Institutions like the Stonewall National Museum, Archives and Library in Fort Lauderdale are more important now than ever.
That’s the feeling of Robert Kesten, the museum’s executive director. The museum, tucked away on Sunrise Boulevard, houses the country’s largest lending library of LGBTQ literature.
Some of that same literature has become the target of right wing activists and state government as they work to get books with LGBTQ characters and themes removed from public schools.
“Not only is it important to have institutions like this, but it's important for those institutions to flourish in places like Florida. It's important because every story needs to be told if we're going to know history,” Kesten told WLRN.
The museum has been around for more than 50 years and currently faces an unprecedented attack on LGBTQ education from the state government as Governor Ron DeSantis is cracking down on what can be taught in schools and how.
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Inside the library, visitors can check out some of those same books that are being removed from curriculum and school libraries. Visitors can also see some of the art exhibits the museum features.
Their new exhibit from artist Beau McCall, 'Rewind: History on Repeat', is part of a series of shows they plan to feature, showcasing the art of minority LGBTQ artists.
Robert Kesten is the museum’s executive director and spoke with WLRN’s Gerard Albert III about the new exhibit and the importance of maintaining the archives.
WLRN: The exhibit you are showing now, Rewind:History on Repeat, features the work of a Black artist who is gay. It’s the first of a few shows that are aimed at exposing people to the work of minority artists within the LGBTQ community. What was behind the decision to focus on minority artists?
Kesten: As somebody who has studied history, I've always thought that real history is only when all voices are heard. And as an archive representing a community, it is important that it contain and display and share everybody's voice. And when one voice is left out, when one thread of the fabric is left out or pulled out, then you're no longer getting an accurate picture of history. Our job is to make sure that every voice is heard and that every story is told. And if we're participating in that neglect, then we're not doing our jobs. And I think that it's vitally important that we do our jobs. And the times demand that those voices be heard and those stories be told.
The show deals with how we remember people. The photographer collages photos of his friends, who were also gay, with buttons and paint. Why is it important to see these photographs of gay men in the 1980's?
The work that he does is quite unique in the sense that he forms a base of buttons, uniform in color and size, and then he builds layers and layers and layers with photographs and other objects. And these tell the story of his ten friends who are in these ten pictures. And because all of us are made of layers, it's interesting in the concept that he uses because he's creating the stories of these people by using layers. And unfortunately, all these people are deceased.
Beau is the one who's left to tell the stories of the other ten. What this story shows, what this exhibit shows is the resilience and the ability not only to form communities of choice, families of choice, but to override that and still become a contributor to the mainstream community. So whether it's through the music, whether it's through the art, whether it's through fashion, and whether it's through literature, these people, all ten of them, contributed in some way to the larger culture.
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The Stonewall Museum is not just an art museum, it houses one of the largest collections of LGBTQ literature in the country. Housing this work has always been important, maybe now more than ever as Governor Ron DeSantis tries to crack down on what is taught and how it is taught in schools. Why is a space like this necessary?
In this particular time, not only is it important to have institutions like this, but it's important for those institutions to flourish in places like Florida. It's important because every story needs to be told if we're going to know history. And when you realize how interconnected and interrelated the LGBTQ community is in every single other community and what the contributions are in the arts, in the sciences, in education, in government, you start to understand that if you don't know that part of the story, then you're missing a whole hunk of American history.
It's not dissimilar from any of the other marginalized groups. If you remove any of these kinds of things because they make other people feel uncomfortable, then you don't understand what the founders intended when they said to form a more perfect union.
You have books here that have been removed from public schools across the state. Why is it important to have these books here, available to the public?
We have a case in the back that has books that have been removed from classrooms and school libraries. And recently we started an eBooks program so that people who do not have access can get access to books that have been removed. We think that information is essential to being a good citizen.
Information is essential to being a full fledged human being. And knowledge remains the best tool in fighting hate and prejudice. And by removing books, by banning books, by hiding information, by demanding that certain things not be taught, it is a real attempt to dumb down the population because bad leaders understand that dividing us is an easy way to take control.
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