Current Second Gallery Exhibit

DYKES ON BIKES® powerfully embodies how lesbians have stood at the forefront of queer pride for 30 years. The exhibit "30 Years at the Forefront," hosted by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Historical Society, uses a significant anniversary to look back and commemorate this anchor SF institution that has become internationally renowned. The exhibit also looks forward and celebrates the landmark legal victory DYKES ON BIKES® recently won, securing full ownership over its name.

Photo: Bob Follett

The exhibit is accompanied by a series of events, including a donor preview on April 24th, a gala opening reception on May 15th, a reception co-hosted by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on May 31st, and a Pride week reception on June 26th, among others.

The "30 Years at the Forefront" exhibit invites the general public to revel in the mythic power of DYKES ON BIKES®. Exhibit attendees can even get a feel for riding in the famed contingent by hopping on a motorcycle surrounded by the sights and sounds of past parades. Along with the fun, the exhibit also offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about the organization’s ride down a 30-year road: its history, mission, structure, annual event production, and international reach.

The exhibit also hopes to spur past and present members of DYKES ON BIKES® to collectively remember and celebrate their history, and in so doing locate and archive otherwise uncollected memorabilia, documents, photographs, and artifacts of the organization’s last 30 years.

EXHIBIT EVENT SCHEDULE:

Out Ranks is the first exhibit in the country to explore the experiences of GLBT veterans.  It charts the evolution of the U.S. military policy on homosexuality, exploring the politics of the ban on open GLBT service. To dramatize the issue, "Out Ranks" draws portraits of seven individuals who served during the major military conflicts from World War II to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Exhibit curator Dr. Steve Estes, working with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, has collected more than 50 oral histories with GLBT veterans. The exhibit makes use of the hundreds of letters, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, medals, uniforms, and other artifacts housed in the archives of the GLBT Historical Society. We house the one of the largest collections of GLBT materials in the world, including the papers of Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a Vietnam War veteran who fought the US military in 1975 for the right to serve as an openly gay man, and the interviews, photos, and personal effects of women and men who served in World War II collected by Alan Bérubé, the author of Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II.

Learn more about current challenges for LGBT people in the military. Click here to:

Get info on the Human Rights Campaign's "Legacy of Service Tour" against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

 See also the website of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network


Current Online Exhibits

Capturing the Moment: The Photojournalism of Rick Gerharter
View the inaugural exhibit on our Flickr site: “Capturing the Moment: The Photojournalism of Rick Gerharter,” an encore version of a gallery exhibit held in 2006. Check it out.