CCMS Volume 4 (PDF) San Francisco’s Queer Nation: LGBT Visibility in the Age of AIDS. by Rick Gerharter
CCMS Volume 4 (PDF) San Francisco’s Queer Nation: LGBT Visibility in the Age of AIDS. by Rick Gerharter
ABSTRACT: Queer Nation was a grassroots movement started in New York City in March 1990 by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists outraged by increased anti-gay and lesbian street violence and by the continuing prejudice in the media. Queer Nation chapters quickly appeared in many major cities throughout the United States, and by July 1990 a San Francisco chapter was publicly established.
Rick Gerharter had come to San Francisco in 1977 to escape Minnesota winters and meet gay progressives. The Queer Nation and ACT-UP members he met in respected his journalism and allowed him to contribute to the movement. As a member of the gay community and as a photo documentarian, Gerharter used his photographs to spread the word about the activism and message of these groups. 1 News outlets, such as the Bay Area Reporter, often printed Gerharter’s photographs of the direct actions conducted by Queer Nation. Gerharter’s photographs captured a flashpoint in the global gay movement for equality and dignity, which resulted in a turning point on issues of gay rights, public perceptions, and the reclamation of the word “queer.” Gerharter’s photographs in this monograph comprise a body of work about Queer Nation and AIDS activism in the San Francisco Bay Area that are artistically captivating as well as historically important.
California Cultures : A Monograph Series v. 4. 2015
Oakland, CA: Land of Oaks Institute.
30 Pages. Includes 24 photographs with captions.
CCMS Editors: Brian Gleeson, Timothy Jordan, and Dr. Lee Davis.
Curated by Maureen Bourbin.
Design and layout by Brian Gleeson.
Cover photo “Fisherman’s Wharf Visibility Action #3” by Rick Gerharter All photos by Rick Gerharter.
ISSN 2333-9667 (electronic format) PDF version
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Based in San Francisco, Rick Gerharter has been photographing for over twenty-five years. His experience is broad and deep, with special emphasis on photojournalism and travel. His photojournalism can be seen regularly in the Bay Area Reporter of San Francisco; and elsewhere in a wide variety of periodicals and newspapers from the Economist and Newsweek to The Leather Journal and Whorezine. His photos are featured in several books: San Francisco’s Castro; Out in the Castro: Desire, Promise, Activism; Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area; Witness the Love: Stories from the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic; and Out in America; plus appearing in Unity: A Celebration of Gay Games IV and Stonewall; Uncommon Heroes, and several others.
His travel photos can be seen in many Lonely Planet travel guides, and are also used by various other travel institutions.
Solo exhibits have included Capturing the Moment: The Photojournalism of Rick Gerharter (GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco), Havana Panorama (Mad Magda's Russian Tea Room, San Francisco), Una Verdad de San Francisco (Galeria de Arte 7, Havana, Cuba), HomoFoto San Francisco (Valley Women's Art Gallery, Fresno, California). Queer Pix, (Josie's Cabaret & Juice Joint, San Francisco).
Group exhibits have included Out at the Library (Public Library, San Francisco), The Sporting Life (GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco), Quiescence (Public Library, San Francisco), Urban Scrawl (Armpit Gallery, San Francisco), Becoming Visible: The Invisible Culture (Parsons School of Design, New York), Bay Area Lesbian and Gay Art and Photography (DeMaio Fine Arts Gallery, Guerneville, CA), Daily and Transcendent: 25+ Years of Queer Photojournalistic Portraits (Public Library, San Francisco).
His work is also in the collection of the James C Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center of the San Francisco Public Library.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR:
Website for Rick Gerharter’s photography, http://www.rickgerharterphotos.com