I’m jealous.”) Shore was working with Phoenix Pride, which was moved to action after witnessing the demolition of beloved downtown drag bar 307 Lounge. This collection is a learning point.”Īround the time Godoy began recruiting volunteers to help with the archive, she met Marshall Shore, who bills himself as Phoenix’s “hip historian.” (Unprovoked, Godoy willingly backed up that claim: “Have you met him in person? His outfits are always great. We need to look at history to not repeat missteps. “Today, in 2017, you see the LGBT community facing similar obstacles as in the 1970s, and even obstacles they faced before then. “In order to get a real deep understanding of Arizona history, you need multiple perspectives,” she said, and a better understanding of history can lead to a better understanding of the present. When she discovered the archives at Hayden, she felt compelled to bring them back to life. When a lack of funds and manpower forced the center to close in the early 2000s, it turned the collection over to ASU Library in the hopes that it would continue to serve as an educational tool.Ī recent recipient of the Arizona Humanities Rising Star Award for her archival work, Godoy sees the value in preserving the past. The collection was given the name “Bj Bud Memorial Archives” in 1996 after the passing of Harlene “Bj” Bud, in honor of her work as an activist in the 1970s, leading grass-roots efforts that included planning the first Phoenix Pride March and Rally and bringing awareness to the AIDS crisis in Arizona.
Over the years, it amassed the collection of artifacts that came to be a resource for anyone who wanted to learn more about the LGBT community and experience. The center had been around since the early ’90s, providing Phoenix’s LGBT community with health services, support groups and educational programs.
#307 GAY BAR PHOENIX ASU BJ BUDD FULL#
It shows they’re not monsters.”īefore Godoy began her work, the boxes full of artifacts sat untouched in storage at Hayden Library in Tempe since being donated in 2004 by the Valley of the Sun Gay and Lesbian Center. “These photos show the human side of the community,” she said, “which has been dehumanized so much. The boy’s sign reads, “My mom is a lesbian - and I love her.” The photo is from Phoenix’s first gay pride march in 1981.
It depicted a young boy of about 8 marching amid a crowd of sign holders. Godoy gestured then toward a photo at the front of the table. April 1-2 at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix. She’ll be spreading awareness about the archives at this weekend’s Phoenix Pride Festival, taking place from noon to 9 p.m. Herself a mother and a member of the LGBT community, Godoy has been working since 2015 to sort and organize the 151 boxes of artifacts that make up the Bj Bud Memorial Archives, which document the community’s history in Arizona from 1966 to 2015. “When you think LGBT culture, you think this,” ASU Library archivist Nancy Godoy said, pointing to the cover photo of Cissy Goldberg, a well-known drag performer in the 1970s Phoenix gay community. The title of the periodical is “The Pride of Phoenix.” 15, 1977, is a drag queen in full makeup, hair and dress, all gaping smile and wide eyes, white-gloved hand raised high above her head as if to throw all her cares away. Laid out on a table in Hayden Library’s fourth-floor Luhrs Reading Room is an assortment of black-and-white photos, yellowing leaflets, musty T-shirts, tin buttons, ribbons and plaques.