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QC06082017

46 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JUNE 8, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM buzz Queens Museum exhibit hopes to highlight Queens’ contributions to LGBTQ rights movement BY ANGELA MATUA amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua A new exhibit at the Queens Museum will explore the long and rich history of pride and protest in the borough’s LGBTQ community. “Th e Lavender Line: Coming Out in Queens” will open on June 9 at the Queens Museum until July 30. Working with LaGuardia Community College faculty and students, the exhibit will provide an inside look at decades of activism within the LGBTQ community in Queens. According to Dr. Richard Lieberman, historian and director of LaGuardia Community College and Wagner Archives, the exhibit aims to showcase the work that Queens residents and activists did to celebrate and also fi ght for equal rights for LGBTQ residents. “As a historian I’ve been committed to telling the history of New York that nobody knows about and there is a part of New York’s history, the LGBTQ community in Queens, that no one really knows about except people in the community.” Lieberman, along with LaGuardia faculty Th ierry Gourjon and Javier Larenas, poured through about 3,000 photographs provided by Councilman Daniel Dromm that documented the beginnings of the Queens Pride Parade. Dromm, who was deeply aff ected by the 1990 murder of Jackson Heights resident Julio Rivera, helped the curators not only by providing photographs but also by clarifying important facts and explaining the history of activism in the borough. Th e councilman established Queens Pride in 1992 to honor Rivera’s legacy, who was beaten with a hammer and stabbed by three men for being gay. “Danny was a huge resource,” Lieberman said. “We couldn’t have done this without him. He stepped back and let us do what we wanted to do and we went to him for factual information and he was always there for us.” Curators whittled down the collection of photographs to about 150 that document the beginnings of the Queens Pride Parade and the exhibit also tells the story of the Children of the Rainbow curriculum. Th e curriculum, written by New York City public school teachers and administrators and introduced in 1992, would teach fi rst graders to respect diff erent nationalities and introduce them to other cultures through songs, games and other activities. It also featured a section about including references to gays and lesbians, which angered parents and school board members. Mary Cummins, a member of Queens School Board District 24, was extremely vocal in her opposition. Dromm was a teacher at P.S. 122 in Sunnyside at the time the curriculum was being discussed and decided then to publicly come out. In addition to old photographs, students at LaGuardia Community College visited gay bars and prominent groups and organizations that are active in the LGBTQ community in Jackson Heights and beyond, to tell a more recent story of pride and protest in the borough. Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who is also gay and has a history of fi ghting for LGBTQ rights in Queens, provided photos from marches that took place at St. John’s University. Th ere is audio of him being interview during the 1992 parade and an app people can download to experience an oral history of people being interviewed about their involvement in the parade. Th e banner that is carried at the Queens Pride Parade is also showcased. Lieberman said the photographs, videos and artifacts prove that Greenwich Village is not the only neighborhood people should be referencing when they think about the LGBTQ movement in New York City. “You can ask anyone in the city or country about the gay rights movement and they’ll tell you about Greenwich Village or Manhattan and nobody, nobody talks about Queens,” he said. He urged people to “expand your vision, expand your horizon, expand your sense of history.” “Th ere is a strong community in Queens that has been fi lled with pride and protest and this exhibit opens the discussion,” he added. “New York City history, let’s broaden it and include a fabulous community right across the river. I would say it’s been overlooked and were saying, ‘Ok, enough is enough, we can’t overlook it anymore.’” Aft er July 30, curators will work with the CUNY schools in Queens to present the exhibit at their respective galleries. Photo courtesy of LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College The Lavender Line: Coming Out in Queens will be presented at Queens Museum starting on June 9. Forest Hills Festival of the Arts returns to Austin Street on June 11 BY EMILY DAVENPORT edavenport@qns.com / @QNS Meet local business owners while being entertained by spectacular performances at the 17th Annual Forest Hills Festival of the Arts. Hosted by the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, the Forest Hills Festival of the Arts will be coming to Forest Hills‘ Austin Street (between 69th Road and 72nd Road) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 11. Th is year, over 100 local businesses will be showcasing their stores, restaurants and more during an exhibition that will allow patrons to experience what Forest Hills has to off er. Th ere will be over 150 arts and craft s style vendors from all over the tri-state area. Th ey will be exhibiting jewelry, decorative items, clothing, pottery, baskets, art work, photography, collectibles, homemade sweets, candles and much more. Th ere will also be an array of international foods to try and rides that are available for kids. In addition to the vendors, there are can’t-miss performances going on throughout the day. Starting at 11:30 a.m., the budding young musicians of Th e Varta Academy of Music will perform. At noon, the DanceSource will showcase their talented dance students followed by a dazzling dance performance with kids of all ages from All Star Studios at 12:30 p.m. Back by popular demand, BB King headliner Big Daddy Bruce Wayne will be performing from 2 to 4 p.m. Th e day will fi nish off with a performance by LA Blacksmith, who will be taking the stage at 4:30 p.m. to tribute the popular R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire. Admission to the event is free and will take place rain or shine. Photo: Facebook/Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce


QC06082017
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