THE LAVENDER EFFECT SPRINGS FORWARD!
Team Lavender has been working nonstop to advance our vision for a state-of-the-art LGBTQ History Museum and Cultural Center in Los Angeles. And our talented advisors and consultants are developing several educational projects that serve our mission before we have a permanent home.
I am thrilled to announce the launch of The Lavender Effect’s Oral History Project! Utilizing Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Institute guidelines, the Oral History Team is working with leading production consultants to capture the inspiring stories of LA’s LGBTQ Pioneers and Allies.
The Queer Time Capsule - student interactive workshop received positive feedback from the Models of Pride facilitators and student participants. Our Southern California FAIR Education Act Team is collaborating with historians and educators to further evolve this successful prototype.
We've also had a great response to our Today in LGBT History program. Please make sure to “LIKE” our Facebook page and/or follow TheLavenderE on Twitter to get daily historical LGBTQ updates.
These and other innovative educational programs flourish with your support, so please GIVE GENEROUSLY to The Lavender Effect today.
- Andy Sacher, Founding Executive Director
P.S. Save June 11th, 14th, & 19th for our 2013 LA PRIDE events (see below for details).
WHY DO WE NEED THE LAVENDER EFFECT?
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[Above: Dan Berkowitz]
Gay Pride will soon be upon us, and LGBTQs will dance – and drink – and celebrate how far we’ve come in the 47 years since it was illegal for gays to drink in New York.
Yes, you read that correctly: as recently as 1966, New York law prohibited serving alcohol to gay people. Until 1973, homosexuality was a mental illness in the United States. Until 1975, being gay was illegal in California. It’s easy to forget what we’ve had to overcome, and even easier to overlook LGBTQ contributions to civilization.
How many know of Alan Turing, considered the father of computer science? In an extraordinary 2009
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[Above: Matt Palazzolo, Nadia Sutton, & Andy Sacher]
statement, Britain’s Prime Minister acknowledged that Turing’s Nazi code-breaking was critical to winning World War II, and publicly apologized for the homophobia which drove him to suicide at 41. How many know that UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, whom President Kennedy called “the greatest statesman of our century,” was a gay man?
Just two examples of gays and lesbians who have shaped the world without being acknowledged for who they really were. This ignorance of history and lack of role models is a major reason why homophobia continues to run rampant and gay kids still kill themselves. It’s time for a Museum that can set the record… straight.
- Dan Berkowitz, Founding Advisor
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