One Institute announces the full lineup of the 2025 Circa: Queer Histories Festival in October

One Institute announced today the full lineup of the 2025 Circa: Queer Histories Festival. Taking place during LGBTQ+ History Month, Circa will run from October 1-31, and include over 40 programs centering LGBTQ+ history, art and culture. The festival will offer a diverse array of events, spanning from panel conversations, exhibitions, lectures, performances, screenings and more, in venues all throughout Los Angeles County.

To view the full schedule, program descriptions and for tickets, visit circafestival.org.

Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2025 celebrates the theme “Reclaiming Freedom” within the LGBTQ+ community. With marginalized voices and lives being threatened under the Trump administration, Circa–the first and only festival of its kind–honors the expansive and resilient nature of queerness, and showcases the LGBTQ+ artistic talent of Los Angeles and beyond. This year, One Institute welcomes back renowned community organizations such as: ACLU SoCal, The Outwords Archive, Celebration Theatre, Sinister Wisdom, Earthlodge Center for Transformation, and Gender Justice LA, in addition to welcoming festival newcomers such as Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Satrang, ACT UP LA, Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project, March April Studio, and dozens more.

“Whether your interest is ballroom culture or pre-Stonewall history, queer TV celebrities or the history of queer cartoons, this year’s Circa festival has something for everyone,” said Tony Valenzuela, One Institute’s executive director. “As the Trump administration continues to threaten our freedoms and livelihoods, the Circa Festival reminds us that LGBTQ+ history and culture are integral to the American experience and each of us get to define what that means for ourselves.”

With dozens of participating artists, activists, and educators, Circa invites featured cultural leaders to provide varied insights into what freedom truly means in this political moment for LGBTQ+ people, and offer perspectives on how to foster a future for our communities where we can thrive. Prominent participants will include ACLU lawyer and trans rights activist Chase Strangio, best-selling author Tourmaline, former Trevor Project CEO, and celebrated queer ally Abbe Land, Lambda Archives of San Diego’s Community Historian-in-Residence Dr. T.J. Tallie, nationally-recognized Black trans leader and cultural worker Sydney Rogers, MSW (a.k.a. Miss Barbie-Q), co-founder of Minority AIDS Project and poet Bobby Smith, critically acclaimed visual and performing artist Page Person, award-winning director and producer G. Chesler, and more.

As part of One’s commitment to making LGBTQ+ history accessible, Circa will once again feature programs at low to no cost to the public and host events for all ages and audiences.

As previously announced, Circa will open with the festival’s headlining exhibition The Sky is Always Falling, showcasing never-before-seen materials from ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, alongside original works by artists, curated by Anuradha Vikram. The exhibition highlights moments of radical queer resistance, and the resilience of LGBTQ+ activists and artists in Los Angeles during the HIV/AIDS crisis. The Sky is Always Falling will be on view to the public from September 28-October 31, 2025. The ticketed opening reception and Circa launch party will take place on Sunday, September 28, 2025 from 4–7 p.m. at the LA LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries. Tickets to the opening reception are available here.

As part of the headlining exhibition series, Circa will also feature the “Act Up Oral History Panel,” a conversation with original members of ACT UP/LA including Judy Sisneros, Helene Schpak, and Jordan Peimer, taking place on Saturday, October 11, 2025, 7–9 p.m. at the LA LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries organized by ACT UP/LA’s oral history committee. In addition, the Los Angeles LGBT Center will also host a screening of the recording of Reza Abdoh’s final play in Los Angeles, “Quotations of a Ruined City,” on Wednesday, October 22, 7–8:30 p.m., as well as Ron Athey’s “Torture Trilogy” on Friday, October 24, 8–9 p.m. at the LA LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre followed by a conversation with special guests.

Tickets to all events at Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2025 are now available. The public can view the full festival lineup and reserve their tickets to events at circafestival.org.

Circa: Queer Histories Festival is presented by One Institute. All programs taking place at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are co-presented with the Center. Generous support for the festival comes from Circa sponsors: Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the City of West Hollywood, Uptown Gay & Lesbian Alliance (UGLA), Paul D. Lerner & Stephen Reis, Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture, and Fifth District Supervisor Kathy Barger. ABC7 is the Circa Festival’s official broadcast sponsor.

About Circa

Debuting in 2023, Circa: Queer Histories Festival is the first and only LGBTQ+ History Month festival in the United States. This month-long celebration showcases an array of programs from hundreds of queer artists, writers, filmmakers, activists, and community organizations throughout October. With sections including conversations, screenings, exhibits, and more, the festival offers a unique and enriching experience for attendees across Los Angeles County and beyond.

About One Institute

Founded in 1952, One Institute (formerly ONE Archives Foundation) is the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in the United States. One Institute produces one-of-a-kind exhibitions and public programs that elevate queer and trans history and embrace emerging stories. Through K-12 teacher trainings, lesson plans, and youth mentorship programs, One empowers the next generation of teachers and students bringing queer and trans history into classrooms and communities. Additionally, the Institute assists in promoting the materials within ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, which houses the largest collection of LGBTQ+ materials in the world.