ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A new exhibit documenting Georgia’s LGBTQ+ community will be on display at this year’s Atlanta Pride festival.
The exhibit is made possible thanks to a new partnership between Atlanta Pride and Georgia State University. Tucked away on the eighth floor of GSU’s Library South building in downtown Atlanta, the fight for equality is being preserved.
“The archive isn’t just for our organization, it’s for our community,” said Steven Igarashi-Ball, of Atlanta Pride.
The non-profit responsible for hosting the southeast’s biggest Pride festival recently turned over hundreds of the organization’s documents and keepsakes, more than 55 boxes. Some of them packed full with annual Pride t-shirts and logos dating back some 54 years.
“They’re reflective of the time, the culture we’re in, also the fashion. Something so simple like a t-shirt also says so much,” said Igarashi-Ball. Archivist Morna Gerrard heads up a small team tasked with cataloging queer history. Students and researchers will soon have full access. It’s a necessary initiative, because in recently years several states, including Georgia have proposed and/or passed laws to censor discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in public schools. Students often learn about queer history for the first time in college.
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“Building community, the bars, the publications, protests, Pride, HIV and AIDS. All sorts of different issues,” said Morna Gerrard. “We actually saw students not only come and engage with the exhibits, but they would come back with their friends.” The exhibit is being repurposed to allow Pride festival attendees to walk through history, one that accurately outlines Atlanta’s and the southeast’s role in the fight for queer rights. “For so many reasons queer history has not always been told. It’s not only important to not only tell the stories of our community but to preserve those stories,” said Igarashi-Ball.
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