Atlanta Civil Rights Museum Expands LGBT Focus

The Center for Civil and Human Rights launches the LGBT Institute.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

Read Full Bio

Neal Broverman

September 07 2015 12:22 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

Nbroverman

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

When it opened a year and a half ago, Atlanta's Center for Civil and Human Rights incorporated the LGBT equality push within its exhibits on racial and gender equality. The museum is now going further, launching the LGBT Institute to not only record gay and trans rights, but help obtain them.

The Institute has an executive director and a board made up of individuals active in the LGBT movement; they hope to work with universities and LGBT organizations to further equality, especially in the South. Specifically, the museum hopes to improve "lived equality," a term that refers to the everyday experiences, not necessarily high-profile legal or political battles, of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

"Marriage does not make life wonderful for all," boardmember Tim'm West told the Associated Press. "For some, it's the one box to check. For others, there are four or five more that we need to work on."

The Institute will still help record our history; a new exhibit will look at the progression of Atlanta LGBT life following the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Watch a report on the museum's opening below.