Telling Queer History

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We’re leaning into curiosity. How did you first figure out who you are - what some of your identities are? What are your earliest memories of seeing yourself reflected in the world?

Many times, LGBTQIA+ people get a chance to witness someone who is just living their own queer life, then a sense of familiarity and inner knowing shows up. An idea that there’s something shared in common. Often, it’s that spark of recognition that helps you figure out your own identities.

Through Telling Queer History gatherings, outreach events in the community, and talking with people who’ve come across our work we have heard many versions of this story - all touching and important. Storytellers have shared a huge range of these experiences, these among them:

“...it was clear to me in my early teenage years that I was queer in some way. I know that around age 14 and 15, so this would have been 1984, 1985…I really wanted to have Martina’s muscles…I wanted to be fabulously unique like Boy George…and I was madly in love with Sade.”  (Rocki Simoes)

“...my mother's oldest brother died from complications due to AIDS in 1989 when I was two or three years old. He was gay and was a drag performer in San Francisco. And…we knew different things about that uncle. So my mom chose to tell me and my siblings the truth, that he was gay, and that he died from AIDS. And so I just sort of had this like, knowing or this connection.” (Alfonso Wenker)

[on sliding into his brother’s friend’s sleeping bag] “And it was that moment that I realized I love being around people who look like me, well, more than just African American people. But males, there was a certain connection and intimacy that I had. It wasn't unseemly, it was just a realization that I loved just the smell of other boys, being around them, being able to know that their touch, and [that] their presence seemed to fortify and validate who I was” (T. Mychael Rambo)

These stories can seem simple if taken at face value, but their very existence and the fact that they are repeated give a glimpse into the power that storytelling holds.

In this present moment, anyone with internet and streaming services can hardly avoid coming across queer stories. LGBTQIA+ culture has permeated popular culture extensively. For folks who might not have any firsthand relationships with queer people, that can be a saving grace. Those representations validate the existence and experiences of queer people everywhere.

Yet, these stories often exist in a realm of untouchability. In the U.S. right now, it is impossible for queer people to replicate the conditions that allow for living freely, fully and authentically as one’s self, all the time. Even in a state like Minnesota where we have some political forms of legitimate refuge and sanctuary for transgender people, and a generally agreeable climate for LGBTQIA+ folks, there are plenty of barriers and disparities affecting quality of life, and lots of disconnection even within the broader queer community.

In 2013 TQH started developing our mission of connecting LGBTQIA+ people across generations and identities. At the time, gathering queer people for storytelling purposes was still kind of novel. In the Twin Cities we experienced a hunger from people like you to get together and share, learn, connect, and find solidarity.

That hunger has only grown. LGBTQIA+ people want and need stories in which we can see ourselves and our experiences reflected. Stories that illustrate the huge variety of queer experiences locally and beyond.

We know that the stories we’ve collected so far need to live on. That’s why we’ve made this intentional and careful decision to conduct our final organizational year with transparency and integrity.

We’ll be preserving and continuing to share our legacy throughout 2025 with a traveling exhibit showcasing our archives of stories and the experiences of a decade bringing people like you together. This exhibit will visit four other regions in Minnesota starting in February 2025: Duluth-Superior, Fargo-Moorehead, Red Wing, and St. Cloud, before culminating in a final exhibit in the city we started- Minneapolis.

We’re taking this show on the road because we know, without a doubt, that kids and adults all across Minnesota NEED to see themselves reflected in the experiences and stories of our community.

Please consider making a gift today or anytime through the end of Give To The Max Day to support the final year of work as we share TQH generously with our entire community across the state of Minnesota! 

All of this good work is funded by our community. We are resilient together. And we are so grateful for you!

Sincerely,

Rebecca J. Lawrence, executive director (they/them)

& the Telling Queer History team and board of directors