I stood in the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham Alabama in December of 2013 looking at a timeline of Civil Rights history. I had just the month before had my first conversation with the Levine Museum of the New South about the possibility of creating a similar timeline of Charlotte's local Queer history at go along with 3 other installations in the "LGBTQ Perspectives On Equality" exhibits set to open in July of 2014. Today the exhibits are coming off the walls and I am left wondering if I even realize the impact that it has had on my community.
These exhibits were unique is so many ways. These were the first of their kind exhibits for the Levine that dealt with Queer history in the South and the nation. These exhibits were all curated by Southerners with an eye on what our geographic experiences look like in comparison to the rest of the US. I knew in my hear that people would enjoy them, but I don't think I was prepared for people to love them. I have received emails from all over the country telling me the exhibits sparked much needed conversations with family, friends, co-workers, and within the patrons themselves about the complexity of Queer experience. The exhibits hosted town hall discussions, arguments over language, challenges to our current political atmosphere, spaces for people to come out, and in one instance it hosted a marriage proposal. All of these things I could not have imagined happening and I know more is to come.
So much thanks goes to the Charlotte Queer community, the staff of the Levine Museum of the New South, to my friends & family, and all the people who embraced the project. What happens next I don't know for certain, but the conversation that we have started will continue to grow and for the I am the most proud.
These exhibits were unique is so many ways. These were the first of their kind exhibits for the Levine that dealt with Queer history in the South and the nation. These exhibits were all curated by Southerners with an eye on what our geographic experiences look like in comparison to the rest of the US. I knew in my hear that people would enjoy them, but I don't think I was prepared for people to love them. I have received emails from all over the country telling me the exhibits sparked much needed conversations with family, friends, co-workers, and within the patrons themselves about the complexity of Queer experience. The exhibits hosted town hall discussions, arguments over language, challenges to our current political atmosphere, spaces for people to come out, and in one instance it hosted a marriage proposal. All of these things I could not have imagined happening and I know more is to come.
So much thanks goes to the Charlotte Queer community, the staff of the Levine Museum of the New South, to my friends & family, and all the people who embraced the project. What happens next I don't know for certain, but the conversation that we have started will continue to grow and for the I am the most proud.
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