San Francisco
— The program series for March 2019 sponsored by the GLBT Historical Society will highlight the cinematic work of transgender filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski, historic San Francisco nightlife photography, the nightlife scene of the pre-internet era and the evolution of lesbian community, identity and activism. The events take place at the GLBT Historical Society Museum at 4127 18th St. in the Castro District.
For more information, visit
www.glbthistory.org.
Author Talk
Lana and Lilly Wachowski: Sensing Transgender
Friday, March 1
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
In visionary works like
Bound (1996),
The Matrix trilogy (1999 – 2003), and
Sense8 (2015 – 2018), filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski have redefined the cinematically possible while joyfully defying audience expectations. In this presentation, author Cáel M. Keegan will discuss his book
Lana and Lilly Wachowski:
Sensing Transgender
(2018)
. He analyzes the work of the Wachowskis as transgender-authored film that has deeply affected our understandings of how gender, race, the body and the senses are represented in popular film and television. Keegan is assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality Studies and liberal studies at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Tickets are available online at
https://bit.ly/2Wxn0sR.
Living History Discussion
Flashing After Dark: Queer Nightlife Photography Then and Now
Thursday, March 7
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127 18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
A panel of contemporary and classic queer nightlife photographers and writers will join photographer Melissa Hawkins, a former photographer for the San Francisco gay weekly
The Sentinel, to share their favorite photographs and stories of venturing into the night in San Francisco in the 1980s and 1990s.
Panelists will discuss their professional methods and techniques, and address the challenges and rewards of ever-changing camera technologies, the rise of social media and selfies, and evolving denizens’ attitudes toward being photographed in the midst of debauchery. The photography of Hawkins is the subject of the ongoing exhibition
"SoMa Nights: The Queer Nightclub Photography of Melissa Hawkins" at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Tickets are available online at
https://bit.ly/2BdyOHy.
Living History Discussion
Life Beyond Uranus: A Golden Age of San Francisco Queer Nightlife
Thursday, March 21
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127
18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
Club kids, DJs, queer punks, DIY fashionistas, nightlife promoters and club owners gather to share their scandalous stories of nightlife just before the emergence of the consumer Internet (1980s – 1990s). They'll recount stories from San Francisco queer clubs such as Uranus, The Stud, The Box, The Eagle, Colossus, Universe and more. Notorious outfits, artifacts and looks from both the denizens’ personal collections and the GLBT Historical Society’s archives will be shown, highlighting how a resilient nightlife scene helped a community weather the darkest years of the AIDS crisis. This panel is being organized in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition "SoMa Nights: The Queer Nightlife Photography of Melissa Hawkins" at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Tickets are available online at
https://bit.ly/2BhgY6o.
Fighting Back
The L and the GBTQ: Lesbian Visibility, Leadership and Political Power
Thursday, March 28
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum
4127
18th St., San Francisco
Admission: $5; free for members
The latest in the GLBT Historical Society’s monthly “Fighting Back” series exploring contemporary queer issues in a historical context, this community forum will focus on the struggles and successes of lesbians in relationship to history, the LGBTQ community and coalition building in the Bay Area. A panel of historians, community organizers and advocates will explore how lesbian identity and community have evolved over time while underlining how this history can help inform today’s resistance movements. Tickets are available online at
https://bit.ly/2MMGC7F.
ABOUT THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
Open since January 2011, the GLBT Historical Society Museum (formerly known as the GLBT History Museum) is the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States. Its Main Gallery features a long-term exhibition on San Francisco LGBTQ history, "Queer Past Becomes Present." Its Front Gallery and Community Gallery host changing exhibitions. The institution also sponsors forums, author talks and other programs.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, a public history center and archives that collects, preserves and interprets the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and the communities that support them. Founded in 1985, the society maintains one of the world's largest collections of LGBTQ historical materials. For more information, visit
www.glbthistory.org
.
