The City of West Hollywood is a proud co-sponsor of the One Institute’s Circa: LGBTQ+ Histories Festival. The month-long festival will feature 70 programs throughout October beginning on Sunday, October 1, 2023 and ending on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. As part of the festival, 12 programs will be located in West Hollywood.
Visit www.circafestival.org to view the schedule of events and to purchase tickets.
Circa’s unprecedented lineup honors LGBTQ+ History Month through thought-provoking exhibitions, readings, performances, panel conversations, and more, showcasing the trailblazing history and cultural contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. Festival programs spotlight the bold artistic talent of more than 200 community presenters representing every part of Los Angeles’ thriving arts and cultural landscape, from leading actors, writers, thinkers, filmmakers, and cultural organizations.
Circa 2023 will open on Sunday, October 1, 2023 with the ONE Magazine at Seventy exhibition. This will highlight the story of triumph and courage surrounding ONE Magazine, the first nationally distributed LGBTQ+ magazine in the United States. Organized by One Institute, curated by One Archives at the USC Libraries, and co-presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the event will start at 3 p.m. at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza, located at 1125 N. McCadden Place in Los Angeles.
Events in West Hollywood will begin on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. with Stories of Sex Work at The Mic at Micky’s, located at 8857 Santa Monica Boulevard. Other events in West Hollywood will include panel discussions, pop-up exhibits, lectures, and various workshops occurring throughout the month. More information and tickets for all events happening in West Hollywood can be found at West Hollywood – Circa (circafestival.org).
Participating organizations include the ACLU of Southern California, Celebration Theatre, Gender Justice LA, the Getty Research Institute, the Goethe-Institute, Lambda Literary, Museum of Neon Art, William Grant Still Arts Center, Williams Institute, and more. Program participants include groundbreaking actor Michael Kearns, Making Gay History podcaster and author Eric Marcus, Lambda Literary Awards winner Abdi Nazemian, pioneering cleric and activist Reverend Troy Perry, trailblazing photographer body artist Sheree Rose, cultural anthropologist Dr. Gayle Rubin, TransLatin@ Coalition founder Bamby Salcedo, founder of the Black AIDS Institute Phill Wilson, artist Dorian Wood, young artist and activist Mars Wright criminal defense attorney and civil rights activist Mia Yamamoto, and many more.
Founded in 1952, One Institute is the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in the country, dedicated to telling LGBTQ+ history and stories through education, arts, and social justice programs. One Institute serves as the independent community partner that supports ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California (USC) Libraries, the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) materials in the world. One Institute’s mission is to elevate queer and trans histories and embrace emerging stories through collaborative education, arts, and cultural programs. Moreover, ONE Institute envisions a world motivated by social movements of the past to take action toward queer and trans liberation.
In addition to the festival, an exhibition in celebration of One Magazine’s 70th Anniversary will debut on Sunday, October 1, 2023 at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries and Courtyard. Exhibition materials will highlight iconic artifacts from ONE Magazine’s history such as the October 1954 issue that became the focal point of the landmark Supreme Court case ONE, Inc. v. Olesen, which was the first in U.S. history to rule in favor of LGBTQ+ freedom of speech and expression.
The curatorial and educational choices made by One Institute are guided by a commitment to social equity and justice. One Institute engages with the complexity of LGBTQ+ history and representation through highlighting the intersectional narratives of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), women, gender-nonconforming and transgender people, people of various abilities, youth, and elders across all socio-economic classes. To learn more about the One Institute, please visit www.oneinstitute.org.
