LGBTQ Chronicled: 1933–2016

An extensive new photo exhibit celebrating our community and with a focus on Gay Pride opens June 18 at the Harvey Milk Photo Center. The exhibit, which launches with a party hosted by Peaches Christ, includes images from several noted photographers, including members of the San Francisco Bay Times team.

The imagery vividly captures many emotion-filled moments, from an ecstatic dykes on bikes rider to retro intimate group shots of gay men and lesbians from years when a person could be arrested just for being LGBT. Highlights also include selections from Saul Bromberger & Sandra Hoover Photography, the San Francisco Public Library and the library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center.

Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover are a local photography team who have worked together for over 25 years. They have a collaborative approach that combines their portrait and photo-journalistic skills to convey unforgettable stories. Back in the 80s they produced photos essays about the Pride Parade. They also created the series “Portrait of Caring: Living with AIDS at the Bailey-Boushay House” about the first AIDS hospice in the nation, and have created the photo essay “Long Term HIV Survivors.” They additionally have taken portraits of LGBTQ teens at the Hayward Gay Prom, and have worked on numerous other projects.

Photographs selected from the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center came from the following archival treasures: the Rikki Streicher and Mary Sager Photograph Albums, the Cliff Anchor Papers, the Harry Hay Papers, the John Gruber Papers, the Harvey Milk Archives-Scott Smith Collection, and the Peter Adair Papers.

• Rikki Streicher (1925–1994) was the owner of Maud’s and Amelia’s, two lesbian bars that were vital community gathering spaces from the 1960s through the 80s.
• Cliff Anchor (1936–2000) was a gay rights activist, military man and radio broadcaster who had a long term relationship with Leonard Matlovich, a United States Air Force Sergeant who was expelled from service with a general discharge after he disclosed his homosexuality in 1975.
• Harry Hay (1912–2002) was a political activist, labor advocate, and teacher. He was a founder of several homophile organizations: the Mattachine Society, the Circle of Loving Companions, and the Radical Faeries. James (later John) Gruber was also a member of the Mattachine Society.
• Harvey Milk (1930–1978) was the first openly gay candidate elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Castro Camera was his photo business.
• Peter Adair (1944–1996) was a documentary filmmaker who is best known for Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives: Conversations with 26 Gay Men and Women (1977). Sally Gearhart, a teacher, feminist, political activist, and science fiction writer, is one of the 26 people interviewed in the film.

For many of us, these names bring to mind of flood of memories, often personal ones. For younger generations, the images will help to convey–in very strong, compelling visuals–several important moments from our not-so-distant past. It is overwhelming to see how much has changed in the span of a human lifetime.

We hope that you will attend this new photo exhibit, which runs through July 16. For more information about the June 18 Opening & Reception, as well as the exhibit, please visit http://harveymilkphotocenter.org/exhibits/lgbt-chronicled-1945-2015-celebrating-pride-616-716/