A growing movement aims to fix America's big birthday celebration

Key Points:

• Artists at Philadelphia's Huddle gallery are marking America's 250th birthday by honoring LGBTQ+ activists from the 1970s and today, highlighting their civil rights struggles rather than celebrating traditional patriotic milestones.
• The exhibit "This Is (Not) a Celebration" uses archival materials to trace the gay rights movement and challenges the mainstream narrative of American history promoted during the semiquincentennial.
• Various activist groups nationwide are organizing events and campaigns to confront historical erasure and advocate for inclusion of marginalized voices, contrasting with the Trump administration-backed Freedom 250 celebrations.
• Some artists and organizers emphasize that critiquing America is a form of patriotism and stress the importance of acknowledging both the nation's achievements and ongoing struggles for equality and justice.
• Philadelphia's tourism nonprofit, Visit Philly, launched an "Indivisible" ad campaign to highlight the multicultural roots of American identity, aiming to present a fuller, nonpartisan picture of the nation's history during the 250th anniversary.