The city of North Miami honors LGBTQ pioneers with new art in public places installation celebrating Miami-Dade County’s LGBTQ History

(Photo: Courtesy)

The city of North Miami unveiled a new sculpture installation this past Saturday, March 4th, that was commissioned by the municipality to “Celebrate the legacy of Miami-Dade County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer champions and the historic milestones of the LGBTQ community,” said Scott Galvin, the Councilman for the City of North Miami who spearheaded this project. The artwork, created by Miami artist Alan Gutierrez, will remain permanently installed at Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park, located at 1725 NE 135th Street in North Miami.

This is the first time a permanent public art installation in Miami-Dade County honors the LGBTQ community in this manner. The sculpture includes a time-line that comes full circle from 1977-2017: starting with Ruth Shack's historic championing of gay rights in 1977, to forty years later when the made-in-Miami film Moonlight is the first LGBTQ film ever to win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture, as well as being the first with an all-black cast. Moonlight was directed and written by Miamians Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney. 

“The project was originally inspired by the June 2016 tragedy at Orlando's Pulse nightclub," said Councilman Galvin, who has served in public office for 18 years (making Galvin one of the longest-serving openly gay elected officials in the United States). “Rather than be a somber memorial to those victims, North Miami's sculpture celebrates LGBTQ lives that inspire all of us, and acknowledges the legacy of LGBTQ milestones in Miami-Dade County's history,” adds Galvin.

Pioneers of the LGBTQ movement are featured in a plaque that stands alongside the artwork installation, serving as a time-line of Miami-Dade County’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer history. (Photo: Courtesy)

Councilman Galvin also introduced some of the other LGBTQ icons honored by the city of North Miami at the unveiling, including:

• Florida State Rep. Elaine Gordon (the park where the installation is located is named after Gordon). She was an early proponent of legislation against hate crimes, and was an early champion of human rights (her children and grandchildren accepted the award on behalf of Rep. Gordon)
• Former Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Victoria Sigler, the first openly LGBTQ political figure to win judicial office in the state of Florida
• Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David Young, who came out publicly in 1994 while serving on the county court
• Mark King Leban, the first openly gay man appointed a Dade County court judge
• Former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, the first openly gay mayor in Miami-Dade County
• North Miami resident Martin Gill, an openly gay man who in 2010 won the right to become an adoptive parent, effectively ending Florida’s 33-year ban on gay adoption
• Florida State Rep. David Richardson, who in 2012 became Florida’s first openly gay member in its House or Senate
• SAVE, the LGBTQ-rights group that led the drive to restore the Miami-Dade human-rights ordinance in 1998, years after the battle between Anita Bryant and LGBTQ activists.                

(Photo: Courtesy)