While there is a lot of fear in our community about being erased, there is little interest or effort in our community to learn about our history and culture. How can outsiders erase us when we ourselves do not know where we come from or the history we have made? Can you erase what is already unknown?

Covering over crosswalks is hurtful and alarming because it raises the level of fear and insecurity, but a community that doesn't know its own history cannot easily defend itself in the face of attacks. It cannot respond with facts and detail on why we are indeed an important contributor to the world around us and instrumental in other marginalized and minority groups gaining greater equality.

Groups and individuals have visited us at Stonewall, some never heard of New York's Stonewall Inn, many have never heard of Anita Bryant, fewer know Edie Windsor, or Larry Kramer, Barbara Giddings, or Frank Kemeny.

Fewer still know about Magnus Hirschfeld, and the man who helped George Washington win the Revolutionary War, Baron von Steuben. This is an illustrious history that offers us all a great deal to be proud of. Its erasure is a problem because so much of it is unknown, even in our own community.

Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library is one of the oldest historic and cultural organizations in our global community, going on 53 years of service and founded and located here in Broward County.

Visit us, get a tour, learn about the queer community, find us online, make erasure impossible, not only in words, but deeds. Let our community's history live inside you. It will give you a sense of pride you never thought possible.

– Robert Kesten 

President & CEO, Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library