Written by Michele Dinman, MPH, project coordinator for the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging
Last month was Pride month in St. Louis, the month dedicated to honoring the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. In St. Louis, it got underway with “Gateway to Pride”, the first-ever, large-scale exhibit on St. Louis’ LGBTQIA+ history presented at the Missouri History Museum. I attended the opening ceremonies and was amazed at both how the exhibit looked, and how many items, photos, and stories were donated from the community.
The display took me on an informative and emotional journey through the history and progression of the LGBTQIA+ community in our city – from the eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century – explaining the rise of community activism and showing the milestones, challenges, sacrifices, and evolving culture of generations of LGBTQIA+ people in the St. Louis area. There were a mix of older and younger people viewing the exhibit and I even saw a woman whose photograph of them, on a motorcycle in the 1950’s, was included in the exhibit.
According to The Missouri Historical Society, “Gateway to Pride” is a celebration of the “resilience, creativity, and determination of LGBTQIA+ St. Louisans” and it “honors the Missouri Historical Society’s commitment to the idea that everyone deserves to have their story told,” said Dara Taylor, managing director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility. “By exploring the LGBTQIA+ history of St. Louis, we are engaging in meaningful dialogue that promotes understanding, empathy, and inclusivity.” The exhibit also celebrates that which older St. Louisans might not have had a chance to openly celebrate.
The exhibit educates visitors on an often “hidden history.” In 2007, the St. Louis LGBT History Project, founded by Steven Louis Browley, started collecting stories and artifacts, often hidden out of fear, documenting the history of queer people living in St Louis. In 2013, the Missouri Historical Society formed a partnership with the project that later became the Gateway to Pride Initiative. This initiative, which will continue long after the “Gateway to Pride” exhibit closes, is focused on increasing inclusivity of LGBTQIA+ St. Louisans in future Missouri Historical Society collections. Many items and stories have been collected – way more than have been included in the exhibit – to document the often-hidden history of generations of queer people.
For more details on the exhibit and its history, along with links to other related content, explore this St. Louis on the Air story by St. Louis Public Radio.
Included in the exhibit is a map showing some of the many gay and lesbian bars and nightclubs in St. Louis in the 1970s – 1990s. St. Louisan Jay Reiter says that “coming out in the summer of 1976 was made so much easier because of the bar, Herbie’s, run by Balaban’s. Herbie’s was located in the CWE and was a safe, clean, and comfortable place to go to as a group or alone. One night after last call the lights came on and I made eye contact with the man that has been my husband for the past 48 years. However, on the professional side, I was more guarded about being gay. When I was interviewing for a new job in 1982, I was asked why I was still single and not married. I thought it was the test question, so I answered, because I hadn’t met the right woman. I got the job.”
Since 2021, AARP Missouri has been a sponsor for a virtual exhibit featuring oral histories from LGBTQIA+ older people that is part of the Missouri Historical Society’s Gateway to Pride initiative. Oral histories of personal stories and memories are important because they expose the discrimination, arrests, bullying, and other adversity that people identifying as LGBTQ+ have experienced.
Washington University is also playing a part in preserving LGBTQIA+ history in St. Louis. Mapping LGBTQ St. Louis is a digital map documenting more than 800 locations significant to St. Louis’ queer history from 1945 to 1992, when St. Louis’ first gay and lesbian-inclusive civil rights ordinance passed. The map features essays on race and gender, policing and violence, and images and documents that tell the hidden stories of now older LGBTQIA+ people. Read about this and more St. Louis LGBTQIA+ history.
Visiting the “Gateway to Pride” exhibit is a great way to learn about the sacrifices, struggles and achievements of St. Louis’ LGBTQIA+ community, who through history have shaped the progression of our city. Michael Slawin, volunteer chair of the Gateway to Pride advisory committee, describes the significance of the “Gateway to Pride exhibit”. “The exhibit is important because the accomplishments, struggles and history of those of us in the queer community have been ignored for so long. While there is still much work to be done for full equality, having this exhibit at one of the premier history museums is exciting.”
The “Gateway to Pride” exhibit will be at the Missouri History Museum until July 6, 2025.