One collector donate his set to ONE Archives. The photos were initially sold as two sets on eBay to two different collectors. The drugstore owner allegedly decided the photos were inappropriate and refused to return them to the wedding couple, Palmer and Wolfe said.Īpart from the ring exchange, the images also feature an officiant leading the wedding ceremony, the happy couple sharing their first kiss and cutting their wedding cake and opening their gifts.īut more than 60 years later, the pictures have resurfaced. The photo collection was printed circa 1957 at a neighborhood drugstore in North Philadelphia. “To speak with them is to connect with my ancestors, to finally know family I never knew I had.” Vintage gay wedding photos found “We have uncovered other stories that will make the show a wonderful series,” Wolfe said. They have spoken with countless LGBTQ elders about gay life in the 1940s and 50s. Along the way, the process has been an education in gay history, Wolfe said. In total, Baer, Palmer, and Wolfe have spent about 18 months as gay history detectives, searching for the men’s identities. In June 2018, The Advocate published a story, asking the public for help in identifying the men. Palmer and Wolfe were immediately moved by the photos, and a short time later, the three of them began researching the pictures. The photographs were donated to the Archives a few years ago. Baer, a board member at the ONE Archives National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries, invited Palmer and Wolfe to the Archives and showed the images to them, Palmer and Wolfe said. They don’t yet know if it will be broadcast on a network, streaming service, or video on demand.īaer, Palmer, and Wolfe, who all knew each other, were introduced to the photos in late 2017.
Production on “The Mystery of the 1957 Gay Wedding Photos” has not yet started, but the producers hope the series will air in 2020, Palmer and Wolfe said in an interview. The government engaged in a massive witch hunt to hunt down and fire members of the LGBTQ community. In fact, the federal government during the 1950s said gays and lesbians were unfit to work in the public sector. Many people lived in the closet because they feared losing their job if anyone learned they were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. The 1950s was very oppressive for the LGBTQ community. Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment requires all states to perform same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages from other states. “We are out to bring these stories forward to reclaim our history,” Palmer said. These sorts of histories have been erased and oppressed. “I’ve never seen this sort of history in family photos. I’ve never seen these sorts of family photos before,” Palmer said in an interview. “The first time I saw these photos I started tearing up. Wolfe as they search for clues that will hopefully unlock answers to the many outstanding questions behind the wedding photographs. Palmer (“Anyone But Me”) and writer Michael J. “The Mystery of the 1957 Gay Wedding Photos” (the working title) will follow Neal Baer (“ER,” Law & Order: SVU,” “Designated Survivor”), producer P.J. Queer history was made at Cooper’s Donuts in Los Angeles Three acclaimed Hollywood writers-producers, however will develop a documentary series to help answer those questions and many more, according to a press release from production company Authentic Entertainment. Did they have any fears that people would discover the ceremony?.I’m looking for work these days, so creating this blog has given me a sense of purpose as well as a creative outlet. I like to keep the blog fun and hopefully educational, but the preservation of these images is what’s most important to me. As an LGBT individual, what does compiling all of these photographs for the larger community mean to you? There is something very reaffirming about seeing these vintage photos of gay couples, seeing that we’ve always been around.
I still buy original photos, but they are getting so expensive that I’m just about priced out of the market. I started looking on Google Images and discovered that these sorts of photos were all over the Internet. I rediscovered them in a box a few years ago that’s what got me interested again. I collected them for years and years, but during one of my many moves they were stored away and forgotten. The Huffington Post: How did you come across all of these photographs? Jeffrey Gent: I started noticing vintage photos of male couples at the 26th St.