Love is Love:
Celebrating Pride & the Arts

Welcome! June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Gay Pride in the United States! The current COVID-19 pandemic will leave so many of us celebrating online and socially distanced from one another. Because we can’t celebrate in-person together, UCI Arts Librarians have created this digital display so that you can explore some of the library’s collections to learn a bit more about gay pride and performing and visual art created by LGBTQ+ artists, as partially seen through the lens of the library's collections. It would be impossible to document everything that fits into this category--this page is an attempt to highlight both widely and little known contributions. We invite you to leave a note below with your thoughts about Pride and the Arts or other artists and works that we can learn about together!

Read: A Brief History of Pride

June is LGBTQ Pride Month in the United States. This celebration, frequently marked with parades and other in-person events, commemorates the Stonewall Riots in June of 1969 that are regularly credited as the spark for the modern gay rights movement. (While the initial march in 1970 commemorated the Stonewall Riots, we would be remiss in not mentioning earlier gay rights public movements like the 4th of July marches in the mid-to-late 60s in Philadelphia organized by the Mattachine Society, Daughters of Bilitis, and Janus Society.) It is a time to be public and proud of one’s own queer identity, rather than forced to live a secret life in the closet. An excellent summary of the beginning and growth of Pride from the mid-60s to the early-00s is available from the online “Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America.”

Quick Additional Reads:

New to the topic? Start Here

Watch Party

This digital display was curated with love by your UCI Arts Librarians - Jenna & Scott! We would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions to strengthen resources related to LGBTQ+ and the arts!

Jenna Dufour | Visual Arts Librarian

Art & Art History
Film & Media Studies
Visual Studies

Contact Me!

Scott Stone | Performing Arts Librarian

Dance
Drama
Music

Contact Me!

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