The Gay Rub

The Gay Rub is a participatory art project originally created by American poet, artist, and activist Steven Reigns.

The collection consists of over 350 “rubbings from GLBTQ historical markers, signs, tombstones, cenotaphs, plaques and monuments from around the world.”[1] The collection includes markers representing Harvey Milk, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Jean Genet, Marcel Proust, Liberace, James Dean, Tennessee Williams, Errol Flynn, and many more.

The Gay Rub highlights significant “LGBTQ events and individuals who have been under-represented or under-appreciated throughout history.”[2] Reigns said the idea came to him when he saw a marker dedicated to Transgender Victims of Hate Crimes in West Hollywood, California.

[3] The goal of the project is to bring small, often remotely sited markers together in one place to demonstrate the breadth and diversity of LGBTQ history.

The oldest rubbing is of painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault’s Paris headstone, dated 1824.

Rubbings from significant LGBTQ markers, part of The Gay Rub collection
This rubbing of the marker in West Hollywood is part of the Gay Rub collection