Monday, we continue our visit to the hilt to learn about samsungs Problem Solver tomorrow, which challenges kids to use steam to improve communities. Our project is for cool shootings and school intruders. We created a door lock on the outside of the door, and it can be put in place to help put it in your mind that there will be one bracket on the door itself and one on the doorframe. Whenever the door is closed and there is a shooter in the building, that lock will slide in. Announcer monday at 8 00 p. M. On cspan2. Each week, american artefacts takes viewers into archives, museums, and Historic Sites around the country. Next, we visit the rise of exhibit and the museum there in washington dc to learn about the 1969 riots and [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, welcome to the museum. Stonewall was an event in the summer of 1969. And uprising at a gay bar in new york city, that propelled forward the modern lgbt rights movement. This is where we tell that story of how ordinary americans use their first memory freedoms speech, protest, religion, to advocate for change. And to change society. We are going to walk around the corner into the prologue area and look at the artifacts from two of the earliest lgbtq rights organizations that rose up in the 1950s and 1960s, the gay americans lived in fear and secrecy. For much of the 20th century. Gay people could be arrested for showing affection in public. Police prowled parks to arrest gay people. It was a difficult time to be a gay american. But this is where you see the qse of a few early lgbt groups such as the Mattachine Society and the daughters of bilitis. When people are meeting secretly in their homes to talk about what it is like to be a gay man or lesbian woman, to socialize and have fun. But out of these social groups rose movements for social justice. Instead of seeking merely tolerance, they decided they wanted more than that, actual acceptance. Here you see some artifacts from the Mattachine Society, a matchbook that would be passed on to people in public places, they of a thought were likeminded, of secret way to say, are you gay . I am, too, lets talk about it. Here that was published for gay was a legal book that was published for gay people arrested by police advising them on what their rights were when being arrested by police. Over here, you see some early lgbtq as the mattachine review, publications such as and one. A case in the Supreme Court when the post office was refusing to distribute it. Ultimately, the court decided they did have the right to publish that magazine. Next we go to the main gallery of the exhibits. Right now we are in an area right before the main gallery of rise up. We decided Popular Culture was a good place to start. For many people. Popular culture played such an Important Role in shaping attitudes. Early on, in the first images 1961, that you see of homosexuals, because that is what the people were called back then was in a pbs documentary that aired in San Francisco called the rejected. It talked about homosexuality as an issue, as a problem. See, gradually more lgbtq people being represented in sports, television and movies. Heres Martina Navratilova does tennis racket tennis players racket, she was a incredible athlete and champion who comes out as being gay. Rock hudson, a famous hollywood celebrity who reveals that he is dying of aids. A huge earthquake in Popular Culture and in the energy to key and in the lgbtq rights movement. You saw in philadelphia, tom hanks portrays a man with aids. In an Academy Awardwinning movie. We have the script signed by all of the cast members. Then you have ellen degeneres. She came out on the cover of Time Magazine. Her show was canceled. She received Death Threats because of it. Moment in time is seen as a powerful moment for Forward Movement and lgbt rights. Here you have will and grace. Then you have, President Biden who spoke about the show will and grace as doing more to get more americans used to the idea of samesex marriage than anything else because they invited gay people into their living rooms in places where , people thought they might dont know about gay people in their lives. We had films like brokeback mountain, modern family, a hugely popular sitcom, then, Caitlyn Jenner coming out on the cover of vanity fair as a transgender woman. These were moments that brought moved attitudes about the movement, that brought popular understanding to the issues that lgbtq society was facing. Lets go to the gallery and see what happened at the Stonewall Inn in the summer of 1969. Now were going to go back to a hot summer night in june of 1969 to Greenwich Village in new york city and Stonewall Inn. Stonewall inn was not particularly a nice bar, the drinks were watered down. It was run by the mafia. But it was a place where gay people could come and have fun. And dance and socialize. They could actually dance together. Back then, it was legal for people to socialize or show affection in public. The Stonewall Inn preyed on the gay wall street workers who socialize there. There was a blackmailing ring going on there. It was not a nice place. But it was a place that the people could call their own. There was a Police Crackdown on such establishments going on, and when police came in, they rating the bar. They were a bit rough with one lesbian, and they threw her out on the streets. And the crowd went wild. This is a pentup feeling by people at the Stonewall Inn. Police had been harassing gay people for a long time, arresting them for showing affection. In public. In 1969, at this time, we had all kinds of movements, counterculture, sexual revolution happening, and people were just not going to take it anymore, they were done with not being who they are, they were done with not being accepted for being gay, they were fed up. So this starts six nights of on and off uprising, glassblowing, glass throwing brickthrowing, interactions , with police. From the moment springs forth what we call the modern lgbtq movement. You see here a headline from the Mainstream Media. You can see how dismissive mainstream publications were of gay people. The headline is homo nest raided. Queen bees are stinging mad. It was very condescending. Very insulting and derogatory terminology. The Mainstream Media did not even cover it for several days. Until they are paying attention to what is going on. Some publications did not even cover it. Here we have other publications of how gay rights was covered by other publications. We have the advocate, an early publication based in los angeles. Here we have the ladder a publication, that reported on an uprising in the california region. Then you have mainstream publications reporting on what is going on. Time magazine a few months after stonewall, has a cover in which they are saying, never before have homosexuals in at the forefront of conversations or what was going on in the United States today. So out of this moment springs forth the modern lgbtq rights movement. We organize to the exhibit not chronologically, but so much as within themes. The next theme is fighting for the right to work and to serve. We come to the story of a harvard educated phd and Government Employee who was fired from his job because of an arrest for solicitation. Solicitation was a charge, the commonly used against gay people. Often times they wouldnt fight that because of the repercussions of fighting back for such a crime. You could lose your job for being gay. Your neighbors would distance themselves from you. If you had a family, you could lose your children from you to be gay was to live a life of fear and secrecy in the 1960s. So frank kameny decided he was going to fight back against the government rule against gay people. President eisenhower actually signed a law into effect saying that homosexuals could not be hired by the federal government. Frank believed homosexuals deserve the right to work in federal government and anywhere else. So he organized a series of protests as early as 1965 where gay people would take it in front of the white house and Civil Service commission going public with signs like this america, the land of opportunity for homosexuals too. Quarter million Civil Service employees protest. Its Civil Service commission policies. Which control who gets hired by the federal government. So he is a figure who is considered the father of the lgbtq rights movement, and his story pops up throughout the exhibit. That we go to a woman who took it upon herself to fight back against the American Psychiatric association, barbara giddings. Which at this point had deemed homosexuality and illness. Barbara giddings was a College Student in 1949 when she was diagnosed as being homosexual. She did research about what that meant and found out that homosexual people were frequently institutionalized, had electroshock treatment and various other horrible things. She thought there was something very wrong about that. So she took on the American Psychiatric association. In 1972 she appeared at their convention in dallas texas and spoke on a panel with a gay psychiatrist who was so fearful of the repercussions of coming out and making publicly as a gay person that he wore a mask. Barbara had an information booth, you can see the sign, that gave positive images of what the people were all about. A year later, the American Psychiatric association took away the designation of homosexuality as a mental illness. Frank who we heard from before, sent a letter to his friend saying, it is a miracle, we have been cured. Next, well talk about harvey milk, one of the pioneering lgbt people to be elected to office in the United States. Harvey milk was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1977. He proceeded to get various laws passed, increasing rights for lgbtq citizens. He served for about a year before he was assassinated by a former police man and former commissioner himself. In this case, you can see an envelope that was found in milks jacket and the bullet holes that were left in the card that he had written to someone. The light sentence of the person who shot harvey milk that and mayor George Moscone a received, resulted in the white peopleight riots, when were just coming forth with fury and frustration at the lack of progress. From the cutting down of these pioneers in lgbtq history. In this case, we have added Tammy Baldwin a pioneering person. She was the first gay woman elected to congress. This is the red suit that she wore when she was elected. To the wisconsin legislature. Here we have a magazine featuring barney frank on it. He served three terms as congressman of massachusetts before he came out as being gay. The citizens of massachusetts reelected him several more times and after he left office, he married his longtime partner. Jim ready. This is a button that they handed out at their wedding. Now we will walk around the corner and explore the story of lgbtq activists fighting for the right to serve in their military. In 1974, this was a sergeant in the air force. He was a decorated vietnam war veteran who had served three tours of duty and had a bronze star. He decided to challenge the ban on gay people serving. Working with the father of the lgbtq rights movement, he decided to push back against the air force. The air force discharged him and offered a settlement is that of offering to change its policy. But you see this persons brave stance, going on the cover of Time Magazine in 1975 saying, i am a homosexual. The first gay. Seven gay person to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. These stories start to chip away at attitudes that prevented gay people from serving in the military. In this case, you can see News Coverage of the repeal of dont ask dont tell, the policy of the Clinton Administration that allowed people to serve in a military as long as they were quiet about who they were and what their Sexual Orientation was. Here you see the gavel that nancy pelosi used to announce the repeal of dont ask, dont tell in 2010. Out of stonewall comes a new era of militancy and clout for the gayrights movement. He saw a protest called zaps because they were provocative, designed to get press coverage and attention to what the activists were fighting for you have groups like the gay raiders out of philadelphia who got themselves into the cbs evening news with walter cronkite, had a on the stage that appeared as americans watched their evening newscast. The protesters said that cronkite took time after the newscast to talk to them and it changed the way cbs covered the gay movement at the time. You saw the rise of these incredible publications. Various groups and nationalities stories were not being told by the Mainstream Press, they would start their own newspapers and magazines. Here you see gay activist and the lesbian tied. Up out ofcations rose this era. Gilbert baker called himself the gay betsy ross when he was encouraged to come up with a flood that symbolized the gay movement. You will notice it has two more stripes than has now. The reason is because two of the colors were harder to produce. That flag was made by gilbert. This was the sewing machine on which he created the original flag. This flag is not the original but it is one of the flags with that template. Next we will talk about the aids crisis and how it activated and mobilized lgbtq activists. In every movement, you see signs of progress and then push back. After this incredible spirit of openness come gay people being public about their sexuality, who they were, their Sexual Orientation, protesting, on the heels of that comes the aids crisis. In the early 1980s, stories about aids, Mysterious Illness that was striking gay men in los angeles and new york, comes to the forefront in Gay Publications first. Quickly, the Mainstream Press catches up. But the early headlines because , nobody knows what causes aids, there was more fear mongering than anything else, at least in and it leads to the Lgbtq Community being further ostracized. Here are two journalists who were part of the Mainstream Press. In the 1980s, wasnt particularly welcoming to be on the staff of a major newspaper. Both of these journalists reported about the aids crisis and both of them succumbed to aids as well. It was not until 1992 that drugs were found that actually made a aids not a death sentence, but a disease that people could live with. Here you saw again gay activists using zaps, a very provocative protest. You see the die and that took place at st. Patricks cathedral in new york and elsewhere. There were protests outside of the f. D. A. Where they advocated for drugs to come up quicker, for more research by the government and for more research into aids. The Gay Community was providing meals, support, information about drug trials, organizations like act up and others that were really advocating for people with aids and for the community as a whole. More than 362,000 americans died of aids before treatment became more widespread in the 1990s. To illustrate that story, we have a section of the aids quilt. In 1987, laid patches of the aids quilt here in washington, d. C. This is evidence that while aids is now a treatable disease, the crisis was not over. This tells a story of a transgender woman in atlanta who died in 2016. Her name was Cheryl Courtney evans. Next we go to a section that talks about the battle for samesex marriage and the role that faith and religion played in that. Some faith communities welcomed members of the Gay Community but not all. In 1977, dade county, florida joined about a dozen others in passing legislation aims to prevent discrimination against gay people in housing and other areas. Anita bryant was a christian singer and a spokesman for the florida juice industry. She thought this law would end up having children corrupted by the Gay Community, so she fought back against it with her save the children campaign. Here again, you see the creativity of lgbtq activists who fought back against her. You see an album that was put out by a lesbian record label called lesbian concentrate. And there were a variety of songs pushing out against anita pushing back against bryant anita bryant and orange juice and oranges. Bartenders stop selling drinks with orange juice. Orange juice sales plummeted as a result. Bartenders status serving a jig called the anita bryant, which is apple juice and vodka instead. So you see the Lgbtq Community rising up against people trying to he wrote their rights. Erode their essential rights. Then you see reverend jerry falwell, billy graham, powerful evangelical leaders who were blaming gay people for the aids crisis. Again, a setback for the community because these powerful spokesman of faith were pushing back against there is rights. Against their essential rights. Next, we come to the section about the historic ruling that led to same sex marriage being made legal across the country. The First Amendment gives every american the power to petition the government for change. If there are policies or loss or or laws, or things that are happening that they dont like. That is evidenced throughout the exhibit. Jim had been planning to marry his longtime partner but in their home state of ohio, it was illegal for two men to marry. Mr. Arthur was dying of a neurological disease at the time. He died a few months later. Jim wanted him to be listed as a surviving spouse on john arthurs death certificate. So he joined 14 couples and a few other widowers in a Supreme Court case in 2015 that made samesex marriage legal across the country. Year you can see the jacket and bowtie he wore on his wedding day and on announcement day. And the fused wedding rings, his and john arthurs. He had them fused together with some of john arthurs ashes after he died. These are the first artifacts that we got on loan for this exhibit and it is a really powerful statement because at its essence, this exhibit is about, who you love and who you have the right to love. So this is a powerful exhibit that tells a story of how Everyday Americans petitioned the government for change using their First Amendment freedoms. The struggle for samesex marriage was a long process. It took decades. Here in 1953, the pioneering lgbt publication one puts it on the cover. Homosexual marriage . Of course it wasnt decades later but the samesex ruling in 2015 made marriage legal in the country. And there were many players who played a role at chipping away at attitudes that prevented samesex marriage. Edith windsor was one of best this was one of those people. Thea, when she died, edith was stuck with a large tax bill. And she decided to challenge the i. R. S. Saying that she was being denied the same rights that heterosexual couples had. More than a thousand of them. Years later, the Supreme Court decided in her favor. This is a copy of the check should got from the i. R. S. For check she got from the irs for back payment of those inheritance taxes she had paid, and with interest. Is a favorite artifact for people to see especially around tax time here. Here are posters that were used by protesters who were heralding the Supreme Court decision that Edith Windsor took part in. On the wall, you see iconic figures who 50 years ago would never have been open about their ual orientation, there sexuality. We call the wall once rejected, now embraced, because now you see all these peopleho
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