HistoryMiami Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate in downtown Miami, invites visitors to spend Pride Month exploring Miami’s queer past. Queer Miami: A History of LGBTQ Communities, curated by Miami native and history professor Julio Capó Jr., chronicles Miami’s queer past, reflecting its gender and sexual diversity for over one hundred years.
On June 6 at 6 p.m., guests are invited to hear curatorial narrative and historical highlights of Miami’s queer history; led by Dr. Julio Capó Jr., exhibition curator, associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and award-winning author of Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami before 1940.
Through artifacts, photographs, archival footage, and more, the exhibition displays the stories of Miami’s queer communities who, despite discrimination, isolation, and violence, managed to carve out spaces for themselves and made their voices heard in southern Florida.
“It’s an exciting—and most necessary—time to tell these stories,” said Capó. “One of the greatest challenges in studying LGBTQ history is that our lives and experiences are so often purposefully erased from history books and archives. As this exhibit shows, our LGBTQ community, of which I am also a proud member, has persisted and persevered in Miami since its inception.”
As part of the HistoryMiami Museum’s “Miami Stories” program, HistoryMiami also invites members of the South Florida community to share their queer Miami story. After and before the tour, guests can visit the Miami Stories Booth which is operated by an interviewer who will be asking a series of questions to capture personal stories of queer life in the Magic City.The recordings will become a permanent part of HistoryMiami Museum’s ongoing program, Miami Stories. These recordings will be archived at the museum, and may be published in the Miami Herald or broadcast on the radio through WLRN.
Tour begins at 6:30pm. Light refreshments will be available. Space is limited. Advanced reservations and payment are required. Please note that there are no refunds or exchanges.
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