Gateway to Pride

June is Pride month, and in these times, we need expressions of support for Pride more than ever.

The Missouri History Museum, located in Forest Park in St. Louis, has an exhibit called Gateway to Pride which has run for a while and ends its run in a couple of weeks on July 6th. Recently, I had a chance to visit the museum (it’s free) and see the exhibit, and I’m glad I went.

The exhibit covers the entire LGBT spectrum, with both information about the history concerning LGBT rights and artifacts such as clothes and costumes with significance to the LGBT community. One of the credited sponsors is Essay, our former President of the St. Louis Gender Foundation. One of the items refers to past members of the Gender Foundation.

Even with the events under the current political climate, I maintain there has been no better time to be LGBT than today. More people are more tolerant of those in the LGBT community, and especially younger people. The rights of LGBT people are more protected than ever, especially in blue states like the one where I live (Illinois). Transgender individuals continue to be the punching bag of the current administration, but many rights within the TG community and all LGBT communities are still protected.

The history summaries written on the walls of the exhibit show much of the progress has only been in recent years. Up until thirty or forty years ago, individuals could have been arrested for dressing as the opposite gender. Supreme Court decisions striking down laws prohibiting sexual activity between same sex individuals date back to the early 2000’s, and same sex marriages have only been allowed in all fifty states since 2015. 

Those who crossdress in 2025, like myself, or Kandi, or other contributors–or perhaps you reading this–owe a debt of gratitude to those who came before us. They risked being arrested, or shunned, or fired from their job because they crossdressed in public. We stand on the shoulders of those past individuals, and Pride Month should honor them too.

Two years ago I bought the Australian Pride t-shirt at the suggestion of my GG friend Renee, and I bought one for her, and another for GG friend Ms. Dee-ism, who has a transgender child. As I was going to the Gateway to Pride exhibit, I thought that was the only choice. I also had some cute shorts with daisies on them that I thought paired well with the shirt, and the fishnets added to the edgy/grunge/goth look. 

Upon arrival at the Museum, I attempted to take a selfie with the “I Am St. Louis” backdrop, but a woman with a Museum ID tag offered to take my picture–an offer I immediately accepted. She also said she liked my fishnets and shoes, and that she usually only wears fishnets (and like me, she wasn’t exactly a member of the younger demographic). A picture and a compliment was Dee-finitely a good start to seeing the exhibit.

Unlike other historical eras, the expansion of LGBT rights is one that most of us have lived through. We were witnesses when the events desribed in writing on the walls happened. The changes in law or Supreme Court decisions were in the news; the battles for gay and lesbian rights, and the right to marry. Again, many of these events happened within the last thirty years, a large portion of my adulthood. The timeline of events written on the walls weren’t necessarily something new for me to learn, but rather a reminder of the slow march of progress over time.

I enjoyed the exhibit very much and have communicated that to others I know who might be interested, and to Essay.

I also wandered around other exhibits in the Museum, including an area with photos and descriptions of musicians from the St. Louis area, the most notable probably being Tina Turner (Ike Turner was from East St. Louis, but Tina has the more long term fame). Michael Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M., my favorite band, is from nearby Collinsville, Illinois (at least for high school), so I had to get my selfie next to him.

After the Museum I drove to the Galleria, having made arrangements with my GG friend Karla to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I wanted to do an outfit upgrade for dinner, so I changed into a green dress I bought for my birthday about six years ago, but had never worn. I decided it was time, and Karla appreciated the look, and dinner, and our dinner conversation. Yes, we both also bought slices of cheesecake to go.

Dinner with a friend was a rewarding nightcap to a rewarding day relearning the history of the Pride movement, for which all of us on the TG spectrum ought to be grateful.