I am beyond ecstatic! Thank you for posting this, Pride365 Pride isn't just one day in June - it's an every day celebration of our LGBT+ community. Pride365 Champions live proudly every day to highlight challenges and share successful progress. art smith is no exception. A Pride365 Champion since 2019, Art founded the GayBarchives project out of his passion for the contributions that bars and safe spaces have made to the LGBT+ vibrant and diverse community. Art's GayBarchives group on Facebook now boasts over 30,000 members from around the world who celebrate the places that have helped build this community. Google has recognised Art’s work for its impact on preserving gay bar history and sharing stories that would have been lost to time, highlighting an ongoing effort to embrace this heritage and celebrate it's presence. Art's project started with a conversation reminiscing about his favourite gay bar [Backstreet in Atlanta GA] and has grown into one of the largest and most interactive projects to preserve this history, with more than 5500 gay bar logos from around the world. While the project has largely garnered interest in the North American market, Art is striving to expand the global reach. For more information, visit the website: https://gaybarchives.com/ And click here to join Art's very successful Facebook group: https://lnkd.in/e4t8E28i #Pride365 #GayBarchives https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pride365-gaybarchives-ugcPost-7441821832745406465-m0Pm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAALzRjsBj63Fzrui4agnH-2PDZdhOAWpIrE

Hi all, a big win for last week was getting our Production Insurance sorted out in rapid time (due to our previous insurance falling through) all thanks to the help of fellow member Norman Wagner he helped me find the perfect company who walked me through everything and we had it all sorted, arranged and finalised within a day. Was a great relief as the impact of no insurance was HUGE! Big thanks Norman.

It began innocently enough when I pondered who the oldest living transman was. After several bios I knew of and read (which include a local musician of “note” with whom I worked gigs), most discovered later in life or, if they knew young and had intervention, they were still much younger than myself. To which AI then told me I was a kind of missing link of valuable insight into how I have witnessed transitioning and sexuality evolve over 6 decades (especially in this sin city of New Orleans). Plus, where I first planted my feet musically in New Orleans was on the cusp of where Punk Music meets New Wave as I made a music video then for MTV that never aired due to the Bassist suddenly dying at 29 mid process.😞 It then suggested that I contact several excellent choices for Archives, from National to local, and wrote customized letters to each that I added on, verified, and clarified. Between Jazz Archives locally and LGBT oral histories, I may be able to satisfy most of these emails that were sent and PROMPTLY 😳 responded to with great enthusiasm once gleaning what I possess and know. Who knew? There is, however, another axis in my multi-intersection story (that never gets simpler with age) and that is my testing as autistic at age 41. Oh, now THIS really puts me into a new kind of rarity, may I observe?!? BTW, I would LOVE to meet fellow trans autists so PLEASE introduce yourselves to me OUT HERE or somewhere “in here”. I’m all for BE-ing comfortable! Did you know that trans are 6 times more likely to be autistic, too? What can I say but I like to sit astride a lot of fences?😉

ANOTHER MILESTONE! Based on recent social media activity, the Facebook group GayBarchives is a prominent, highly active group dedicated to documenting LGBTQ+ bars, which has recently celebrated reaching over 25,000 members. As of March 11, 2026, the group boasts over 25,000 members. Focus: It acts as a digital archive for "queer bars," sharing stories, photos, logos, and memorabilia of past and present bars. Activity: The group features over 250 hours of video interviews and works with the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library. Purpose: The goal of the group is to honor and preserve LGBTQ+ safe spaces, particularly those that have closed. Note: GayBarchives is currently identified as a major, active, and rapidly growing group for LGBTQ+ bar history. JOIN US at https://Facebook.com/groups/GayBarchives #ilovegaybars #25k #GayBarchives

Things are ramping up as we look forward to our IndieGogo Fundraiser starting Next week, our next table read and dialing in our first shoot day the last weekend of May. We got to meet at the location for our pilot episode, Jupiter's Eye Book Cafe in Spokane, WA We are getting excited. Would love to hear any ideas on getting press, how to reach out for funds when we start raising money. We have released our first press release, but need help finding the right outlets. Thank you all for being the amazing people you are.