An LGBTQ history pop-up opens in Irving on Friday, June 7 and runs through Pride Month. According to Adrian J. Cardwell, executive director of Badge of Pride, this year’s exhibit is only a sneak preview of a larger exhibit his group will stage next summer.

In this year’s exhibit, visitors will be able to view art and artifacts, which depict more than a century of LGBTQ history. Some highlights include posters and some of the earliest protest buttons of the nascent Gay Liberation movement, some issued immediately after the Stonewall Uprising, including an artifact with a direct connection to Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

Visitors will also be able to see and listen to some of the earliest music records issued for and by the community, including those issued by the Daughters Of Bilitis and the first recorded Gay Liberation anthem, “Stonewall Nation.”

“We will also have some artifacts from the life, assassination and legacy of Harvey Milk, rarely ever seen outside of San Francisco, L.A. or New York,” Cardwell said. Or Dallas, we remind Cardwell, Harvey Milk lived in — and hated — Dallas for a year before moving to San Francisco.

“We are developing a full-scale exhibition titled Badge Of Pride: From Silence…To Celebration! that will launch next summer, opening Pride Month 2025 and running thru October, LGBTQ History Month,” Cardwell said. “We will feature a panel of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt with a North Texas connection, and we will be including artifacts from local organizations like YesterQueer in Fort Worth, The Dallas Way, Uptown Players, and more.”

After the exhibit runs in Irving next summer, the group plans to reformat it for travel and take it on the road for residents of other red states to enjoy.

The exhibit is at Irving Archives and Museum, 801 W. Irving Blvd., Irving and is open Wed.-Sat 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday noon-4 p.m. Admission is $7 and free on Sunday.

— David Taffet