October is LGBT History Month, a month-long annual observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. To further our mission of educating the public about rural lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) people and issues in order to make our community a safer and more welcoming place, Spencer Pride, Inc., annually distributes educational displays that feature information about LGBTQI history. This year’s displays, with the theme of “LGBT People in U.S. Political History” were developed and created by creative and talented volunteers from Prism Youth Community – Bloomington.
The display can be found at a record number of libraries, public schools, and community organizations this year, continuing Spencer Pride’s trend of making each year’s distribution bigger than the last. Distribution of this year’s displays is a widespread 23 locations–including 13 separate communities, 9 counties, 16 libraries, 3 high schools, & 3 universities.
The 2016 displays can be found at the following locations:
- Bedford Public Library (Bedford)
- Bloomington North High School (Bloomington)
- Bloomington South High School (Bloomington)
- Bloomfield Eastern Greene County Library (Bloomfield) – poster only; no educational display
- Brazil Public Library (Brazil)
- Brown County Public Library (Nashville)
- DePauw University, Roy O. West Library (Greencastle)
- Edgewood High School (Ellettsville)
- Indiana University, GLBT Student Support Services (Bloomington)
- Indiana University, Herman B. Wells Library (Bloomington)
- Indiana University, School of Public Health (1025 E. 7th Street, Bloomington)
- Knox County Public Library (Vincennes)
- Linton Public Library (Linton)
- Mitchell Community Public Library (Mitchell)
- Monroe County History Center (Bloomington)
- Monroe County Public Library (Bloomington)
- Monroe County Public Library (Ellettsville)
- Morgan County Public Library (Martinsville) – NOVEMBER only
- Owen County Public Library (Spencer)
- Putnam County Public Library (Greencastle)
- Spencer Pride community center & Unity retail shop (Spencer)
- Vincennes University Library (Vincennes)
- Worthington Jefferson Township Library (Worthington)
We are very appreciative of the volunteers at Prism Youth Community – Bloomington for their outstanding work in creating this year’s displays. We are also thankful for the many school administrators, librarians, and other professionals who have supported having our displays in their establishments, and commend those who added to our display with books, posters, and other educational materials to encourage further learning and discussion. We hope you will visit some of these locations to learn a bit more about LGBT folks in politics throughout history.