January 14, 2011 | Sex & Society

Gay museum opens in San Francisco

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Museum has opened in San Francisco. It will house artifacts such as sex toys, manuscripts and some of gay rights activist Harvey Milk’s belongings.

This is only the second museum in the world dedicated to the LGBT community. The first, the Schwules Museum, is located in Berlin, Germany and opened in 1985.

Paul Boneberg, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, said: “The GLBT History Museum is in the heart of the Castro, a neighborhood visited not only by locals, but also by tens of thousands of tourists every year who come in search of queer culture.

“At our museum, they’ll discover treasures from our archives that reflect fascinating stories spanning nearly a century of GLBT life.

“We have gone all out to create a museum as rich, diverse and surprising as the GLBT community itself. Whether they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or straight, visitors are sure to be moved, enlightened and entertained.”

This is certainly long overdue.