Burlingame, CA - The National Postal Museum’s curators met with collectors from the Gay and Lesbian History on Stamps Club at the Westpex Stamp Show on Saturday, April 27, 2024 to immerse themselves in a scholarly discussion of LGBTQ+ philately. The event provided an opportunity to deepen participants’ shared knowledge and expertise.
The day's agenda encompassed topics including the postal censorship faced by gay-oriented mailings from the late ’50s to early ’70s, and the role played by pen-pal clubs, magazines, and mail order in creating LGBTQ+ communities. Attendees explored early newsletters, publications, exhibits, and archives to shed light on the changing representation of sexual and gender minorities within organized philatelic circles. The session ended with a viewing of Dr. Tomas L. Griebling’s forthcoming single-frame philatelic exhibit, From Mark of Oppression to Symbol of Gay Pride: The Pink Triangle, which will be shown for the first time at this year’s National Topical Stamp Show 2024 in Hartford, Connecticut.
"This event provided a unique opportunity for participants to come together and explore an often overlooked aspect of philately and postal history," said Daniel Piazza, curator of philately at the National Postal Museum. "We’re really grateful to the attendees for contributing to a better understanding of LGBTQ+ representation within the national collection."
The success of this inaugural gathering set the stage for future exploration and collaboration. Participants endorsed an idea to collect oral histories from pioneering LGBTQ+ philatelists and were invited to convene again at the Sarasota National Stamp Exhibition in January 2025. The event provided valuable input to the National Postal Museum's collecting plan and highlighted important issues surrounding interpretation and exhibition of material related to diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.
For more information, please visit the National Postal Museum's website at https://postalmuseum.si.edu and the Gay and Lesbian History on Stamps Club at http://www.glhsonline.org.
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