Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals : The Curator's View

Since 2003, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has been circulating its traveling exhibition Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945 throughout the United States. A 30-panel traveling exhibition composed of scholar-vetted narrative, historical photographs, and reproduced original documents, the exhibition recounts the experiences of homosexual victims of Nazis while reinforcing larger lessons about stereotypes, bigotry, hatred, and persecution in Holocaust-era history. Significantly, Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals has allowed GLBT organizations to open discussions with other communities that likely would not have occurred without the common ground and language that the exhibition provides. This article, by the exhibition's curator, discusses the exhibition's origins and issues related to its tour and impact.