This weekend is your last chance to see the groundbreaking LGBT-history exhibit at the National Constitution Center that more than 23,000 people have toured in the last few months.
“Speaking Out for Equality” at the National Constitution Center closes Jan. 3. The wide-ranging LGBT-history exhibit, curated by William Way LGBT Community Center, opened in May, and was a cornerstone of the city’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Annual Reminder demonstrations this past summer.
It was also a timely focal point of the discussion surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of marriage equality.
“It was a wonderful serendipity that, over the course of the two-and-a-half years of planning this exhibit, we gradually realized that it would be opening just a few weeks before the Obergefell decision,” said William Way executive director Chris Bartlett. “The trajectory of LGBT civil rights has many powerful directions, but the direction toward marriage equality was a key one. So on the day of the Obergefell decision to have thousands seeing the exhibit, and learning about the 50 years of civil-rights battles that came before it, was so powerful.”
Bartlett said the thousands who walked through the exhibit included many student groups.
“One of the most inspiring things was seeing students go through and seeing them so energized by the story,” he said.
As NCC is a nonpartisan agency, the exhibit, Bartlett noted, had to include a balanced approach to the topic — a challenge that he said ultimately paid off.
“I think it gave it more power to include Anita Bryant and Jerry Falwell and other opponents, for a couple reasons,” Bartlett said. “It’s interesting to see the same arguments being used by LGBT opponents over time, and it helps us to remember to be vigilant in answering our critics. And having other voices in the exhibit opened it up to what I call the ‘curious conservatives’ to come through.”
At the end of the exhibit, guests have an opportunity to weigh in on marriage equality. The responses were largely pro-LGBT, though Bartlett noted there was a diversity of opinions.
“The success of this exhibit is that we weren’t only preaching to the choir; we were able to attract people who wanted to learn and to engage with these ideas,” he said.
Bartlett encouraged LGBTs, allies and others to not miss out on the opportunity to catch the exhibit before it closes Sunday.
“This exhibit has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell a powerful story in a national museum. To see this exhibit in the shadow of Independence Hall, with so much history, right in the middle of Philadelphia is a truly powerful experience. People go in there and are moved by our history and inspired to carry the work forward into the future.”
If you can’t make it to the NCC before Jan. 3, you might still have a chance to see “Speaking Out” in the future; Bartlett said organizers are in talks about creating a traveling version of the exhibit.