The John J. Willcox, Jr. Archives are Philadelphia's largest and most extensive collection of materials on LGBTQ+ history. It’s a rich and diverse collection that tells stories that many are unaware of. This complete treasure trove of documents and artifacts resides inside the William Way Community Center, a safe space with resources and events for Philadelphia’s queer citizens. After getting in contact with the head archivist, John Anderies, I had the opportunity to visit the archive and conduct an interview. I met John in the lobby and we took the elevator up to where the archives were stored. As he gave me a tour, walking through the rows of shelves and boxes, all labeled and filed meticulously, he pointed out some interesting artifacts, such as a vast collection of pins from one generous donator.
After the tour, we sat down at a small table laden with artifacts he had brought to show me. I began the interview. John had gathered some artifacts from the collection that he felt would be the most interesting, so we spent most of our time discussing the history behind what he’d selected. The first artifacts he showed me were from a group called Riders Against Gender Exclusion, or R.A.G.E. Currently, when we ride SEPTA we use a keycard, but prior to this, people used to use a Transpass. At first glance, it seems very similar to how the keycard operates today, one main difference is that our keycards count uses, so everytime we take a bus or train, even in just one day, it will tally that. The Transpasses didn’t count uses, instead they would just work for a week or a month, depending on which version you got. This concerned SEPTA workers; they theorized that many couples would share a pass between them, thus spending less money and conning SEPTA out of the pay. Their solution for this was both heteronormative and transphobic. They assumed that the couples who were sharing the cards were straight, one man and one woman, so they decided to put gender markers on the cards, thus making the sole user “recognizable” and their partner unable to use it due to the gender “not matching.” Each card would have either an “M'' or “F” marker on them. This became an issue very quickly. One documented issue occurred in 2006 when a trans woman named Charlene Arcila attempted to get on a bus with the female marker on her Transpass. The prejudiced bus driver, deciding that her appearance didn’t match the gender marker on her card, kicked her off the bus. This was obvious discrimination and she took SEPTA to court, the case lasting several years. Because of the blatant transphobia that SEPTA was displaying, a group of trans Philadelphian’s formed the organization R.A.G.E. and worked very hard, protesting in innovative and creative ways. Their main method of protest was by making their own stickers, with labels such as “T”, “F2M”, “M2F” and small graphics of glasses and wheelchairs, to cover up the initial stickers.
They also created a SEPTA rider “Bill of Rights” which they wrote in huge calligraphy on a scroll that they would unfurl and read while on the buses and trains and ask people to sign it with giant pens. The gender markers were finally eliminated in early 2012 after years of hard work and protest.
They also created a SEPTA rider “Bill of Rights” which they wrote in huge calligraphy on a scroll that they would unfurl and read while on the buses and trains and ask people to sign it with giant pens. The gender markers were finally eliminated in early 2012 after years of hard work and protest.
..Many of the historical documents in the archives are completely relevant to current events. A big issue today is book bans. LGBTQ+ books are being removed from school libraries and deemed inappropriate reading material. This is not a new problem; books have been banned for ages for reasons that ranged from depictions of non-traditional family structures to discussion of drug use, trauma, and violence, but what isn’t as regularly discussed is how books are treated in the prison system. John explained some of the records he was showing me, how they documented the way prisons were blocking LGBTQ+ titles from the people incarcerated. Federal prisons would reject entire packages of books that had been ordered by the incarcerated person under the pretense that they contained “sexually explicit material” and were therefore unsuitable, even though the people reading the texts were adults. They claimed the books were “posing a danger to prison security”. I find these documents, like many others in the archives, extremely important because it shows links between history and the present day, hopefully educating people on what not to repeat, and how long we have been facing these injustices.
I find these documents, like many others in the archives, extremely important because it shows links between history and the present day, hopefully educating people on what not to repeat, and how long we have been facing these injustices.
From book bans we segwayed into another extremely prominent topic of debate currently; the art of drag. John had looked through the archives for examples from the past of crackdowns on drag. He found it a little difficult to find examples, locally at least. “Philadelphia is [...] a fairly tolerant city, and has been for a long time” he told me, “so there’s not nearly the examples that you might find [..] in a different more conservative part of the country.” He was able to find an example in a book written by Marc Stein. In Philadelphia, possibly going back to the 1940s there was a drag parade on halloween every year, this tradition was actually separated into two different parades, one predominantly white and the other predominantly Black. Both extremely elaborate with meticulously planned out costumes and props. Not only were these parades incredible and well organized, but they were also very popular, well attended by tons of people from all around the city and accepted as a highlight of the holiday. Unfortunately, in the early 60s, Frank Rizzo cracked down on this long standing parade, putting an end to it. This is another example of history falling into repetitive patterns, and folks being discriminated against for simply celebrating and having joy in their identities.
To me, as a member of the queer community, knowledge of history is vital. It teaches us how to approach issues that we may feel unfamiliar with, giving us a roadmap for the future once we are aware of the backgrounds of these problems. History is also a learning experience for everybody, showing anyone, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, the effect that these events had and the importance they hold. It was truly an honor to be able to experience the archives and speak to John. I learned so much about LGBTQ+ history and I’d encourage others to expand their knowledge as well. (John Anderies shown above)
From book bans we segwayed into another extremely prominent topic of debate currently; the art of drag. John had looked through the archives for examples from the past of crackdowns on drag. He found it a little difficult to find examples, locally at least. “Philadelphia is [...] a fairly tolerant city, and has been for a long time” he told me, “so there’s not nearly the examples that you might find [..] in a different more conservative part of the country.” He was able to find an example in a book written by Marc Stein. In Philadelphia, possibly going back to the 1940s there was a drag parade on halloween every year, this tradition was actually separated into two different parades, one predominantly white and the other predominantly Black. Both extremely elaborate with meticulously planned out costumes and props. Not only were these parades incredible and well organized, but they were also very popular, well attended by tons of people from all around the city and accepted as a highlight of the holiday. Unfortunately, in the early 60s, Frank Rizzo cracked down on this long standing parade, putting an end to it. This is another example of history falling into repetitive patterns, and folks being discriminated against for simply celebrating and having joy in their identities.
To me, as a member of the queer community, knowledge of history is vital. It teaches us how to approach issues that we may feel unfamiliar with, giving us a roadmap for the future once we are aware of the backgrounds of these problems. History is also a learning experience for everybody, showing anyone, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, the effect that these events had and the importance they hold. It was truly an honor to be able to experience the archives and speak to John. I learned so much about LGBTQ+ history and I’d encourage others to expand their knowledge as well. (John Anderies shown above)