Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, 6500 N. Clark St., will run the exhibit "Out of the Closets & Into the Streets: Power, Pride & resistance in Chicago's Gay Liberation Movement" starting Saturday, June 1, and running through September.
The 1969 riots that began at New York City's historic Stonewall Inn are widely considered to be the catalyst for the nationwide gay liberation movement. However, the landmark event initially went unnoticed in Chicago, where a convergence of increased police harassment and homophile activism had collided earlier at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, mobilizing the gay community.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, this exhibit traces the gay-liberation movement's presence in Chicago from its beginnings in the late 1960s to the city's first large gay rights protest in 1977 at the historic Medinah Temple in downtown River North.
An exhibit open house will take place Saturday, June 15, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free. "Out of the Closets" will be one of several exhibits to view, with others including "Gay is Good: Homophile Activism before Stonewall," "SportsDykes & GirlJocks" and "LGBTQ Slogan and Pride Parade Pins."
See GerberHart.org .