The Pendulum of Pride: A History of LGBTQ Resilience in Central Florida

Dive into the history of LGBTQ community, pride, and protest in Central Florida with Ph.D. Candidate David Matteson!

To reserve your spot for this lecture, please register here >>

As part of the Art & History Museum’s continuing lecture series on the history of Florida, this lecture will survey the history of the LGBTQ community within the Central Florida region by focusing on moments of progress, resistance, and resilience. In the wake of the tragic shooting at PULSE nightclub in 2016, demonstrations of love and support centralized around the LGBTQ community. Yet no matter how many rainbow flags fly in the City Beautiful, queer individuals have not always been welcomed. Our history includes moments when showing one’s pride sparked protest, and political progress prompted regressive discrimination. By turning to the past, we may better understand the LGBTQ community’s resilience — a quality for which we should all be proud.

The lecture will draw upon the collection of the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida, learn more about this organization at floridalgbtqmuseum.org/.

David Matteson is a past Board President of the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida, an organization founded in 2005 and dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the region’s queer history. He is also the Associate Curator of Education and Outreach at the Orlando Museum of Art and a doctoral candidate in the Texts and Technology program at the University of Central Florida.

This event coincides with A&H’s monthly Last Wednesday event, which offers free gallery admission and a cash bar from 5:30 to 8 pm—you may RSVP here. A complimentary 45-minute gallery tour by Chief Curator Dan L. Hess begins at 5:30 pm. Space for these tours is limited, so please pre-register here.