ARTS
American LGBTQ Museum Breaks Ground
Construction slated to begin in 2022 at New-York Historical Society
BY MATT TRACY
LGBTQ celebrities, elected
offi cials, and board
members led a groundbreaking
ceremony on
September 14 to welcome the
forthcoming American LGBTQ+
Museum, which is expected to begin
construction next year.
Tennis legend Billie Jean King,
Tony Award-winning Broadway
star André De Shields, Council
Speaker Corey Johnson, Mayor Bill
de Blasio, Councilmember Daniel
Dromm of Queens, and journalist
Imara Jones were among those who
delivered remarks at the ceremony
at the New-York Historical Society
on Central Park West, where the
museum will be located.
Speakers consistently emphasized
the importance of preserving
history and establishing a place to
protect the narratives of the LGBTQ
community.
“History matters,” King said. “It’s
alive… It is our time for the LGBTQ
community to share our stories.”
The museum, which is slated to
utilize 60,000 square feet of space,
will feature a comprehensive collection
of queer artifacts gathered
through intensive research stemming
in part from surveys of more
than 3,000 queer people across the
nation. The museum’s library will
be built out during the fi rst part
of the construction process next
summer, while the subsequent
phase of construction will focus on
bringing galleries and classrooms
to the museum. It will be several
years before the museum is ready
to open.
Members of the board of directors for the forthcoming museum pose for a picture.
Richard Burns, the chair of the
museum, recalled initiating discussions
about the museum in
2017 with a group of LGBTQ folks
who are now part of the board.
Speaker Johnson, looking back at
that time, said he “scoured” his entire
City Council district in search
of a spot for the museum — but the
New-York-Historical Society, which
is north of his district — wound up
being the right fi t.
“We owe it to those who came
before us to ensure that their legacies
live on in the years to come,
and that’s what this American
LGBTQ+ Museum will do,” Johnson
said. “It will tell the stories of
activists who put their bodies on
the line and put their lives on the
line.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who joked
that he and Johnson are “retiring
simultaneously,” discussed the
trajectory of progress in broader
terms and made the case that New
York City is the rightful place to
house the museum given the city’s
prominent role in the modern LGBTQ
rights movement.
“The notion of a righteous rebellion
acknowledged that something
unacceptable had become
the norm in society and had to be
turned over — that happened here,”
de Blasio said. “This museum will
capture not only that revolutionary
instinct and the people who made
it possible before and after… it will
capture decades of oppression, it
will capture the fact that so many
people were second-guessed for being
who they were or loving who
they loved… it will also capture the
profound changes that occurred.”
Jones, the creator of TransLash
Media and a board member of the
museum, recounted her own personal
journey growing up as a trans
child in Atlanta at a time when she
wondered “how I was gonna tell the
world who I was.” She said the museum
presents an opportunity to
highlight the memories of LGBTQ
individuals who have too often
been erased from history, and she
emphasized that message while
pointing to the ongoing murders
DONNA ACETO
of Black trans women and the elevated
unemployment rates facing
Black trans women.
“We have seen the consequences
of not telling stories of people who
matter,” Jones said. “Today we are
giving them the gift of memories.”
De Shields looked ahead to the
new museum by drawing parallels
between the fi ghts for racial
justice and LGBTQ rights, arguing
that “the struggles are symbiotic.”
De Shields, who has led a solo
show called “Frederick Douglass:
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory,”
explained that Douglass’ spirit
greets him whenever he visits the
New-York Historical Society — and
that his legacy demands equality
across the board.
“We say ‘diversity, equity, and
inclusion.’ Frederick Douglass said
‘freedom,’” De Shields said. “But
they all mean the same thing.”
The event also drew other out
elected offi cials, including Queens
Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer
of Queens and Manhattan State
Senator Brad Hoylman. Congressmember
Jerrold Nadler was also in
attendance, as well as Manhattan
Borough President Gale Brewer,
Manhattan Assemblymember Rebecca
Seawright, and Manhattan
Councilmember Mark Levine,
among others.
September 23 - October 6,8 2021 | GayCityNews.com
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