The National Constitution Center opens its latest special exhibition — a first-of-its-kind exhibit on gay rights — this Friday, June 5.
(Photo courtesy National Constitution Center)
This summer, Philadelphia celebrates five decades of political progress with the 50th Anniversary of the Gay Rights Movement, and one of that celebration’s key commemorative exhibitions debuts this week at the National Constitution Center.
Now one of the country's leading gay-friendly destinations, the City of Brotherly Love played a pivotal role in the earliest days of the American gay-rights movement. The first major U.S. protest for LGBT equality took place in front of Independence Hall On July 4, 1965.
Coordinated by Philadelphia resident Barbara Gittings and Washingtonian Frank Kameny, now known as the mother and father of gay rights, the protest marked the first time activists from multiple cities openly identified themselves as gay and called for equality, and the event would become the first recurring effort for protesting the discrimination faced by the LGBT community. The "Annual Reminder" protest took place every Independence Day for four years.
Opening this week — just in time to coincide with Gay Pride Month in June — at the National Constitution Center, Speaking Out for Equality: The Supreme Court, Gay Rights, and the Constitution explores the gay-rights movement through the constitutional "conversations" that have framed the struggle for equality.
The Exhibition
The National Constitution Center joins the conversation surrounding the 50th Anniversary of the Gay Rights Movement — and the upcoming expected Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage — with its new exhibition, which was created in partnership with Philadelphia’s longstanding William Way LGBT Community Center.
The exhibition chronicles the LGBT rights movement and the ongoing debate over how much the Constitution protects gay rights via a rich display of artifacts, historical moments, Supreme Court cases, media propaganda, personal stories and more.
Through six exhibition sections moving from the mid-20th-century to the present day, visitors will take in a poignant snapshot of gay rights as a constitutional issue and how gay rights has evolved in the courts.
As the first exhibit by a national museum to examine LGBT history through the lens of the Constitution, Speaking Out For Equality offers a historic chance to learn about the issues and join the conversation about the Supreme Court's upcoming decision on the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
A selection of buttons from the William Way LGBT Community Center is just one of the displays in the exhibition at the National Constitution Center. (Photo courtesy National Constitution Center)
More, below.
Speaking Out For Equality Grand Opening
The launch of the exhibition coincides with a grand opening event this Thursday, June 4, 5:30-8:30 p.m. The opening soiree will be the first chance for the public to check out Speaking Out for Equality, too.
Tickets are available online for the Speaking Out For Equality Opening Party, which includes food, cocktails and live performances by the Philadelphia Voices of Pride and the Bearded Ladies Cabaret.
General admission is $35, but now Uwishunu readers are invited to purchase member tickets for $25 online and just name drop “Visit Philly” at the door to pick-up tickets. No ID required!
The grand opening of Speaking Out for Equality on Thursday, June 4 will include food, an open bar, and awesome live entertainment. (Photo courtesy National Constitution Center)
50th Anniversary of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement
In 2015, Philadelphia marks the 50th Anniversary of the Gay Rights Movement with a year of commemorative exhibitions at major institutions — including Speaking Out For Equality at the NCC — and a Fourth of July weekend full of special events, including a re-enactment of the first "Annual Reminder," which took place in front of Independence Hall on July 4, 1965.
No fewer than eight ongoing exhibitions in Philadelphia mark the anniversary, with other displays at such museums as The Rosenbach Museum & Library, the African American Museum in Philadelphia and The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Come July, an entire weekend of events surrounding the anniversary of the Annual Reminder will take place.
Check right here for a complete rundown of all the events, and stay tuned for more on this summer’s anniversary celebration.
Speaking Out For Equality: The Constitution, Gay Rights, And The Supreme Court
Speaking Out For Equality includes artifacts from more than 50 years of LGBT activism, many from the William Way LGBT Community Center. Don’t miss this commemorative exhibition. (Photo by Jeff Fusco for National Constitution Center)
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