“HATE CRIME,” a passer-by places flowers on George Segal’s “Gay Liberation” after a vandal attacked
“HATE CRIME,” a passer-by places flowers on George Segal’s “Gay Liberation” after a vandal attacked the piece with a hammer, Palo Alto, California, March 1989. Photo c/o @stanford..On February 21, 1984, Stanford University officially installed one of two versions of artist George Segal’s sculpture “Gay Liberation” on the northern end of the campus’ Lomita Mall (the other version, originally intended for installation near the site of the Stonewall Riots, was rejected by many Greenwich Village residents and organizations; “Gay Liberation” would not come to New York City until 1992)..Stanford, long a supporter of public art, seemed a perfect venue for Segal’s work, and the installation was welcome by many. Others, however, greeted the sculpture with predictable indignation. “Stanford,” one alumnus wrote in a March 1984 letter, “is apparently willing to recognize and celebrate sexual perversion with a sickening four-figure sculpture, ‘Gay Liberation.’ No wonder Stanford cannot win football games.’”.On March 6, 1984, thirty-three years ago today, “two weeks after the sculpture’s installation, a vandal struck it with a hammer 40 times…The statue was removed and repaired, then replaced in Lomita Mall,” according to The Stanford Daily. “I felt like I personally had been attacked,” one student told the paper. “The Segal sculpture is important to me in that it’s a symbol of love and affection among gay people.” Another student said that his “immediate reaction…was one of deep disappointment and realization that even here at Stanford we are not safe.”.In the months and years following the attack on Segal’s sculpture, a more visible and militant queer community emerged at Stanford, and many point to the vandalism of “Gay Liberation” as the start of the increased activism. #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #GayLiberation #Resist (at Stanford University) -- source link
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