Badge Of Pride

Thank you to the Lambda Legal team for inviting Badge Of Pride to curate a pop-up exhibit to the Landmark Dinner in Dallas, and to every guest who stopped by, engaged, and joined us in conversation.

The buttons and artifacts on display carry the history of people who organized, protested, and challenged laws designed to deny our dignity. That fight continues. We preserve these stories because knowing what our community has faced—and how we have fought back—matters now, more than ever.

Tonight’s the night! Who will we see?

We’ve been teasing big announcements for later this fall. Before they arrive, we want to share an unlikely story that’s been drawing standing-room-only audiences this year: how Badge Of Pride began.

Our founder, Adrian Cardwell, spent more than 25 years in corporate leadership before starting a nonprofit centered on LGBTQ+ history, a field he had never formally studied. He brought experience in strategy, making the case for an idea, building partnerships, and seeing complex work through. He had no blueprint for what came next.

For a long time, Adrian wondered whether he belonged in public history. Then, with Irving Archives and Museum, he curated and designed a Texas exhibition that navigated controversy, drew thousands of visitors, and earned six national and state honors. He’s come to see how his corporate experience, commitment to LGBTQ+ history, and willingness to build slowly and intentionally shaped the work.

Now Adrian is taking those lessons to new audiences:

• For corporate teams: what leadership experience can bring to a public mission, and what changes when success isn’t measured in revenue or market share.

• For people facing a layoff or a mid- or late-career pivot: the reality of becoming a beginner in a new field and finding a path without a guarantee.

• For young activists: why protest needs durable organizations, strong coalitions, and the capacity to keep pressure on after the march.

Adrian’s first presentation in this new chapter is at UCLA next month. Speaking honoraria will go directly to Badge Of Pride to support our mission.

Know a conference organizer, professor, or program that should hear our story? Send them our way: badgeofpride.org/speaker

Imagine stepping outside with GAY pinned to your chest in the 1970’s, 80’s or 90’s.

At the Lambda Legal Dallas Landmark Dinner this Saturday, Badge Of Pride will present BADGES OF PRIDE, PROTEST & POWER, a pop-up exhibition curated by founder and executive director Adrian Cardwell. A ticket to the dinner is required to view the exhibition.

Drawn from the Badge Of Pride archive, the exhibition brings together buttons from Pride marches, protests, elections, organizations, and campaigns across the country. These badges helped LGBTQ+ people recognize one another, organize, and declare who they were and what they believed. Wearing one could also cost someone a job, housing, family, safety, or freedom.

The buttons did not change the law. The people who wore them did, fighting in the streets, at the ballot box, and in the courts.

We are proud to activate this history in support of Lambda Legal and the fights still ahead. Presented with support from our generous donors and Moody Fund for the Arts.

***rHistory

We are so honored by this shoutout from history maker Mark Segal in his Philadelphia Gay News column this week!

A Week of Looking Back and Moving Forward - Philadelphia Gay News Some weeks, I wonder how retirement would feel. Then I look at my calendar and realize that even thinking about retirement would require scheduling an appointment. This week was one of those weeks that reminded me why, after more than five decades of activism, journalism and community building, ther...

We’re wrapping up our 2026 conference season next week in Winston-Salem at the Southeast Museums Conference.

Badge Of Pride Executive Director Adrian Cardwell will join Jennifer Landry, Director of Museums at the Irving Archives and Museum, and colleagues from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture for “Navigating Challenging Topics: Community, Trust, and Museum Practice in Changing Times.”

Adrian and Jenn will share lessons from “Badge Of Pride: From Silence…To Celebration!”—and what it took to present LGBTQ+ history in a municipal museum with preparation, partnership, community trust, and institutional support.

One lesson we’ll carry into Winston-Salem: this work can be done anywhere.

***rHistory

Our work is growing, and we’re building the volunteer team to support it—from community archiving and collections care to q***r history storytelling and donor outreach.

Find the role that fits your skills and apply at badgeofpride.org/volunteer. We’d like to hear what you can bring to this work.

Stories are universal. We all read, watch and listen to them. We all tell them. Stories are part of what makes us human. In fact, stories are so ubiquitous, we often don’t think about what makes a good story, or question why stories matter in the first place. Read the article : https://www.museumnext.com/article/why-do-stories-matter-to-museums-and-how-can-museums-become-better-storytellers/

When we set out on this mission, a question from Harvey Milk became our North Star: “How can people change their minds about us if they don’t know who we are?”

We could never have imagined where that question would lead.

“Badge Of Pride: From Silence…To Celebration!” was built with grit, community trust, and (very) limited funding. It has now effectively swept the major awards an exhibition can earn.

The exhibition changed what is possible for Badge Of Pride. It opened doors, broadened our reach, and set us on a path we could not have predicted. It shined a light on new ways to activate history. Later this fall, we’ll begin sharing where that path leads next.

We are forever grateful to Jenn Landry and the entire Irving Archives and Museum team; our board; and every donor, partner, volunteer, and friend who invested in this work and cheered us on. Thank you to American Alliance of Museums, NCPH, American Association for State and Local History, and Texas Association Of Museums for recognizing our work. Thank you to Mark Segal for being a friend, a history maker, cheerleader, joyful warrior, and for the photo of Jenn & Adrian Cardwell .

Above all, this belongs to our rich, vibrant, beautiful LGBTQ+ community. None of it would exist without you.

“I think being gay and gay people are the most wonderful things in the world. I wish all of us could have the power and pride to benefit from what is rightfully ours.”

—Larry Kramer

What a day.

North Texas Giving Day was a record day for Badge Of Pride. With everything counted, our generous supporters, partners, and community members raised a remarkable $12,912 to power the work ahead.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who gave, shared, and helped build this momentum. Thank you for believing in our mission—and in what we are building together.

Now, can anyone help us make 13 our lucky number? We’re just $88 away from an even $13,000.