GLBT Ohio History Banners

Click to go directly to the web version of Pride of Ohio.

Click to go directly to the web version of A Brief History of GLBT Pride Parades in Ohio.

The GOHI traveling display, Pride of Ohio, premiered at Pride Festivals in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton in June 2008.

To create Pride of Ohio, members of the GOHI Exhibit Committee researched and identified more than thirty notable LGBT Ohioans, narrowing the list to eighteen. Some people profiled will be more familiar than others – Paul Lynde, for example, is a cultural icon from “Bewitched.” Bibliophiles, though, can learn about Barbara Grier, Mary Oliver, Hart Crane, Jacqueline Woodson, and Michael Cunningham. Jazz lovers may focus on Billy Strayhorn. Philosophers have Judith Butler. Photographers can take note of Berenice Abbott. Architecture enthusiasts have Philip Johnson to admire. And everyone can savor the life of Natalie Clifford Barney, American expatriate and Paris literary salon hosts, who lived and loved as she damn well pleased.

Click here for a bibliography of works of or about the eighteen notable LGBT Ohioans.

A Brief History, will have its first showing at the Columbus Pride festival in June 2009.

Using websites, email interviews, and local newspapers, members of the GOHI exhibit committee created a set of two banners that traces the history of pride parades within the state. In particular, the committee researched early parades in major Ohio cities, controversies surrounding the parades, attendance, and participants’ reactions.