GAY GREATNESS
Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Contributions in Art and History
A LECTURE BY GREGORIO LUKE
Filmmaker: Greg Sirota
JUNE 15, 2014, SAN FRANCISCO.
Gay Greatness celebrates the accomplishments of Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and other LGBTQ+ individuals in art, history and culture. From Socrates and Sappho to Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman; from Tchaikovsky to Elton John...
Originally the presentation was going to be a series of biographies but it soon became clear that this approach was insufficient, first because their success cannot be explained solely by their sexuality.
More importantly, without understanding the context in which they lived, we can only obtain a superficial appreciation of their careers.
The context in which the LGBTQ+ community has lived in the Western world is characterized by an unbelievable level of persecution and hatred. The Catholic Church condemned sodomy as a sin. The legal system made it a crime; the medical establishment treated it as a perversion and a sickness.
Gays have been burned at the stake, tortured, imprisoned, marginalized, and persecuted. In light of so much hostility, their accomplishments become even more meaningful.
This is also the story of the struggle of the Gay community to overcome oppression and prejudice, through a powerful Civil Rights movement that has abolished many discriminatory laws, ended the definition of homosexuality as a disease and obtained for the LGBTQ community a social status and respect without parallel in the history of humanity.
--Gregorio Luke.
ABOUT GREGORIO LUKE
Gregorio Luke is an expert on Mexican and Latin American art and culture. He is the former Director of the Museum of Latin American Art, Consul of Cultural Affairs of Mexico in Los Angeles and the First Secretary of the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Luke has given over 1,000 lectures in museums and universities in Mexico, Europe and the United States.
For more information on Gregorio, email him here: gregorio.luke[at]gmail.com
WHY THE LECTURE WAS CREATED
From the Long Beach Press-Telegram on May 2, 2013:
Gary Keener, who just moved to San Francisco after living in Long Beach for 10 years and was a volunteer at The Center, commissioned Luke to give the lecture. He approached Luke with the idea two years ago after listening to one of his “Murals Under the Stars” discussions at MoLAA.
“I wanted Gregorio to use his talents toward our tribe, the LGBTQ+ community, in the same way he’s done for Latino culture with his lectures on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera,” Keener said.
LECTURE CREATION TIMELINE IN PHOTOS (2012–2013)
--Gregorio and Gary at first public performance of Gay Greatness at the Long Beach Art Theatre, May 4, 2013.
--Gay Greatness Lecture Test Run in Long Beach, July 28, 2012.
--Cocktail party before Gay Greatness Lecture Test Run, July 28, 2012.
PRESS COVERAGE
Long Beach Post, April 25, 2013.
Long Beach Press-Telegram, originally published May 2, 2013.
POSTER, BROCHURE & PRESS RELEASE
--Original poster for event at Magnet, SF.
--Original Lecture Brochure (click to download) [PDF].
--Original Press Release (click to download) [PDF].
© Copyright 2025 Gregorio Luke. All rights reserved.