Queer Pioneers: LGBTQ+ History Through the Photographs of Robert Giard
On view 29 Aug-8 Dec 2023
Harnett Museum of Art
American photographer Robert Giard (1939-2002) made portraits of over 600 LGBTQ+ pioneering activists, writers, andscholars during the last two decades of the 20th century. In this exhibition, twenty-five of those images have been assembledto tell the story of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. While much work still needs to be done, this movement led to civilrights gains such as the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2015 legalizing same-sex marriage and the recent passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022.
The exhibition begins in the 1920s with the story of Mabel Hampton, who performed in New York during the Harlem Renaissanceand later was one of the founders of the Lesbian Herstory Archives. We explore the efforts in the 1950s by the LGBTQ+ community to educate themselves and others about the discrimination practices of the U.S. government. Key moments in gay civil rights, including the founding of publications such as Mattachine Review, The Ladder, and One, the first efforts to bring suits for discrimination, the Stonewall Inn uprising, and the Culture Wars of the 1980s are presented.
Curated by Hunter O’Hanian, independent curator and consultant in LGBTQ+ art and history projects.
For assistance with a school or university course visit, contact Martha Wright mwright3@richmond.edu.
For assistance with a public group visit, contact Heather Campbell hcampbel@richmond.edu.