Northport Historical Society kicks off Pride month with first LGBTQ exhibit

The Northport Historical Society’s first LGBTQ exhibit is here and, in line with the first-ever Pride flag raising and the upcoming Pridefest in the Park event, is looking to shine light on the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQ community, in and out of Northport.

The PRIDE! pop-up exhibit was curated and designed by the society’s marketing and membership coordinator, John Daniello, and explores the history of the LGBTQ movement nationally and locally. In another first, the month-long exhibit welcomes members of the LGBTQ community – and their allies – to share personal stories of Pride on the exhibit’s “Share Your Pride” wall.

A Bronx, New York native, Daniello moved to Huntington in 2021 with his partner, Matt. When Daniello first learned about the Pridefest events happening in Northport Village, he jumped on the opportunity to take part in the month-long celebrations. Though he didn’t have much time to prepare, Daniello felt the support and encouragement of his colleagues and board members at the society and forged ahead.

Daniello did the majority of research for the pop-up himself, with help from Carol Taylor and Ceylan Swenson, education coordinators current and past, respectively. “It’s been a very long month for me,” said Daniello, who created every piece in the exhibit to his standards, defined largely by his background in graphic design – everything had to be perfect.

On opening day at the museum, Daniello reflected on the very first Pride month events in Northport Village, including the flag raising which he attended with some of his coworkers the day before. “It was an amazing outpouring of people,” Daniello said. “I never thought when I moved out here that I would see that type of situation.”

For PRIDE!, Daniello chose to cover the history of the LGBTQ community with a timeline of events. From the Society of Human Rights, founded in 1924 as the first gay rights organization and the oldest documented in America, to the Stonewall Riots in 1969, the Ryan White Care Act of 1990 and the brutal attack on and death of Matthew Shepard (1998), the exhibit invites visitors to delve into the history of the LGBTQ community from the early 1900s to the present day through a unique “3D” layout, vibrant graphics, and local news articles.

Newspaper reports of LGBTQ life in Northport are also on exhibit, including an article about controversial events that took place in 1995, when parents and members of local churches raised objections to the inclusion of an anti-bullying workshop at a Northport High School health fair. The workshop was organized in the wake of complaints from students and teachers about rampant homophobic bullying in the school, and had been a part of the fair the year prior. Parents and church elders called for the workshop to be removed from the 1996 lineup.

Also included in the exhibit are important moments in LGBTQ entertainment history, with links to a Pride playlist and sharable “Did You Know?” facts via an easily accessible QR code.

Eyes will gravitate as well to the work of local artist Greg Fox, a decades-long resident of Northport Village who began making comics when he was 12 years old. His illustration work has been featured in comic books for Revolutionary Comics, Triumphant Comics, Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

One of Fox’s most notable comic strips takes center stage at the PRIDE! pop-up. Kyle’s Bed and Breakfast premiered in 1998 and details life at a gay bed and breakfast set in Northport Village with characters inspired by real-life personalities. The popular strip continues to run in a variety of publications across North America today, as well as on the web.

When Fox first moved to the Village in 1990, he didn’t really expect or see much of an LGBTQ presence. “It didn’t even cross my mind to think, ‘Oh, some of my neighbors might be gay,’” Fox told the Journal. “I was as oblivious as the rest of the nation was at that time.” Being gay just wasn’t discussed, he said.

The filming of the 1997 comedy/romance In & Out in Northport Village was a happy surprise, Fox said.

“We didn’t know what kind of movie it was going to be. We didn’t even know it was going to be about this gay guy trying to come out,” Fox said. But he was able to hang around the Main Street set during his vacation from Book Revue, where he worked at the time, and recognized the stars: Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck, Debbie Reynolds. Once he and his neighbors realized In & Out was a gay movie, “We were like ‘It’s going to be a gay movie in Northport and no one is protesting?’” Fox said.

The local excitement and support for the movie was an indication to Fox that the idea of gay people in Northport wouldn't be so “controversial.” Fast forward over 25 years and Fox was one of the many people at the Village’s well-attended flag raising on June 1, the beginning of Pride month.

“What I really like about it is that it’s not just the gay community coming together, it’s really a lot of allies, straight people, it doesn’t really matter what your orientation is, everyone was just together to be there for this event,” Fox said.

“Pride shouldn’t be exclusive,” he continued. “We want everybody to be accepted… I think that’s what the message of Pride is. It’s that you matter, whoever you are. You matter, you are worthy, and you have a contribution to make to the world… Everyone should feel that way.”

The PRIDE! pop-up exhibit is sponsored by Northport Copy and runs through June 30; for more information click here. The Northport Historical Society will also be at Pridefest in the Park on Saturday, June 17, from 1 to 4pm in Northport Village Park, where Daniello hopes to expand the “Share Your Pride” concept with video recordings of Pride stories to be archived at the museum for generations to come.