{"id":761051,"date":"2026-04-29T09:49:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/761051\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:49:26","slug":"five-queer-philadelphians-are-getting-their-due-with-a-lush-floral-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/761051\/","title":{"rendered":"Five queer Philadelphians are getting their due with a lush, floral mural"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Philadelphians headed to Voyeur Nightclub on Saturday \u2014 and not for late-night mischief. Instead, they went midday to the heart of Philly\u2019s Gayborhood to partake in something quieter: the making of one of the city\u2019s newest murals, a bright, floral tribute to five local LGBTQ+ leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each advocate \u2014 Gloria Casarez, Michael S. Hinson Jr., Tyrone Smith, Nizah Morris and Dawn Munro \u2014 are depicted with a different flower symbolizing their legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"LGBTQ Heroes paint day at club Voyeur, April 25, 2026. Photo by Elijah Dreuitt.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery flower that I\u2019ve selected for the person honors them \u2014 you\u2019d lay flowers at a grave site or you could also throw flowers onto a stage after a beautiful performance,\u201d said muralist Santiago Galeas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Galeas is having quite a year in Philly. In addition to creating the mural\u2019s winning design, his show \u201cBetween Roots and Wings<\/a>\u201d is currently on display at the Philadelphia Magic Gardens<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Galeas usually sits with his subjects and interviews them for portraits, because each trailblazer is no longer with us he had to change his process. Instead, he spoke with their close friends and loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did the next best thing,\u201d Galeas said. \u201c[I] was talking to people who knew them, so I learned about their legacies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"LGBTQ Heroes paint day at club Voyeur, April 25, 2026. Photo by Elijah Dreuitt.<\/p>\n

Nizah Morris, for example, was a buddhist, as well as a beloved transgender entertainer. Her violent and mysterious death in 2002 remains unsolved, and her case continues to stand as a painful example of unanswered questions and injustice in Philadelphia. Galeas depicted her with a lotus, a symbol of spiritual resilience and beauty that can\u2019t be diminished by the conditions that it grows in.<\/p>\n

Tyrone Smith, who passed away last year, was a pioneering AIDS awareness advocate who went on to advise two Philadelphia mayors. He has lupine underneath him, a tall, clustered bloom that thrives in difficult conditions and restores the soil around it.<\/p>\n

Michael Henson Jr., whose work centered around helping queer Black and unhoused populations, is depicted with a sunflower for his knack to always face the light \u2014 even through adversity.<\/p>\n

\"\"LGBTQ Heroes paint day at club Voyeur, April 25, 2026. Photo by Elijah Dreuitt.<\/p>\n

Galeas noted that some of the floral choices were more obvious than others, like Dawn Monro\u2019s, an esteemed scientist and dedicated organizer for trans rights<\/p>\n

\u201cDawn Monro was bristly and she was Scottish,\u201d Galeas said. \u201cShe was a proud, proud Scottish person. So I picked for her the national flower of Scotland, which is the thistle. She was just as bright, just as fierce.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I had to do research and find a connection. But this one, the loved one, was like, \u2018No, she\u2019s a thistle. I could tell you easily.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

Civil rights leader Gloria Casarez is the largest figure in the piece. As Philadelphia\u2019s first director of LGBTQ+ affairs and a proud lesbian and latina, she is covered with marigolds \u2014 which represent a spiritual bridge to the afterlife in Mexican culture.\u00a0Speaking with loved ones, Galeas learned more about the Casarez on a personal level \u2014 like the fact that she had a big sense of humor or that she traveled everywhere on a bright orange scooter.<\/p>\n

Golden ginkgo tree leaves connect and surround all five leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ginkgo is ancient and resilient, very much like queerness itself,\u201d Galeas said. \u201cIt\u2019s this thing that\u2019s been around forever, and like, it\u2019s not going anywhere, right? And it has this moment of intense beauty in the fall, and then it\u2019s gone so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n