a&e features
Holiday film preview
Holiday themes and Oscar bait compete in busy month for film
A scene from ‘Transformation,’ an MTV documentary about gender-nonconforming youth. (Photo courtesy MTV)
If the holidays are here, then so are the races for box office grosses and Academy Awards buzz.
Actually, the search for cinematic gold is already well underway with several Oscar contenders opening earlier this month in a crowded holiday season. In “Arrival,” Amy Adams offers a powerful performance as a linguist who tries to save the planet by learning how to communicate with aliens who have landed on earth. Sadly, good performances by Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon can’t save gay director Tom Ford’s leaden second feature, “Nocturnal Animals.”
While Jeff Nichol’s “Loving” lacks momentum and social context, Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga offer Oscar-caliber performances as Richard and Mildred Loving, the plaintiffs in the 1967 Supreme Court case that struck down laws banning interracial marriages and helping to pave the way for marriage equality. In “Elle,” the unlikely but perhaps inevitable pairing of renowned French actress Isabelle Huppert and controversial Dutch director Paul Verhoeven (“Showgirls,” “Basic Instinct,” and “Robocop,” as well as the gay-themed “Spetters” and “The Fourth Man”) results in the riveting portrait of a hard-edged Parisian executive who is literally and figuratively under attack.
Director Paul Verhoeven and actress Isabelle Huppert on the set of ‘Elle.’ (Photo courtesy SBS Distribution)
On a lighter note, J.K. Rowling fans are flocking to the theater to see Eddie Redmayne in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a story of magic, Muggles and monsters set in 1920s New York.
Thanksgiving week offers the D.C. release of both family fare and family dramas. For the whole family, there’s Disney’s splendid “Moana” featuring stunning animation, fantastic voice performances by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and newcomer Auli’i Cravalho and lively musical numbers by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who may be adding an Oscar to his shelf of Tony Awards. There’s also “Seasons,” a documentary that combines stunning nature footage with an earnest ecological message.
For naughty children and their parents, there’s “Bad Santa 2.” Billy Bob Thornton and Brett Kelly reprise their roles as a larcenous Santa and his chubby sidekick.
The onscreen family dramas include “Manchester By The Sea” and “Rules Don’t Apply.” “Manchester” stars Casey Affleck as a shell-shocked man who is forced to return to his hometown to care for his orphaned nephew (the excellent Lucas Hedges). Affleck and Hedges, along with Michelle Williams, who plays Affleck’s ex-wife, are already generating significant and well-deserved Oscar buzz. In “Rules,” star-crossed lovers Lily Collins (an ingénue) and Aiden Ehrenreich (a driver) are kept apart by their boss, eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, played by Warren Beatty, who also wrote and directed.
Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges in ‘Manchester by the Sea.’ (Photo by Claire Folger, courtesy Optimum Releasing)
“Love Is All You Need?,” an inventive fable about bullying set in a world where homosexuality is the norm, will be available on demand on Thanksgiving Day.
Meanwhile, MTV and HBO are offering three exciting documentaries about LGBT lives. Already playing on MTV is “Transformation,” which highlights the real stories of six trans and gender non-conforming youth.
Premiering on HBO on Nov. 28, “Mariela Castro’s March: Cuba’s LGBT Revolution” follows Castro, daughter of the Cuban president, and her LGBT supporters as they fight for equality. In “The Trans List,” premiering on HBO on Monday, Dec. 5, acclaimed director and photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders shines a light on transgender Americans.
From Dec. 1-18, downtown Silver Spring becomes an epicenter of international culture when it hosts the 29th annual AFI European Union Film Showcase. The Showcase includes 47 films representing all 28 European Union member states. The opening night film is Paolo Virzì’s celebration of female friendship, “Like Crazy,” a wacky comedy about two women who escape from a psychiatric hospital. The closing night film is the U.S. Premiere of “Satisfaction 1720,” a cheeky Danish comedy about a young naval hotshot who tears across the continent in search of a bride.
The Showcase includes several works on LGBT themes or by Europe’s leading queer directors. In the deeply thoughtful and moving “Julieta,” iconoclastic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar weaves three stories by Alice Munro into a Hitchcockian melodrama about mothers and daughters. Based on a true story, the Czech film “I, Olga Hepnarová” shows what happens when a young lesbian is pushed to the edge by a brutal repressive society and decides to “pay back her haters.” “Handsome Devil” is a sweet Irish boarding school coming-of-age story where both teachers and students learn life lessons.
By contrast, the Greek movie “Suntan” is described as a coming-of-middle-age comedy and “Chevalier” is an outlandish satire on male camaraderie and competition by director Athina Rachel Tsangari. Openly gay French auteur François Ozon is represented by “Frantz,” a World War II mystery, and visionary Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues is represented by “The Ornithologist,” a surrealistic contemporary reflection on the legends of St. Anthony of Padua.
Some of the screenings have already sold out, so be sure to book passports (access to all films) and individual tickets soon.
Another international classic returns to D.C. screens on Dec. 2: a newly restored print of the wonderful Japanese gastronomic comedy “Tampopo” (1985). Described as a “ramen Western,” the delightful movie combines the story of a young widow struggling to improve her ramen noodle shop with delicious vignettes about various culinary delights.
Also Dec. 2, Reel Affirmations will mark World AIDS Day with a screening of “Pushing Dead” starring James Roday and Danny Glover. Roday plays an HIV-positive writer struggling with his insurance. There will be a catered cocktail reception and Q&A with director Tom E. Brown after the 7 p.m. screening.
A scene from ‘Pushing Dead.’ (Photo courtesy Reel Affirmations)
On Dec. 9, some serious Hollywood star power arrives in D.C. theaters. Isabelle Huppert plays a philosophy professor rebuilding her shattered life in “Things to Come.” Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”) plays a young man trying to find his birth family in “Lion.” Jessica Chastain plays a high-powered and unscrupulous Washington lobbyist in “Miss Sloane.” And “Jackie” stars Natalie Portman as the recently widowed First Lady dealing with the personal and political aftermath of her husband’s assassination.
Natalie Portman in ‘Jackie’ (Photo courtesy Middleburg Film Festival)
On Dec. 10, families can travel to the North Pole at the “Polar Express Pajama Party.” Guests of all ages can head to the Angelika Film Center Mosaic in Fairfax, Va., at 10 a.m. for a special screening of the well-loved holiday movie. Hot cocoa and Christmas cookies will be available at the concession stand.
Friday, Dec. 16 brings a wide variety of openings. On the indie front, “The Brand New Testament” opens at the Landmark E Street Cinema. In this surreal Belgian comedy, God is living in contemporary Brussels. His young daughter runs away from home to write a new testament. Among her disciples are a gender-non-conforming boy.
On the prestige front, there’s “La La Land,” a musical starring Ryan Gosling as an aspiring jazz pianist and club owner and Emma Stone as an aspiring actor. The lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“Dear Evan Hansen”). The production numbers are amazing, but the rather clichéd love story never really takes flight. Also opening is “Collateral Beauty” starring Will Smith as a man learning to cope with tragedy.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in ‘La La Land.’ (Photo by Dale Robinette; courtesy Lionsgate)
On the mainstream front, “Star Wars” fans will be flocking to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Known to fans as “Episode 3.5,” the newest installment in the space opera saga fills in both the narrative space between the first and second trilogies and the two-year break between the releases of episodes 7-8. “The Space Between Us” stars Asa Butterfield as Gardner Elliot, the first human being born on Mars and tells of his first visit to Earth.
The cosmic theme continues on Dec. 21 with the release of “Passengers.” Directed by Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game”), the movie stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt as two space travelers stranded on a malfunctioning transport ship.
The Oscar race heats up on Christmas Day with two high-profile releases. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson and directed by Denzel Washington, “Fences” stars Washington as Troy Maxson, a former star baseball player who has turbulent relationships with his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and son Cory (Jovan Adepo).
“Hidden Figures” tells the story of three unsung heroes of American history: Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson and Katherine Johnson. Working at NASA as mathematicians, these three African-American women (played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe) helped develop John Glenn’s flight plan and launch America into the Space Age.
Both movies will bring some badly needed diversity to the Academy Awards.
Finally, AFI Silver in downtown Silver Spring is ready for the season with a clever array of holiday classics running Nov. 24-Dec. 22. On the traditional side, there’s the Alastair Sim version of “A Christmas Carol,” ”White Christmas,” “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Holiday Inn,” and Judy Garland’s indelible performance in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” as well as more contemporary classics like “The Muppet Christmas Carol” and “Elf” (a free screening).
On the much less traditional side, there’s “Gremlins,” “Trading Places,” “Krampus” and the new Christmas classic “Die Hard.”
a&e features
Television loses a legend, longtime ‘Will & Grace’ director James Burrows
Iconic hitmaker leaves behind a legacy of telling LGBTQ stories
You don’t have to be a pretentious film major to name 10 movie directors. But naming television directors is not that simple. They’re the unsung heroes of your favorite shows, and the late James Burrows was the television director. He passed on June 19, but his DNA runs through television history.
He directed over 1200 episodes of television and over 50 pilots. He co-created “Cheers” and directed many episodes of long-running series like “Friends,” “Taxi,” “Frasier,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Two and a Half Men.” You also may remember him from playing a heightened version of himself on the Lisa Kudrow comedy “The Comeback.”
He has left an indelible mark on the LGBTQ community. As recently as last year, he directed the series run of “Mid-Century Modern” starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Linda Lavin. He was also a longtime director of “Will & Grace” and directed every episode of the series revival. He even directed the unaired “Absolutely Fabulous” pilot with Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Johnston, and Zosia Mamet.
Not to mention he’s worked with queer icons throughout history, including Betty White and Stockard Channing on their single-season series, and Jennifer Coolidge in “2 Broke Girls.”
He started his career on shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda,” “Laverne & Shirley,” and the first four seasons of “Taxi.”
He continued to work steadily and directed successful pilots that went to series for “Roc,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “Dharma & Greg,” and “Wings.” He directed multiple episodes of “Friends,” “Caroline in the City,” and “Frasier.”
This magic continued into the 2000s with him directing the pilots for “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and multiple episodes of “Mike & Molly,” and the entire return series of “Will & Grace.”
What was the secret to his success? He’d enact the “fun clause” in his contract. In his words, “Life is too short to deal with obnoxious leads,” he shared. “So as long as the writing is good and the cast is fun, I’m going to enjoy the experience.”
He had the magic touch, having multiple pilots turned into long-running series. He was nominated for an Emmy 24 times in 26 years and worked consistently until a year before his death.
The secret was the way he brought the cast together. He describes, “it was my job to mold them into an ensemble, and they did round into a group of people who loved each other.”
This earned him 11 Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards, including being awarded the inaugural DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Direction.
In a 2003 interview by the Television Academy, he was asked how he wants to be remembered, and he said, “That every night forever you can tune in somewhere, and there’ll be a show I did.”
He’s survived by his wife, Debbie, four daughters, seven grandchildren, and the countless people whose careers he launched and the countless viewers he inspired with his television legacy.
a&e features
D.C. prepares to party as Pride celebrations kick off Saturday
Bars, clubs have busy lineups; Pride on the Pier returns
Capital Pride’s date change isn’t slowing down the festivities. Back in December, the Capital Pride Alliance shifted the calendar for Pride celebrations in the nation’s capital from the second weekend of June to two weeks later to the weekend of June 20-21 to not conflict with President Trump’s birthday and 250th anniversary of America celebrations, with the aim that “our community can gather safely and without unnecessary barriers… We are protecting our space and preserving Pride as a powerful act of visibility, solidarity, and resistance.”
On the heels of WorldPride last year, the city shows no sign of slowing down. Instead, restaurants, bars, clubs, and neighborhoods are taking the opportunity to be even more visible. The Blade has put together a (non-comprehensive) list of parties, activations, and activities across town:
Pride on the Pier returns on Saturday, June 13 to the Wharf on the Southwest waterfront. The event, sponsored and hosted by the Washington Blade, is free and runs from 4-9 p.m. There will be vendors, DJs, and drag performances all day. VIP tickets are $25 and come with air conditioned party room, private bathrooms, and free cocktail. More details at prideonthepierdc.com.
Capital Pride Official Opening Party: RIOT! is the official opening dance party of Capital Pride, taking place Friday June 19, 9 PM-3AM. The 2026 edition headlining performer is Myki Meeks, a finalist of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 18; Bob The Drag Queen will perform a special set. DMV-area DJs and performers include: Bambi, Baphomette, Bumper, Cake Pop!, Connor, DJ Ed Bailey, DJ Diyanna Monet, Evry Pleasure, Jakknife Complex, Mari Con Carne, Pussy Noir, WessTheDJ. Trade owner Ed Bailey is producing the event.
Kinetic Presents brings the heat across the entirety of Pride weekend as well. It again is partnering with Capital Pride Alliance to produce four events over four days this Pride, including the Official Main Event on Saturday (the Friday official event is at Echostage). Kinetic’s parties are splayed across various D.C. venues, with special performances, massive productions, shirtless dancers, play zones, dance-forward audio and visuals, and international DJ talent. Thursday, June 18 at 10 PM at District Eagle is Lust, with music by Dan Slater and TOMI. Friday, June 19 at 10 PM is UNCUT XXL Heavy Load, at A.i. Warehouse in Union Market District, with music by Alex Acosta, Felipe Lira & Mitch Ferrino; the party is a “high-octane night of muscular house and tribal rhythms.” Saturday, June 20 at 10 PM brings that official main event, Kinetic Toy Land, at Echostage, with music by GSP & Matt Suave. Alaska Thunderfuck headlines. Sunday evening June 21 at 10 PM closes with discoVERS at SAX. A portion of tickets supports the DC LGBTQ+ community through Capital Pride Alliance.
9:30 Club always comes in clutch for the LGBTQ community. Already in June, it produced Kitty Kat Ball on June 7, and Kiesza performed on June 8. On June 20 at 10 PM, the famed Mixtape party hits the stage, care of gay DJs Shea van Horn and Matt Bailer, who have spun together for coming up on two decades. Mixtape has been held at several venues across the city over those years, and now settled on 9:30 Club for Pride. On June 25 at 7 PM, Big Freedia – the bounce artist from New Orleans – hits the 9:30 Club scene for the eighth time, as part of the Big Freedom Tour.
Crush: New this year from the 14th Street bar is the Pride Pop-Up, sitting pretty in the parking lot at 1820 14th St., N.W., at the corner of Swann Street by the start of the Pride Parade route. Hours are Friday from 2-10 PM and Saturday from 12-10 PM. Friday evening features Grizzly Bear Happy Hour, a DJ will set up shop on Saturday, and for those needing another layer, there’s a Crush merch store. Co-owner Mark Rutstein “has always wanted to throw a party in that parking lot, so he did,” said co-owner Stephen Rutgers. Note that Crush (the bar) will have a cover on Friday and Saturday.
Kiki: Over at Kiki, there’s a full slate of Pride-themed programming all week. Tuesday, June 16 at 9 PM brings karaoke; Wednesday, June 17 at 7:30 PM is trivia; Thursday June 18 at 9PM is “Night of 1000 Tatianna’s Drag Show”, and Friday June 19 at 9 PM brings the Juneteenth Serve Drag Show. Saturday, June 20 at 10 PM, post-parade, is a Pride Dance Party with DJ Lemz. Sunday daytime at 5 PM is the Father Figures Daddy Issues Special Drag Show; and after the festival at 8 PM, DJ Tezrah hits the tapes.
Jane Jane: Right along the parade route, gay-owned Jane Jane has transformed its space into a “No Kings, Yas Queens” activation in a direct response to the America 250th commemorations happening downtown, from the colorful window installation, to merch (including a custom bandana and tank) to disco wig installations. Events include industry night on Mondays, donations to LGBTQ charities, and to-go cocktails during the Pride Parade.
Shaw’s Tavern: Gay-owned Shaw’s Tavern on Florida Avenue celebrates Pride week with a full lineup of themed events, entertainment, and specials, including Pride trivia on Monday, June 15 at 7:30 PM, bingo on Tuesday, June 16 at 8 PM, a cabaret on Thursday, June 18 at 9 PM, Juneteenth Drag Brunch on Friday, June 19 at 12:30 PM, and both a pre-parade brunch (10 AM-4 PM) and post-parade party (5-9 PM) on Saturday, June 20. Sunday, June 21 at 7 PM brings Mama’s Sunday Supper & Drag Pride Show in the evening for anyone who is still awake.
Trade: This classic has a weekend of events, starting on Thursday, with Tiburon Pride Edition, a Latin Dance party in the Shark Tank. On Friday, the bar opens early (at 2 PM), with all-day happy hour and the Jx&Evry Show. On Saturday, the bar opens at noon, offering a prime parade viewing spot from its windows. There will be the CLASH drag show hosted by Tatianna and Crimsyn, and Sweet Spot party that night. On Sunday, the bar opens for normal hours at 2 PM, with DJs Adam K, Alex Love, and WESSTHEDJ.
Pitchers: The multi-level bar in Adams Morgan is hosting a Pride-themed show on Thursday, June 18 at 10 PM, with drawstring bag giveaways – the only kind of bag that will be allowed into the bar during Pride weekend. The show features drag queen Kyle Sonique Love.
Barrel House Cafe and Bar: Also by the parade route on 14th Street, Barrel House Cafe takes advantage of its large patio to have a slate of events during Pride week, including Schism, a drag and burlesque show on June 18 at 10 PM, as well as an all-day Pride party coinciding on parade day.
Bunker: Bunker again plays host to a series of afters. Friday night (Saturday 3:30 AM) is Unhinged, and Saturday night (Sunday 3:30AM) is Unholy. The regular Saturday night party (10 PM) brings in Venetian and Tiara Missou. All parties have cover charges.
District Eagle: Beyond the Kinetic party on Friday, June 19 brings Gear Night at 10 PM; Saturday, June 20 at 10 PM is LOBO presents PRISM, and Sunday, June 21 is Sundaze wit Papi at 6 PM.
African Art Museum: On Thursday, June 18 at 5 PM, this Smithsonian museum is hosting a free event with artists and curators celebrating its exhibit, “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art,” “based on years of close collaboration and dialogue with African visual art practitioners who claim belonging in the LGBTQ+ community, however they define those terms,” according to the museum.
KNEAD Hospitality & Design: The gay-owned KNEAD restaurant group (including spots like Gatsby, Mi Vida, Succotash The Grill) is featuring the GLITTERATI cocktail, made with Tito’s, St-Germain Elderflower, Butterfly Flower, ginger, and yes, glitter. A portion of proceeds from every Glitterati cocktail sold will benefit The Trevor Project. The cocktail will be sold throughout June.
The Fountain Inn is partnering with Rhodium spirits (Rhode Island’s first LGBTQ+ owned distillery) all month, making cocktails like gimlets and espresso martinis featuring Rhodium’s liquors. Proceeds benefit SMYAL, an organization dedicated to empowering LGBTQ+ youth.
Hard Rock Cafe: Hard Rock DC is taking part in the chain’s annual “LOVE OUT LOUD” campaign, with Pride merch, specials on June 20, and a donation to The Trevor Project.
a&e features
Fighting ‘Rainbow Panic’ in museums
Here’s how we can resist the escalation of anti-LGBTQ censorship
Back in February of 2025, I wrote a piece for New York City-based arts publication Hyperallergic about the importance of museums stepping up for their LGBTQ staff. I was right to be concerned. Over the last three years, censorship of LGBTQ histories and art has exploded in the museum field. Discourse surrounding censorship of art and artifacts reflects galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) institutions’ push to erase LGBTQ stories, language, and people from not just exhibitions but also the wider museum field.
Many now recognize this rush of censorship in the early 2020s as the “rainbow panic,” first coined by historian Wendy Rouse in her piece published in July 2025.
While LGBTQ censorship in GLAM institutions is not new, the recent push to censor queer and trans histories under the Trump administration began in May 2024 when members of the City Council of Lubbock, Texas cut funding for the First Friday Art Trial due to the inclusion of a drag performance.
Additional cancellations followed, including in February 2025, when the Art Museum of the Americas canceled “Nature’s Wild With Andil Gosine” scheduled to open in March. While the museum did not say why, some of Gosine’s work that was set to be part of the exhibition reflected on LGBTQ identity and activism in the Caribbean.
That same month, the National Park Service removed mentions of transgender people from the Stonewall National Memorial website, now seen as a watershed moment in queer erasure. In response, the LGBTQ+ History Association issued a statement warning about the recent moves to censor and erase LGBTQ history and art.
The Association was right to be concerned because the following month, Trump released his Executive Order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” where he targeted the National Museum of American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the American Women’s History Museum.
But it wasn’t just erasure, it was also intentional renaming. Also in February 2025, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art changed its traveling exhibition of work by women, queer and trans artists, changing the title that was originally “transfeminisms.” By June, the Art Institute of Chicago changed the title of an exhibition of Gustave Caillebotte’s work and removed discussions of gender and sexuality from the wall text that were included when the show was displayed in Paris and Los Angeles.
In the last year, censorship has especially escalated with Amy Sherald cancelling her show “American Sublime” at the National Portrait Gallery (and moving it to the Baltimore Museum of Art) and art scholar Ignacio Darnaude writing in an Out op-ed that the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) exhibition “Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return” did not include information about the artist’s queer identity or the work’s connections to AIDS. The National Portrait Gallery has denied claims of erasure.
This leads us to the most recent happening when in February 2026, a Pride flag was removed from the Stonewall National Monument after a directive from the Trump administration. Thankfully, later that month, protesters re-raised the flag. In April 2026, the National Park Service agreed to restore the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Memorial and keep it up permanently. But even with this victory — the result of queer and trans organizing — attacks on LGBTQ histories remain.
As the histories we fought to collect and interpret are censored and erased, through museums’ compliance-in-advance as well as government discrimination and decree, we (I write as a queer GLAM worker) see a willingness to sacrifice those histories and our communities for institutional safety, funding, and government support.
Please know the LGBTQ community will remember the hard truths we learned this past year — that we and our histories were expendable. If we can be cast aside, hidden, or disowned, whose histories are safe? How can (and can we) rebuild trust in the institutions that failed us this past year? It’s not just the LGBTQ community. In fact, just this January, the National Park Service removed signage from the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia that referenced slavery at the President’s House Site.
Please help us to fight the erasure of queer and trans histories and communities. Please stand with the LGBTQ community (and LGBTQ+ GLAM workers) against the violence we are facing — not just outside museums, but inside them too.
For ways that you can help to fight historical erasure, including against the LGBTQ community, please consider the following:
Consume queer history content. Whether it be by visiting exhibitions, listening to a podcast, going on a walking tour or lecture, or buying queer history books, your presence and money speak volumes. And learn your local queer histories. Often, we focus on the large-scale histories that surround the Stonewall Uprising, Compton Cafeteria Riots, and other pivotal moments, but there’s queer history all around us. It’s time to learn and celebrate these histories.
On that topic, volunteer and contribute your time to local LGBTQ history initiatives. Everyone is based in different parts of the country, so another great option for access are online projects like The Pink Triangle Legacies Project, Queer Zine Archive Project, Queer Digital History Project, and Invisible Histories. Everyone has skills, especially GLAM workers, to support the work of these independent history groups.
Financially support and visit grassroots LGBTQ+ archives and museums. Despite mass censorship and violence over the past year, queer and trans history workers have created and facilitated groundbreaking exhibitions and community action at the Museum of Transology (specifically the TRANSCESTRY exhibition), the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art, and other grassroots archives, libraries, and museums created by and for our communities.
Queer and trans museum workers refuse to be silenced and shut out of institutions that have long ignored our histories. The work that we do to seek representation is too important, too urgent, to abandon. We look to these grassroots efforts as models for how our institutions can preserve and tell queer and trans histories because many of them were founded themselves during times of censorship and violence.
Find and support your local LGBTQ (and other) employee resource groups and other organizations pushing for transparency and accountability at your workplaces. Right now, many of these groups have gone underground. Where you can, provide mutual aid and financial and organizational support to these groups, and you can be an advocate (especially if you have privilege and protection) for these organizations and their efforts.
Support the unionization of GLAM workers — show up for pickets and use your attendance and money to support institutions that support and invest in their LGBTQ cultural workers. This past year has been incredibly difficult for LGBTQ museum workers — from censorship and erasure of our histories to the firing of and discrimination against LGBTQ federal workers, federal agencies have denied our existence, cut off lifesaving care for LGBTQ people, and ordered the termination of employee community resource groups.
Mobilize and fight against anti-LGBTQ legislation affecting your queer and trans GLAM colleagues (and your neighbors). As goes LGBTQ histories and representation, so goes rights for queer and trans museum staff. The best examples of this are the experiences of queer and trans federal and trust workers. Call your representatives, participate in resistance efforts, and contribute to mutual aid supporting people most hurt by the legislation.
Hope is not lost! LGBTQ history, as I can attest, is not going anywhere, but amid the rising tide of censorship and erasure, there has never been a more important time to show up in support of LGBTQ preservation, curation, and education efforts. As the victory surrounding the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument represents, these are hard-fought battles but ones that we can win with your support.
11 years after Obergefell, marriage equality remains under scrutiny
Federal officials launch Title IX probe into Md. schools over trans athletes
Comings & Goings
‘Leviticus’ demonizes homophobia for gripping queer horror yarn
Calendar: June 26-July 2
Abelardo de la Espriella elected Colombia’s next president
Capital Pride draws tens of thousands to D.C.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign
PHOTOS: Capital Pride Festival and Concert
