Museums with Pride is an alliance of Bay Area museums working to lift up the local LGBTQ+ community. You’ll see representatives of all 19 participating museums marching together in the Pride parade on June 26.
Many of the museums are also putting on exhibitions related to Pride, gender, sexuality, LGBTQ+ history, and more. Here’s what to keep an eye out for.
1. Museum of the African Diaspora
San Francisco’s extraordinary Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) is one of the world’s few museums focusing solely on African Diaspora culture. On June 15 they will host LGBTQ+ activist and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors for their monthly program BLATANT: A Forum on Art, Rage, and Joy. They will also celebrate Juneteenth on June 18 with performances, talks, and more exciting exhibitions.
2. California Academy of Sciences
NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences is one of our favorite ongoing events. The popular Thursday night festivities feature live DJs, outdoor bars, ambience lighting, and more alongside the Academy’s nearly 40,000 animal residents! This month they will host a Pride-themed NightLife on June 23 with performances from SF’s only all-Black drag show, Reparations.
3. Exploratorium
The Exploratorium’s 18+ After Dark events are a must for some epic kid-free fun at their exhibits. Here’s what’s on the calendar for June:
- June 2 – After Dark: Discover Wonder. With rainbow lights and a DJ.
- June 9 – After Dark: Pride – Unheard Stories. A storytelling celebration of LGBTQ+ heritage and culture.
- June 16 – After Dark: See for Yourself. With a DJ from Hip Hop for Change.
- June 23 – After Dark: Pride in our Work. Pride-themed event with stories from LGBTQ+ community members.
4. Asian Art Museum
This stunning museum is home to over 18,000 magnificent works of Asian art, ranging from ancient ceramics to contemporary video installations. Their current exhibit Seeing Gender showcases sixteen museum works exploring themes of gender and sexuality across Asian art
5. Walt Disney Family Museum
This fascinating museum in the Presidio is dedicated to the legacy of Walt Disney. During Pride Month they will screen Zootopia on weekends alongside a special showing of Pixar’s SparkShorts film Out (2020), about a young gay man struggling to come out to his family.
6. GLBT History Museum
The GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) Historical Society Museum is recognized internationally as a leader in LGBTQ+ public history. Exhibitions include Queer Past Becomes Present, a foray into the history of queer life in San Francisco; Out in the World, which explores Ireland’s LGBTQ+ diaspora; and The Flag in the Map, a collection of stories about what the rainbow flag means to people around the world. The museum also famously displays a recently-discovered segment of the original 1978 rainbow flag.
Museums with Pride
The Museums With Pride alliance comprises a total of 19 different Bay Area museums. In addition to the aforementioned ones, it includes SFMOMA, the de Young Museum, the Legion of Honor, the SF Botanical Garden, the Museum of Craft and Design, Filoli, the Letterform Archive, the Oakland Museum of California, the Chinese Culture Center of SF, the Children’s Creativity Museum, and The Tech Interactive. Be sure to watch for the Museums with Pride alliance in San Francisco’s Pride parade!
Featured image: @filoli_ via Instagram