MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rise Up : Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement is a new exhibit that debuted at MOSH (Museum of Science and History) on Saturday, June 4.
The main highlight of the exhibit is the Stonewall Riots that happened at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. If you are not familiar with this history, in 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City.
The raid ignited a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police hauled employees and patrons out of the bar. This lead to six days of protests with law enforcement outside the bar and in neighboring streets nearby. These riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Other highlights of this exhibit feature the portraying of LGBTQ in pop culture, such as the coming out of Ellen Degeneres in the 1990s, or the controversy surrounding the movie Broke Back Mountain.
More history to look for in this exhibit are highlights of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the AIDS crisis in Memphis, the 1978 assassination of Harvey Milk, one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials, hate crimes, the history of the LGBTQ in Memphis, which started in 1866, and more.
This exhibit will be on display until September 26.
