25 Years of San Francisco’s Real Bad Party

Jul 10, 2013
Gay Media & Press Network

(GayWebSource.com – Gay Media & Press Network) – Posted by

Activism With a Beat: New Exhibit Celebrates 25 Years of San Francisco’s Real Bad Party
San Francisco –
A new multimedia exhibit opening August 8 at The GLBT History Museum highlights the history of Real Bad, a queer dance party held in conjunction with the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. “Be Bad…Do Good: Activism With a Beat” marks the 25th anniversary of the annual event; entirely produced and funded by volunteers, the party has raised nearly $1.7 million for local GLBT nonprofits.

“‘Be Bad…Do Good’ celebrates a quarter century of Real Bad, a party with a purpose and with a global following,” says Suzan Revah, who curated the show along with Gina Gatta. “Real Bad showcases San Francisco’s distinct generosity of spirit and support for community through dance-floor tradition, ritual and activism.”

Revelry and charity have long energized San Francisco’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Do-it-yourself GLBT fundraising fueled activism and built care organizations at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s. Rejecting sex negativity that the epidemic amplified, the community found joy in street fairs, the collective spirit of the AIDS Dance-a-Thon and the ecstasy of dance clubs such as the Trocadero Transfer.

“Be Bad…Do Good” explores how this compassion, creativity and club culture coalesced in the Real Bad dance extravaganza starting in 1988. The exhibit will feature 1980s party ephemera; Real Bad posters, invitations and photos; a video documentary custom-made for the show; and a wall-size infographic tracing the fundraising impact of the party over 25 years.

The show is part of an ongoing series of exhibits in the GLBT History Museum’s Corner Gallery that partner community curators with exhibitions professionals from the museum to create new perspectives on Bay Area queer history.

“Be Bad…Do Good” runs August 8 through Oct. 27, 2013. An opening reception is set for Thursday, August 8, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Admission to the museum is $5.00 (general); $3.00 (California students); free for members of the GLBT Historical Society. For more information, visit www.glbthistorymuseum.org.

ABOUT THE GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM

The GLBT History Museum is located at 4127 18th St. in San Francisco’s Castro District. Open since January 2011, it is the first full-scale, stand-alone museum of its kind in the United States. Currently featured in the Main Gallery is a long-term exhibition: “Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating San Francisco’s GLBT History.” The Front Gallery and Corner Gallery spaces present changing exhibitions.
The museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, a research center and archives that collects, preserves and interprets the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and the communities that support them. Founded in 1985, the society maintains one of the world’s largest collections of GLBT historical materials. For more information, visit www.glbthistory.org.
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