‘On the Side of Angels:’ New LA exhibit highlights Latina and lesbian activism

A brand new exhibition in Monterey Park centers the stories of Latina lesbian leaders in Los Angeles history.

The free exhibit, “On the Side of Angels: Latina Lesbian Activism,” opened late June at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College until August 30.

With a collection of posters, photos, magazines, oral histories, video footage and other materials, the exhibit highlights prominent Latina lesbians from the 1980s through the late 2000s, organizers said. It represents different LGBTQ+, immigrant, labor, and housing justice movements, among others, throughout history.

The never-before-seen exhibit is a collaboration between the college and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center’s “Latina Futures 2050 Lab” — a $15 million state-funded initiative pushing for equity and leadership opportunities for Latinas by 2050.

“We are incredibly proud of this exhibition because it features women who championed immigrant rights, safer working conditions, and broader acceptance of LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities — efforts that have paved the way for cross-movement solidarity in Los Angeles and beyond,” said Veronica Terriquez, director of the research center and co-founder of Latina Futures, in a news release.

Curatorial assistant Gloria Ortega said the museum is dedicated to making stories and materials in the archive “accessible, especially since our student population is predominantly Latinx and Asian. Within this particular climate, we’re going to continue to provide exhibitions that align with history we feel aligned with.”

Co-curator Jocelyne Sánchez said that organizers wanted to make this archival display “different,” with decades of lesbian and Latina archival research and history being showcased, some for the first time.

“We had a sense of duty because many of these women are still alive, and it’s a history often not presented,” Sánchez said.

Many of the struggles fought for by Latinas featured in the exhibit were “outside the realm of identity politics” and “just LGBTQ+ issues,” Sánchez said; instead focusing on the complex politics of discrimination, race and class.

Policy and civil rights advocate Laura Esquivel collected much of the archive and is widely featured. Much of the exhibit features her work with the Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos (GLLU), which in the 1980s was the first organization in the L.A. area to advocate for LGBTQ+ and Latino communities, according to exhibit curators.

Esquivel later co-founded Lesbiana Unidas, a task force under the group serving Latina lesbian communities. In 1984, she became the first female president of GLLU and in 1987, co-founded the D.C.-based National Latino/a Lesbian Gay Organization.

The exhibit highlights different events and elements in lesbian and third-wave feminist culture and history, organizers said. One poster showcased features a 2008 lesbian revolution march in Mexico, with two women kissing and the words “4 Marcha Lesbica” in Spanish.

The exhibit’s title pays homage to UCLA Chicano Studies librarian and archivist Yolanda Retter Vargas, whose “On the Side of Angels” dissertation was completed at the University of New Mexico in 1999. Vargas was known for her work as a “her-storian,” dedicated to preserving Latina history.

The one-room exhibit has interactive elements, from oral history interviews with Vargas, to a QR code for visitors to connect to local housing, LGBTQ+, labor and immigration organizations.

Organizers were excited to feature a fully recreated Lesbian History Research Project, a website — featured on a restored iMac computer at the exhibit — that documented local lesbian history from 1996 to 2006. It was an example of early digital archiving, curators said.

Officials hope the exhibition is seen an example of hope, in a time where Latinx, immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities are being targeted by federal policies.

Co-curator Vanessa Esperanza Quintero thought it was important to “present women as true as possible, in a climate where a lot of projects are being censored.”

Sánchez, a queer Latina, said the experience of putting the archive together was “grounding.” It helps her feel hopeful for the future.

“You start to see that we’re in the struggle together,” she said. “When you’re connected and tapped into your history, especially organizing history, you start to see that our people have been in the trenches before and made it through together. There’s always been people fighting for each other.”

Carson resident Carolina Hernandez came to see the gallery with her partner. As a Latina lesbian, Hernandez felt “so seen.” She said it was important to learn more about the community’s sociopolitical activist roots, and to fight the ‘dehumanization’ of marginalized groups.

“This exhibition just shows that we’re all people with our own struggles, trying to overcome,” Hernandez said.

Visit “On the Side of Angels” for free at the Vincent Price Art Museum, 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez in Monterey Park. Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, from noon to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact: (323) 265-8841, vincentpriceartmuseum.org.

Portions of the archives are also available by appointment only at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.