Introduction and Editorial

Abstract

MUSEUM international Introduction T he struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals and groups to express their differences, demand social justice and reclaim a place in history1 are not new ones. In the 1960s, the earliest demonstrations from LGBTQI+ activists against police repression in the public space were centred around demands for visibility, equal rights and social representation. Today, more than 50 years after the landmark Stonewall riots in June 1969, we can say that several groups and organised movements around the world use cultural tactics and memory-based projects as important tools in their demands for equal rights and inclusiveness in the public sphere (see Sandell 2017). These affirmative strategies of LGBTQI+ minorities have substantially increased since the mid-1980s, in a movement that was spurred in part by the global spread of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. Among the tragic consequences of this historical event was the death of thousands of gay men, as well as other marginalised groups, such as drug users, sex workers, trans people, migrants, etc.—due to governmental neglect as denounced by the ACT UP movements around the globe2. From these terrible events emerged a sense of cultural loss among LGBTQI+ people, but also the rise of a collective awareness that restoring this culture as well as breaking the chain of viral transmission was imperative. It was in this context, in 1985, that the GLBT Historical Society (San Francisco) and the Schwules Museum (Berlin) both presented in this issue, were created.