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cartoonists. Their brave and targeted covers have featured
artists whose barbed line drawings capture the winds of
change with ironic humor. Cartoonist William Haefeli and
graphic novelist Alison Bechdale are included for their
sophisticated insights.
Paranoia, irrationality, fear, and brutal actions by police forces
around the country fueled a smoldering powder keg of repres-
sion, which erupted on June 28, 1969, when a Greenwich
Village tavern, the Stonewall Inn, became the riot site between
the New York City Police and the LGBTQI community.
Unquelled, it erupted onto the neighboring streets and was
met with harsh repression by the police. This may have been
the turning point to organize individuals of diverse opinions
and splinter groups into forceful aggregates for social change.
A number of our artists were at Stonewall and bear witness
to this uprising in their work.
November 2, 1969 marked the first “pride parade,” which
birthed two powerful social activist groups in support of gay
civil rights and continues to serve as an annual memorial to
the victims of the riot and the AIDS epidemic. Joan Roth, a
New York photographer and social activist, has covered these
parades for the past two decades (page 11).
Early in 1981, reports emerged from California and New York
of small numbers of gay men who were diagnosed with a rare
form of cancer or pneumonia and shared the symptom of se-
verely damaged immune systems. By 1982, HIV/AIDS cases
rapidly spread throughout the U.S. and Europe, numbering
more than 100,000 persons and including heterosexual men
and women who had used intravenous drugs or had received
contaminated blood transfusions. Although the medical pro-
fession and scientific community responded to the growing
epidemic, it was not until 1987 that a significant pattern of
treatment evolved.
In November 1985, a long-time gay rights activist, Cleve
Jones of San Francisco, conceived the idea of a memorial
quilt after participating in several candlelight memorial
parades. Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George
Moscone, victims of assassination, as well as hundreds of
friends and family members, were included in the original
memorial. By 1990, the
NAMES Project AIDS Memorial
Quilt
had spread across the country. The quilt currently
numbers over 48,000 panels and was exhibited on the
Mall in Washington D.C. in July 2012. We are honored to
be exhibiting two panels of the quilt, created by John Hirsch,
which link the Memorial effort to the continued support of
Judaism’s Reform Movement (page 23).
In closing, I would like to mention two works that highlight
other aspects of this undertaking. Henry Bismuth has painted
for this exhibition a powerful image of heterosexual intimacy:
Shiva and Macali
,
two gods of the Hindu pantheon, in close
embrace. Representing the universality of passion, love, per-
sonal commitment, and enduring support, they expand our
recognition of humanity (page 16). The other work, a diptych
by Archie Rand, reinforces our Jewish heritage of biblical inter-
pretation. In the first panel, a glorious warrior, Deborah,
plots to go into battle with General Barak against the Syrian
army. In the second panel (page 31), taking her female place
as an equal, she is garbed as an Israeli Sabra warrior.
A word of personal thanks to Rabbi Jerome Davidson, National
Coordinator of Leadership Initiatives at HUC-JIR, for his endless
support and farsighted actions; to Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener, D.Min.,
Director, Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling at HUC-JIR/New
York, for her guidance and commitment to integrate this exhibition
into students’ pastoral education; and to my deeply involved curatorial
associates, Phyllis Freedman and Nancy Mantell.
Avner Moriah
Rules, Leviticus, 18:21-23
, 2012
Watercolor, paper
13"
x 11"
