for Equality: The Constitution, Gay Rights, and the Supreme Court, a new exhibition at the National Constitution Center. Opening Friday, June 5, 2015, and continuing through Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2015, Speaking Out for Equality utilizes pivotal court cases, artifacts and personal stories to chronicle the decades-long debate over gay rights, a debate that ultimately brought issues of LGBT equality before the Supreme Court.
1969 – Tucker Holding Hands – Two women holding hands at the last Reminder Day
Photo by Nancy Tucker
Speaking Out for Equality will be the centerpiece of Reminder 2015: Celebrating 50 Years of LGBT History, Art and Culture, a series of anniversary events planned under the leadership of the William Way LGBT Community Center and its Wilcox Archives and Library. The William Way Center will co-host programs at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Independence Visitor Center, and the National Museum of American Jewish History. A reenactment of the original Annual Reminder demonstration in front of Independence Hall will be held on July 4, 2015.
Chris Bartlett, Executive Director, William Way LGBT Community Center. Press Conference for: Speaking Out for Equality: the Constitution, Gay Rights, and the Supreme Court. National Constitution Center March 10, 2015
“On July 4, 1965, LGBT activists picketed for justice in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. Clad in suits and dresses to appear ‘normal,’ they carried posters that demanded equality for gays and lesbians in a society that treated them as criminals and deviants,” said Chris Bartlett, executive director, William Way LGBT Community Center. “The public demonstrations, which were called Annual Reminder protests and would last until 1969, were sparked by one person’s failed effort to bring a discrimination case before the Supreme Court. They would become the first sustained national effort to focus attention on the discrimination faced by gay people and became a catalyst for LGBT Americans to organize for equality.”
National Constitution Center’s Chief Operating Officer, Vince Stango addresses the audience at the Speaking Out for Equality: The Constitution, Gay Rights, and the Supreme Court Press Conference on Tuesday, March 10, 2015.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Nellie Fitzpatrick, Director of LGBT Affairs, speak at the Speaking Out for Equality press conference on March 10, 2015.
“This exhibit is historic in many respects,” added Bartlett. ‘It is the first time that LGBT history, viewed through a Constitutional frame, is being explored at a national museum. It’s also historic given the time frame of the American LGBT civil rights debate: with a major LGBT civil rights case to be handed down by the United States Supreme Court while the exhibit is open in June. For July 4, 2015, Independence Mall will be ringed with a major LGBT civil rights exhibit and partner exhibits at other institutions on the mall. LGBT history is truly coming of age.”
“We are pleased to participate in Reminder 2015 and partner with the William Way LGBT Community Center on Speaking Out for Equality,” said Vince Stango, chief operating officer, National Constitution Center. “As the Museum of We the People, we continue to serve as a center of exhibits and materials on the history and contemporary significance of the Constitution. The exhibition will inform about pivotal Supreme Court cases in the fight for gay rights and create a platform for discussion about the 1st Amendment, the 5th Amendment and the 14th Amendment. Continue reading
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