June 24, 2026
Provided Image/Luzi Media
A new mural on the exterior of the Voyeur nightclub depicts five LGBTQ+ trailblazers in Philadelphia: Tyrone Smith, Dawn Munro, Michael S. Hinson Jr., Nizah Morris and Gloria Casarez.
A new mural on the exterior of the Voyeur nightclub in the Gayborhood celebrates the legacies of five LGBTQ+ trailblazers.
"In Pride, In Power, In Memory," features portraits of Gloria Casarez, Michael S. Hinson Jr., Tyrone Smith, Nizah Morris and Dawn Munro. The mural was created by artist Santiago Galeas, who was selected following an open call for applications last fall, and will be formally unveiled Friday.
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To develop the portraits depicted on the mural at 1221 St. James St., Galeas spoke with loved ones of the five honorees. Each portrait is adorned by a flower that symbolizes the trailblazer's legacy. Residents helped paint the mural during a public event in April.
Casarez was Philly's first LGBT Affairs director, helping the city adopt some of the broadest LGBT rights in the United States. She championed the raising of the rainbow flag each year at City Hall. She also served as the executive director of GALAEI and helped found the Philly Dyke March. She died in 2014 at 42.
Hinson was a Black, LGBTQ+, AIDS and homelessness activist who co-founded Philadelphia Black Gay Pride and served as a liaison to LGBTQ+ communities under Mayor John Street. He died in 2022 at 55.
Smith, who died in 2025, spent decades championing the Black, LGBTQ+ community. He co-founded Unity, an organization for Black, gay men that helped address HIV and AIDs, and supported various organizations that addressed disparities faced by people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Morris was a transgender entertainer who often performed at Bob and Barbara's and founded a trans Buddhist faith group. She died in 2002 after she was found lying unconscious with a head wound at 16th and Walnut streets. Minutes earlier, she had accepted a ride from police to the hospital, because she was struggling to stand after drinking too much at a party. The Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide, but the case remains unsolved.
Munro championed transgender issues for decades. A United Kingdom native, she came to Philly in 1991 to work as a research scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. She sat on various boards, including those of PFLAG, the Philadelphia LGBT Elder Initiative and the Philadelphia Police LGBT Liaison Committee. She died in 2019.
Last fall, Mural Arts asked artists to submit applications that included general information and stylistic ideas for the mural.
After Galeas was selected to design the mural, community members and the site owner were given the chance to offer feedback. The design also was approved by a Mural Arts committee.
Initially, Mural Arts asked applicants to submit designs that included Smith and Jaci Adams, a leader in the transgender community. But Mural Arts later changed its criteria to include Casarez and three to five other leaders in Philly's LGBTQ+ community.
Casarez had been depicted on a mural on the former 12th Street Gym in the Gayborhood, but it was painted over by a developer in 2020.
The new mural is being unveiled during Pride Month — in time to be visible as Philadelphia celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States.
"As people flock to Philadelphia in 2026, we want to make sure that even more of our LGBTQ+ histories are on the walls of our city," Conrad Benner, project manager and founder of street art organization Streets Dept, said in October. "In this, the 'Mural Capital of the World,' it's important that our stories are told in our public space."
