Heath Ledger’s groundbreaking performance as a gay cowboy in the film “Brokeback Mountain” introduced many Americans to the notion that homosexuals also have their home on the range. This December, the Autry National Center in Los Angeles begins a series of programs and exhibits highlighting the roles played by members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the American West. The series, entitled “Out West,” will take place over a period of twelve months, and will explore such topics as LGBT Native Americans, and the contributions of LGBTs to rodeo culture, Western politics and the arts.

The museum kicked off the series this past weekend with a paneled discussion on the topic, “Whatever Happened to Ennis del Mar?” The museum noted on its website that when the original Western film star Gene Autry issued his ten-point “Cowboy Code” in the 1940s, “he could not have anticipated the story of Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, but the messages of tolerance, fairness, and integrity the Code promotes speak to the acceptance for which the Brokeback Mountain characters longed.”

The second installment in the series will be a gallery exhibition entitled “Hidden Histories.” Scheduled to open in May, 2010, the exhibit will feature historical artifacts which tell the story of members of the LGBT community who traveled to the west to seek freedom and acceptance that was lacking in the big cities out east. One such historical character was known as “One-Eyed Charlie.” An accomplished stage-coach driver, Charlie was a hard drinker with a trigger-finger, who nevertheless earned a reputation as one of the best coach drivers in California. It was only after Charlie’s death in 1879 that a coroner discovered that Charlie was in fact a woman, whose given name was Charlotte.

Gregory Hinton, who conceived the “Out West” series, told the LA Times that he was a little nervous about how the conservative trustees on the Autry Museum’s board would view the programs. However, the board, like the man who gave his name to the museum, apparently has a soft-spot for stories about people who don’t quite fit in. After all, eleven years after his death, Gene Autry remains best known to the American public for singing the tale of the most famous misfit of all time, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.

For more information about “Out West,” visit the Autry museum’s website at:
www.autrynationalcenter.org