I celebrate the joy that is found in being true to ourselves despite and because of the obstacles and roadblocks along the way. I celebrate the messiness of healing and recovery. I feel pride for the bravery it takes to truly be ourselves. I feel hope for a future where being yourself is as easy as breathing air. —Sarah Winkowski
During my time here at the Burke Museum, I have been grappling with the concept of joy and celebration as an act of resistance and healing. The pursuit of joy lives in our mission, “...to care for and share natural and cultural collections so all people can learn, be inspired, generate knowledge, feel joy, and heal.” It also bubbles up in the intentional healing work we do within the museum and with our communities. In a broader context, we are all pressured by a culture that asks us to continually do better, to do more with less, to do it all faster, and to do this without making waves. Amidst this barrage of messaging, it can be easy to forget to celebrate—our accomplishments, the gift of community, and even our endlessly complex identities. When our identities are in any way marginalized it goes beyond forgetfulness, but rather it can feel like there is an unwritten (or sometimes explicit) message, “keep your head down, get the work done, this space and joy is not meant for you.” But this year I am choosing to celebrate. I celebrate being a part of the lbgtq+ community. I celebrate the love and belonging I have found. I celebrate the joy that is found in being true to ourselves despite and because of the obstacles and roadblocks along the way. I celebrate the messiness of healing and recovery. I feel pride for the bravery it takes to truly be ourselves. I feel hope for a future where being yourself is as easy as breathing air.
I hope you will celebrate with us.
Burke Community Reflections on LGBTQ+ Identity
Scot Auguston (He/Him), Operations team
How are you celebrating pride this year?
Re-watching the Marsha P. Johnson documentary.
How does your identity show up in your work at the museum?
In the scandalous way I answer the phone.
Also, a lot of our dinosaurs identify as queer. A few have told me that I'm the only mammal in the building they can relate to.
I recognize that there is still a great deal of learning and growing to be done, and I’m very grateful to be part of this community as we evolve and change. —Isa Smith
Isa Smith (Any/All), Visitor Services team
How are you celebrating pride this year?
Pride is a month that holds both joy and pain for me. The LGBTQ+ community has experienced and is continuing to go through a tumultuous time of violence and injustice. I honor our history and those who have come before me and the difficult choices they had to make in order to be themselves. I am choosing to hold space for those who have suffered in this long, ongoing fight, and those who continue to face adversity even now. But, at the same time, progress is continuing to happen. Just the fact that I can exist as a queer person openly in the workplace is a massive achievement. I honor those who will come after me, as they are our future and our brightest hope. Most importantly, I recognize that there is still a great deal of learning and growing to be done, and I’m very grateful to be part of this community as we evolve and change.
Sarah Winkowski, Visitor Services Manager
How are you celebrating pride this year?
This year I am celebrating by getting this post together and by planning my lesbian friend’s bachelorette party! What better way to celebrate than to throw a party to celebrate queer love?
How does your identity show up in your work at the museum?
I find there are a lot of intersections in the work that the Burke is doing around Diversity, Equity, Access, Decolonization, and Inclusion and my identity.
Especially in our work toward healing, growing in our understanding of one another, and in our dreaming of a hopeful future. Also as a manager for frontline staff in a city with a strong presence of young lgbtq+ community members, it’s been wonderful to find and help create a sense of belonging for those members of our team.
Kayla Troske (Any/All), Visitor Services team
How are you celebrating pride this year?
Safe and sober!
How does your identity show up in your work at the museum?
I’d like to think that we have made more diverse audiences feel welcomed into our spaces!
Most of all, I celebrate our individual and collective bravery, our refusal to allow fear, hate, and ignorance squash our hope for a better future and our desire to fight for it. Our joy is necessary. Our love is triumphant! —Abbey Willman
Abbey Willman (Any/All), Visitor Services team
How are you celebrating pride this year?
This year, I'm allowing myself to acknowledge and be acknowledged for who I am. I write this with my name attached, even though I'm not out to everyone in my life and this kind of vulnerability is difficult for me. I'm celebrating loudly anyway, because Pride has taught me that on the other side of fear and discomfort is love and community. I celebrate for our history, to honor those who've made celebration possible and in remembrance of all those who can't be here to celebrate with us. I celebrate that that more and more people recognize all love and all families. I celebrate for and because of our queer youth; they deserve to see celebration, and they make me feel pride more than anything else. Most of all, I celebrate our individual and collective bravery, our refusal to allow fear, hate, and ignorance squash our hope for a better future and our desire to fight for it.
Our joy is necessary. Our love is triumphant!
