LGBTQIA+ history is a collection of stories from people the world over, from every walk of life, and encompassing every kind of person. No other community can make this claim. In knowing our history, we find our pride. Our role models include every color, gender, race, religion, nation, political ideal, economic class, size and shape, abled and disabled people. When you scratch the surface, you find us as your sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, coworkers, neighbors, teachers, nurses, doctors, truck drivers, chefs, entertainers, office workers and friends. We are everywhere there are human beings. Our heroes are those who stood tall in the face of unrelenting obstacles. Our heroes not only stood up for LGBTQ+ rights, but for the rights of all people, as we are all people.

This exhibition ties the past to the present, reminds us of those who were brave so we can live lives out in the open with less fear and in the belief that things will continue to get better. We stand on the shoulders of heroes, women and men, nonbinary, trans, gays and lesbians, who always got back up when they were knocked down and insisted on truth no matter how painful.

Those we celebrate have moved mountains for Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, challenged hate, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, struggled for economic justice, voting rights, and did so for every one of us so we too could have a dream that one day we would be measured by our character and not who we love.

From the mountain tops and sea to shining sea we find strength and courage in recognizing some of the individuals who made Stonewall possible, who made marriage possible, who made serving openly in government and in the military possible, who made being who you are, not a privilege but a right, who made adoption possible, and who made living life out loud a reality.