Interview with Vilet Labossier by Adam Harrington. Vilet is a drag persona performed by Robert Labossier in Rhode Island since the early 1990s. Topics in order of discussion include: developing a drag persona and career as a performer; changes in drag community since the 1990s including Imperial Court of Rhode Island and serving as Empress XIII; RI Pride events; stage manager for pageants; drag brunch. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Vanessa Flores-Maldonado by Jesus DeJesus. Vanessa is a social justice activist and co-director of PrYSM in Providence; R.I. She identifies as a queer Latina; first generation immigrant; organizer and survivor. Topics in order of discussion include:growing up in Los Angeles with undocumented immigrant family members and having minimal experiences with white people; going to Brown University and the challenges of adapting to a predominantly white; privileged space; early activist work in Los Angeles with youth; activism work in Providence centered on youth; police violence and impact on queer people of color; gun violence; challenges for queer people of color within the LGBTQ community and the predominance of white; wealthy gay men in community organizing roles; social justice issues related to marginalized people within the LGBTQ community including people of color; trans people; disabled people; sex workers and immigrants. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Vanessa Flores-Maldonado by Alejandra Gonzalez. Flores-Maldonado is a queer Latina, a first generation Guatemalan immigrant, an organizer and survivor. She is the co-Executive Director of Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM). Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in Los Angeles, moving to Providence in 2010 to attend Brown, leaving academia to work as a community organizer with PrYSM, earliest work as with direct aid and organizing, how PrYSMs work as evolved, advocating for The Community Safety Act passed in 2017, advocating for queer and trans people of color, intersectionality. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

This zine was created by students in the Queering Oral History course at Brown University in Spring 2020 on behalf of the RI LGBTQ+ Community Archives project at PPL. The publication includes custom illustrations, quotes from recorded interviews about the importance of documenting LGBTQ history and a how-to guide to conduct oral history interviews. This publication was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Siri Colom by Claire Caldwell. Siri is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Worcester State University. She identifies as a gay woman. She is white and Puerto Rican. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in a Seventh Day Adventist community; sexism and homophobia in the Church; attending Tufts University and the impact of studying abroad in Spain; attending Berkeley for her PhD; interest and career in sociology; self-awareness of being gay and coming out; wedding in San Francisco; California prior to gay marriage being legal; working with fertility clinics to become pregnant and parenting an infant. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Shey Rivera by Paola Mejia. The interview is in Spanish and English. Shey is a queer and non-binary multidisciplinary artist from Puerto Rico. Shey studied Psychology and Sociology at the Universidad de Puerto Rico and Contemporary Media and Culture at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. They moved from Puerto Rico to Providence in 2010 and they have worked as the Director of Inclusive Regional Development at MIT CoLab, in the Dept of Urban Studies and Planning, and as Artistic/Co-Director of AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island. Topics in order of discussion include: Growing up in a rural area of Puerto Rico; reclaiming Taíno roots as a mixed-race person; understanding the complexity of Indigenous and African heritage and cultural erasure as a Carribean; experiencing culture shock moving to America and the self-discovery that comes with that; working at AS220 for 8 years and being a director for the last 3 years; overcoming imposter syndrome; working at MIT CoLab within the Department of Urban Studies and Planning; economic democracy; connections made through being an artist/creative; decolonization and its intersect with queerphobia, transphobia, etc. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Sherenté Harris by Selene Means. Harris is a two-spirit indigenous person, member of the Narragansett Tribe, artist, cultural educator, and activist. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up as part of the Narragansett Tribe; attending school in Charlestown; being misgendered as a child; coming out as two-spirit; ancestors; sacred places; oppression and assimilation; homophobia and transphobia; performing the fancy shawl dance at pow-wows and facing discrimination from judges and elders; hate crimes and violence against indigenous people; cultural education; and educating young indigenous and LGBTQ+ people. This interview was created as part of a series of LGBTQIA interviews in a project managed by Dr. Virginia Thomas and funded through an Equity Action grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.

Interview with Selene Means by Leila Kashani-Sabet. Means is a Latinx, non-binary person. He / They is an activist as well as a photographer and filmmaker who focuses on documenting social justice and activist work in Providence, Rhode Island. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in a Mexican family in South Carolina; progression of understanding their identity and the role of social media in that; attending Rhode Island School of Design; gender identity; trans support group; involvement in local social justice work in Providence; the relationship between creative work (art) and activism; the variety of activism work including advocacy, mutual aid, legislative and direct action; queer activism and intersectionality; changing experiences of trans people compared to in the past. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Roz Raskin by Amelia Albanese. Roz is a musician; piano instructor; activist and community organizer who was born and has lived in Providence; RI. They identify as non-binary; queer; Jewish and also are known by the name Rosalind Raskin. They have performed in Roz and the Rice Cakes and their current project NOVA ONE (band). Topics in order of discussion include: early life and music career; sexism in the RI music scene and the impact of that on their career; music videos; costuming; gender expression; activism especially their involvement with RIOT Rhode Island and intersectional feminism. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Rodney Davis by Caitlin Malimban. Davis is a Black, gay man, activist and past President of Rhode Island Pride. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in Newport, R.I., being placed in foster care and domestic abuse; involvement in the Jehovahs Witnesses and challenges around being a secreted gay man while in the fellowship; moving to Providence and coming out; being disfellowshipped from the Jehovahs Witnesses; AIDS epidemic; Rhode Island PRIDE and organizing the first night Pride parade; impact of COVID-19. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Rex Labeau by Eli Adams. Rex lives in Newport; Rhode Island and is an artist and activist. They work in public health and are an active Unitarian Universalist and member of the Channing Memorial Church. They identify as genderqueer; trans; nonbinary; asexual; white and neurodivergent / autistic. Topics in order of discussion include: dinosaurs and gender; coming to an understanding of gender and sexuality during childhood and young adulthood; comics; TGI Networks support group "Borderlands"; legally changing their name and pronouns; Rhode Island and the difference between the queer community in Newport and Providence; involvement in the Unitarian Universalist church; getting diagnosed with autism; job discrimination; a career change from oceanography to public health; artwork and creative process; being homeschooled; growing up with a parent in the Navy. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with MJ Robinson by Nicholas Griffin. MJ is an artist; educator and activist. They identify as queer; nonbinary and white. Topics in order of discussion include:: moving to Providence after college; living in a co-op with other artists and queer people; their creative process including work in comics; writing; illustration and childrens books; impact of being queer in work as an educator; the role of art in education; activist work on behalf of incarcerated queer and trans people with Black and Pink and prison abolition. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Michelle Veras by Leila Kashani-Sabet. Veras is a public health professional, mother and one of the organizers of the Dyke Trans People of Color Providence March. Vera identifies as a queer, mixed race Latina woman. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in Providence, R.I. and differences in how her son is now growing up in Providence; attending graduate school at Brown University; growing up with a white mother and Dominican father and the impact of being a white-passing Latina; issues of race and racism; intersectionality with queerness; coming out at age 30; the lack of a community of queer people of color in Providence and finding that sense of community online; organizing the Dyke Trans People of Color Providence March in 2019; impact of COVID-19 on queer spaces. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Mev Miller by Virginia Thomas. Miller is a lesbian, feminist, literacy educator and advocate. Topics in order of discussion include: attending Yale Divinity School; feminism and anti-nuclear activism; working in bookselling and feminist publishing; returning to school and working in adult literacy and women's literacy; founding WE LEARN (Women Expanding Literacy Education Action Resource Network); critical pedagogy and popular education; community radio; SAGE Rhode Island and lesbian health issues; aging, health care, and social isolation; OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) and voter registration; death and end-of-life-care issues for LGBTQ people; and Wanderground, Miller's proposed library of her collected feminist and lesbian reading materials. This interview was created as part of a series of LGBTQIA interviews in a project managed by Dr. Virginia Thomas and funded through an Equity Action grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.

Interview with Kohei Ishihara by Kelvin Yang. Ishihara is a founder of PrSYM (Providence Youth Student Movement) and the Movement Ground Farm in Tiverton; R.I. He identifies as a Japanese-American gay man. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in Alexandria; Virginia including early social justice work and coming out senior year of high school; attending Brown University; establishing PrSYM and advocacy work with the Southeast Asian community; establishing the Movement Ground Farm and farming and food distribution as a social justice activity; being a queer person in farming and agriculture which are very heterosexualized industries. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Kim Deacon. Kim is a lesbian, community activist and previously the owner of the Kings and Queens Bar in Woonsocket. Topics in order of discussion include: limited opportunities for lesbians in Woonsocket; bar culture in the 70s and 80s; creating alternative social opportunities like roller skating, bowling, movie nights, softball; the bar as a sanctuary; fundraisers; first relationship with a woman; building her chosen family; bartending; dating culture for butch and femme lesbians; Kings and Queens bar; opening a martial arts studio; hosting parties at the bar; lessons learned after owing the bar. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Management of the project was transferred to PPL in 2021. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Ally P. Sha by Adam Harrington. Julian Vargas is a female to male trans person who performs as as drag queen named Ally P. Sha. He identifies as queer. Topics in order of discussion include: childhood awareness of being trans and queer and growing up in a traditional Catholic; Portuguese family; coming out at age 25 as trans; physical changes resulting from hormone treatment; gender stereotypes within the trans and drag communities; experiences of harassment while in and out of drag; developing a drag persona and professional experiences as a performer. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Joann Ayuso by Pauline Wakudumo. Joann is a queer Afro Boricua; social justice activist; licensed physical therapy assistant and founded Movement Education Outdoors - an organization that provides outdoor experiences to urban youth. Topics in order of discussion include: moving to Providence in 2006 from Boston and impact of the economic recession; volunteering with Black and Pink and PRYSM; coming out at age 27; gay social spaces including beaches and nightclubs; ancestry and heritage; career transition to work with youth in the outdoors after a significant accident; serving in the Army Reserve. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Jenn Steinfeld. Jenn is an activist and was the founder and first director of the RI Campaign for Marriage Equality and is currently the Director of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development for the National League of Cities. She/they identifies as a queer Jew, dyke, non-binary, organizer, strategist, gardener, knitter and cat steward. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in Pittsburgh and coming out, youth volunteerism in a teenage hotline and early activism for HIV / AIDS with ACT UP, moving to Rhode Island to attend Brown University, involvement in AIDS Project RI and Youth Pride and their Street Health Initative, involvement in civil rights policy advocacy to add gender identity added to the civil rights law in Rhode Island, transition to working for a national organization, bearing witness to trauma that LGBTQ people experience, activism at the State House for marriage equality, strategies for community organizing, impact of COVID-19 on policy advocacy and racial advocacy, balancing activism with personal life for sustainability. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Management of the project was transferred to PPL in 2021. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Kira Stone by Jane Freiman. Kira Stone is a drag persona performed by Jeff Gaudor since 2010. Gaudor identifies as a white; gay man. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in Attleboro (Mass.) including a support network including his mother; a gay family friend and a gay teacher; participating in drag pageants and wining Miss Gay Massachusetts USofA and Miss Gay Rhode Island USofA; living in Los Angeles; issues of substance abuse; her drag family and the drag community in Rhode Island; changes in LGBTQ identity over time. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Jazzmen Lee-Johnson by Cindy Villaneuva. Jazzmen is a queer; Black artist; dancer and rapper; and parent. Topics in order of discussion include: early life in Baltimore; the impact of art and creative practice on her life; support from her mother; her discovery of queerness; being queer and Black; living in Rhode Island; her student experience at Rhode Island School of Design; her travels and study abroad. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Jaye Watts by Selene Means. Jaye Watts is a transgender man, political activist, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Topics in order of discussion include: transgender civil rights and legal protections; Rhode Island hate crime laws; Safe Schools Act and bullying; the Rhode Island DMV and the drive to simplify changing gender designation on driver's licenses; changing gender designation on birth certificates; the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and transfer health care access; Thundermist; the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), protections for queer and trans youth in state care, and the Children's Bill of Rights in Rhode Island; the non binary gender marker for driver's licenses and birth certificates; LGBTQ+ people of color; assimilation; trans housing issues; and Options Magazine. This interview was created as part of a series of LGBTQIA interviews in a project managed by Dr. Virginia Thomas and funded through an Equity Action grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.

Interview with Reverend Dr. Gwendolyn Howard by Virginia Thomas. Reverend Dr. Howard is a transgender woman, Unitarian Universalist minister, social worker, and activist. Topics in order of discussion include: coming out as a transgender woman; losing her job as a Unitarian Universalist minister; gender transition; attending an MSW program at Boston University; working in a day treatment program for people with mental illnesses; being a trans therapist and providing therapy to trans patients; activism with the Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights; working with PFLAG Providence; the struggle for LGBTQ+ civil rights in Rhode Island; changes in language around transgender issues and identity; the struggle for marriage equality in Rhode Island; aging parents; serving on the Board of the TGI Network of RI; transgender and nonbinary youth; social isolation; and the need for trans community. This interview was created as part of a series of LGBTQIA interviews in a project managed by Dr. Virginia Thomas and funded through an Equity Action grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.

Interview with Freeman T. Freeman by Virginia Thomas. Freeman is a Black gay man, a parent, an activist and volunteer, and a clinical social worker. Topics in order of discussion include: being in an interracial gay marriage; parenting; living in rural New York state; working as a clinical social worker; volunteering for Men of Color Health Awareness (MOCHA); volunteering with the AIDS buddy program through AIDS Rochester; participating in an AIDS vaccine clinical trial; facing prejudice and intolerance as a Black gay man; volunteering with SAGE Rhode Island, a services and advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender elders; aging as an LGBTQIA person; the challenges of accessing appropriate health care as an LGBTQIA person; spirituality and churches; volunteering at a needle exchange program; and running for a position in local government in rural New York state. This interview was created as part of a series of LGBTQIA interviews in a project managed by Dr. Virginia Thomas and funded through an Equity Action grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.

Interview with Eli Nixon by Finch Collins. Nixon is a transqueer person; parent; artist and puppeteer. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in South County of Rhode Island; living and working as a performance artist in Providence in the late 1990s including experiences with AS220; Big Nazo; Fort Thunder; Pronk Parade; living in Philadelphia for 13 years before moving back to Rhode Island; addressing issues of nature; identity and mutual aid in artwork; horseshoe crabs and influence on artwork; personal process to articular themselves as a transqueer person; experience of being pregnant and transqueer. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Brian Belovitch. Brian is a writer, playwright, performer and survivor of HIV. He identifies as a gay man of trans experience. Topics in order of discussion include: moving to Providence from Fall River as a child; early awareness of identity; getting bullied by adults and children; cruising areas; early experiences at gay bars and doing drag; Lola Apartment building in Providence; coming out as gay and then as a trans woman; living with HIV; decision to transition again to gender at birth; addiction and becoming sober; sex work; gay social spaces in Providence. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Management of the project was transferred to PPL in 2021. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Billy Mencer Ackerly by Madeline Montgomery. Mencer Ackerly is one of the group that organized and participated in the first R.I. Pride parade in 1976. He is a white gay man; a retired mental health worker and gay rights activist. Topics in order of discussion include: relationship with biological father; difficult childhood; coming out as a teenager in the 1960s; getting arrested; bullying; dropping out of high school and leaving home; gay nightclubs and bars in Boston and Providence; domestic abuse from first boyfriend; Metropolitan Community Church of Providence and Reverend Joseph Gilbert; harassment; communal living; organizing the first Gay Pride march in Rhode Island as part of the Bicentennial celebration and the legal case that ensured the march could occur; support from his mother during Pride March; description of subsequent Pride parades and events; coming out while working at the Bulova Watch Company; getting married and attending high school reunion. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Anthony Maselli by Caroline Sprague. Maselli is an advocate for HIV/AIDS a public health worker focused on mental health and addiction. He identifies as a gay; queer man. Topics in order of discussion include: growing up in a fundamentalist Baptist church; coming out in his first semester at URI; clubs and bars; substance abuse and addiction recovery; getting diagnosed with HIV; HIV / AIDS activism; winning Mr. Gay Rhode Island in 2014; challenges around inclusion in mainstream gay culture; mental health and addiction outreach and advocacy. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.

Interview with Andy Taubman. Andy is a drag king performer, producer, mentor, workshop maker and event manager and community builder and serves as the Director of Youth Services at Youth Pride Rhode Island. Topics in order of discussion include: definition of "drag king", beginning as a performer in Seattle in 2000, Seattle drag and queer scenes in the 2000s, Rhode Island drag scene and starting to produce drag shows, differences between drag kings and drag queens, growing up in Rhode Island and attending a Catholic high school, being labeled a tomboy as a child, decision to attend Evergreen State College in Washington state, change in progressivism and conservatism since growing up, motivation for drag, mentoring and production of drag shows, the development of having a drag house. This interview was created as part of the Queer Stories Project - an oral history project developed by Dr. Virginia Thomas to train LGBTQIA young adults to conduct oral history interviews with LGBTQIA adults in Rhode Island. Management of the project was transferred to PPL in 2021. Queer Stories Project was funded by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Interview with Ancha Santana by Jessica Jiang. Ancha is a community organizer and licensed mental health counselor at Brown University. She specializes in crisis stabilization and urgent needs. Ancha identifies as a queer; Black; African woman. She was born in Cape Verde and has lived in Pawtucket; Rhode Island since the age of eleven. Topics in order of discussion include: Cape Verdean community in Rhode Island; class status and race in Cape Verde; growing up with other first generation immigrants; problems with racism at universities; whiteness in Providence queer communities; lack of spaces for queer BIPOC to gather in Providence; queer nightlife in Amsterdam and Providence; planning the Queer and Trans POC Dyke March; the COVID-19 pandemic and its burden on Black and Latinx communities; working as a counselor at under-resourced schools; substance abuse prevention; frustrations with working at Brown; imposter syndrome. This interview was created as part of the Queering Oral History course - an oral history course at Brown University in Spring 2020 and taught by Dr. Virginia Thomas. Students were trained in oral history practices and interviewed members of the Rhode Island LGBTQIA community.