At a press conference Tuesday, William Way LGBT Community Center executive director Chris Bartlett, joined by Mayor Michael Nutter and other prominent members of the community, gathered to announce the launching of a new LGBT history exhibition at the National Constitution Center to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Annual Reminders this summer.
“Speaking Out for Equality: The Constitution, Gay Rights and the Supreme Court” will open June 5 and run through Sept. 7. The exhibit will include information on pivotal court cases, artifacts and personal stories to chronicle the debate over gay rights.
The exhibit will be the centerpiece of a weeklong 50th-anniversary celebration of the first Annual Reminder Day, public demonstrations held every July 4 from 1965-69 in front of Independence Hall, and the first protests for LGBT equality in the nation. The Reminder Days are considered the precursor to the Stonewall Riot in New York City.
Bartlett said the exhibit is historic in several ways.
“It is the first time that LGBT history, viewed through a constitutional frame, is being explored at a national museum,” said Bartlett. “It’s also historic given the time frame of the American LGBT civil-rights debate, with a major LGBT civil-rights case to be handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court while the exhibit is open in June.
“LGBT history is truly coming of age,” he added.
Also in attendance was one of the demonstrators from the first Annual Reminder Day, John James, who went on to become a distinguished LGBT-rights activist and advocate.
In his remarks, Nutter noted that if ever anyone need be reminded of who we are as Americans and how far the civil-rights movement has come, they can just take a walk around Independence Hall.
“It’s easy for us to forget and get caught up in the day-to-day,” said Nutter, “If you ever need a reminder about how we got to where we are, you only need to go into some of the places on the most historic square mile in America. It will remind you.
“It will remind you what America is all about,” he said, echoing the theme of the Annual Reminder days.
Visit Philadelphia president and CEO Meryl Levitz announced that the groundbreaking “Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay” tourism commercial would be getting an update.
The commercial, which first aired in 2004, was the first televised openly LGBT-friendly tourism commercial in the world, and will be included as part of the “Speaking Out” exhibit.
“We will be revising and updating the commercial to honor all of those who are going to be honored this year,” Levitz said.
The weeklong 50th-anniversary celebration will take place July 2-5. For more information, visit www.lgbt50.org.