East Los Angeles College’s Vincent Price Art Museum is hosting an exhibition through August that spans three decades of Latina lesbian activism in Los Angeles, from the 1980s to the late 2000s. The show features photos, posters, letters, and ephemera highlighting the fight against anti-gay hate crimes, alongside struggles for LGBTQ+ healthcare, affordable housing, fair wages for janitors, and immigrants’ rights. Co-curated by Jocelyne Sanchez and Vanessa Esperanza Quintero, the exhibition is a collaboration with UCLA’s Latina Futures 2050 Lab and pays tribute to activists including the late archivist Yolanda Retter Vargas.
The exhibition matters because it preserves and celebrates the often-overlooked history of Latina lesbian organizing, emphasizing community joy and cross-border solidarity. In a time of heightened immigration enforcement and anti-LGBTQ+ violence, the show offers a serene reminder of enduring love and collective resistance. By honoring both named and unnamed activists, it challenges mainstream narratives and provides a model for inclusive historical documentation, while a QR code connects visitors to current social justice organizations.