The GLBT History Museum
The nation's first museum dedicated to queer history, located among the shops and bars of the Castro, find objects, photographs, documents and video reflecting 100 years of LGBTQ life.
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Reviews
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Must Revisit From Time To Time
Our LGBTQI history is so rich, juicy, passionate, important, and necessary! I make it a point to revisit this amazing space as often as I can. Their exhibits are great. Their staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. And their admission is still affordable! Not to mention their amazing location, smack dab in the center of the gayborhood! Make sure to visit the GLBT History Museum at least 4 times a year. Don't let our history slip away into forgotten-ness-land.
Small museum with wonderful potential
This is probably the smallest museum I have ever visited. The museum is great if you want to learn a little bit about the LGBT community. The memorabilia is not bad at all, but some of them are just way too many. If the curator cuts down some of the memorabilia such as the matchbooks and the sex toys, he can put more historical events in their place. I feel that the museum has a potential to be something wonderful if they have more things to show. The admission ticket is $5.00 which is not expensive, and it supports the community and the museum.
Much needed
Although it's underwhelming as a museum, it's great to see space in the Castro that highlights queer culture and not just another place for underage kids from Fremont to come get sloshed and vomit on the sidewalk... Now it's up to the community to stuff it with treasures and keep it open this time.
long way to go
I visited this space last night and was really let down by what I saw. As a history museum, it fails on many levels. So many aspects of our history are under represented, such as Compton's Cafeteria riots, Stonewall, and the impact of the AIDS epidemic. A museum such as this should feel obligated to present the entirety of GLBT history, and really question the educational value of it's exhibits. Gay youth and the uneducated deserve more information, not a series of old matchbooks, a box of sex toys, and and old map of cruising locations. Now that the doors are open it is time for this place to reach out to larger institutions to beef up its collection and make it more meaningful. I was interested in the slideshow of historic candid photos and the oral histories, but again these things need to be expanded beyond a single screen and one pair of headphones. A great deal more information is needed on why the objects they have displayed are there. Congrats on existing, but I learned almost nothing from my experience here and honestly I found it to be a bit embarrassing.
First to Review
Great for the Movement
I was so thrilled that the LGBT Historical Society reopened their San Francisco museum in the Castro last night! It is awesome that there is a place where travelers and locals alike can go to learn and see the roots of the LGBT movement, and how they have grown into an amazing present and future!