Online Exhibitions
Photographs documenting the evolution of San Francisco Pride, the event that most powerfully represents and celebrates the Bay Area's LGBTQ community, over the past half century. Read more general information.
AIDS Treatment Activism: A Bay Area Story
Flyers, photographs, ephemera and audiovisual materials document the rise of and growth of the treatment-activism movement in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s and 1990s. Read more general information.
Rare posters and ephemera from a private collection highlight the journey of black lesbian activist Angela Davis: from radical scholar, to political prisoner, to revolutionary icon, to public intellectual. Read more general information.
Empowerment in Print: LGBTQ Activism, Pride & Lust
From A-Z, these periodicals produced in NorCal from 1940s-2000s reflect queer people from diverse communities who used them to form social networks, create culture, express desire and inspire activism. Read more general information.
Creators of LGBTQ Community Pride flags share the inspiration, process and meaning behind these iconic symbols. Co-presented by the Gilbert Baker Foundation and the GLBT Historical Society.
Labor of Love: The Birth of San Francisco Pride, 1970–1980
Learn how San Francisco forged the internationally renowned annual celebration that would come to be known as Pride! Read more general information.
Legendary: African American LGBTQ Past Meets Present
A showcase of the dynamic and diverse history of Bay Area Black LGBTQ lives, reflecting themes of art, belonging, justice and sexuality. Read more general information.
A virtual tour of the Lyon-Martin House organized into a total of 17 stations and enriched with by historic commentary, reflections and interviews provided by LGBTQ historians, friends and family members of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
Performance, Protest & Politics: The Art of Gilbert Baker
Examine how rainbow-flag creator Gilbert Baker blurred the lines between artist and activist, protester and performer. Read more general information.
A 35-year overview of portraits in painting and photography by San Francisco artist Lenore Chinn, based on our 2017 exhibition at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. In partnership with Google Arts and Culture.
Explore the earliest periodicals that were on display as part of our 2018 exhibition “Empowerment in Print: LGBTQ Activism, Pride and Lust.” In partnership with Google Arts and Culture.
Queeriosities: Treasures from the GLBT Historical Society’s Art & Artifacts Collection
A selection from the GLBT Historical Society’s very own cabinet of queer curiosities, or, as we call them, “queeriosities,” drawn from our Art and Artifacts Collection.
Reigning Queens: The Lost Photos of Roz Joseph
Evocative color photographs of San Francisco’s epic drag and costume balls of the mid-1970s, which includes a rediscovered drag-queen series almost four decades after they were made. Read more general information.
Stories of Our Movement: The Bay Area Reporter at 50
Historic headlines, cover images, articles and ads from the paper's archives in honor of its 50th anniversary as the LGBTQ newspaper of record. Read more general information.