Balboa Park is known as the “cultural hub” of San Diego, and measuring at 1,200 acres, it’s one of the largest urban parks. It’s also surrounded by varying neighborhoods, including Downtown San Diego, East Village, Cortez Hill, Grant Hill, South Park, North Hills, Park West, and Midtown. 

The park consists of a mixture of culture, science, and nature. It’s home to the San Diego Zoo, multiple performing arts venues, gardens and trails, a variety of outdoor recreational activities and attractions, and 17 museums. One of the park’s museums is the San Diego History Center which just received a new exhibit exploring, celebrating, and remembering the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQ community in San Diego.

“This is a story that needs to be told here in Balboa Park,” said Bill Lawrence, the center’s executive director, in an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

San Diego's Pride Parade photo by Shutterstock

This exhibit continues the center’s credo of being the “steward of our heritage.” The History Center, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary, aims to teach and inform people about the power of the community as well as struggles that the LGBTQ community has faced over the years, such as persecution, bullying, intolerance, and the battle against AIDS.

Lillian Faderman, LGBTQ scholar, author, and lead curator of the exhibit,said in the San Diego Union-Tribue, “Young people think things were always the way they are. One reason for the exhibit is to show them things weren’t always like this. They were hard.” Faderman also remarked that the exhibit is “a story of triumphs, and also of struggles.”

The exhibit, which will run from July of this year to January 2020, will include curated artifacts gathered from the local LGBTQ community, such as the notebook of Auntie Helen’s Fluff’n’Fold—a laundry service for men with AIDS that includes notations in the margins when clients passed away such as, “When he dies, don’t call his mother. Call his sister.”

The design of the exhibit stresses the local connection, particularly as it is the first exhbit in Balboa Park to address LGBTQ history. It was created with eight pillars, each one focusing on a different theme, such as the arts, Pride events, and the continued struggle for equal rights. Other pillars include “Love Flourishes” (which focuses on various types of romances, from closeted relationships to state-sanctioned marriages) and “The Plague Years” (which details the history of AIDS before antiviral drugs became available).

The museum is open everyday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition to exhibits and events, the museum also offers resources and programs to the community, such as guided tours, a community historian program, school programs, and more.