USM's Lewiston-Auburn College presents "Charlie Howard
20 Years Later: How Far Has Maine Come. Anti-Gay Discrimination
and Violence in Maine 1984-2004," in the South Lounge
continuing through Tuesday, March, 15.
The traveling exhibit was currated by Howard Solomon, scholar-in-residence
of USM's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Collection,
part of the Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, which
is housed in USM's Glickman Family Library, Portland.
The exhibit marks the 20th anniversary in 2004 of the murder
of Charlie Howard, a young man who was thrown to his death
into the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor because he was gay.
The exhibit examines the events surrounding his death and
its impact on the history of human rights in Maine. The display
was developed in conjunction with a series of mini-conferences
and curricular materials for use in middle
and high school classrooms.
A joint project of the University of Southern Maine's Jean
Byers Sampson Center for Diversity and Center for the Prevention
of Hate Violence, the exhibit strives to increase public
awareness and discussion around the prejudice and violence
directed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered
community.
