Quick Take
Santa Cruz Pride has partnered with the City of Santa Cruz and the London Nelson Community Center to launch a new exhibit called “Out of the Closet and Into the Streets: 50+ Years of LGBTQ+ History in Santa Cruz County.” It opens Thursday and runs through the beginning of June.
Santa Cruz Pride has partnered with the City of Santa Cruz and the London Nelson Community Center to launch a new exhibit called “Out of the Closet and Into the Streets: 50+ Years of LGBTQ+ History in Santa Cruz County.”
The exhibit will officially open on Thursday, May 7, at 5 p.m. at the London Nelson Community Center, where people can learn about the rich LGBTQ+ history of Santa Cruz County. Longtime LGBTQ+ advocate and activist Pat Dellin is the main developer and creator of the exhibit.
A reception will follow, with a number of local speakers, including state Sen. John Laird, who was one of the first openly gay men to serve in the California Legislature; Santa Cruz County Supervisor Monica Martinez; County Supervisor Justin Cummings; Santa Cruz City Councilmember Sonja Brunner; and Cabrillo College trustee Adam Spickler, the first openly transgender person elected to public office in California.
LGBTQ+ figures involved in the local history itself also will be in attendance, including transgender academic Sandy Stone; advocates and longtime Santa Cruz residents Tom Ellison and Larry Friedman; Cabrillo College Health and Human Services chair Patrick Meyer; former Santa Cruz Pride parade grand marshals Mike Tossy and Mark Grantham; Santa Cruz Community Health board member Jo Kenny; Gail Groves and Dinah Phillips, the first gay couple to be married in the county; Santa Cruz Pride board member Curt Keyer; longtime advocate Maurice Carrillo and others.
The exhibit will be on display through the beginning of June.
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