If you didn’t know, Roanoke has some of the most historical sites in relation to the LGBTQ community. It also has roots in many movements that helped bring the LGBTQ community together and gave them a voice in Southwest Virginia. From the 1970’s until today there are countless stories and pieces of historical relevance that have been showcased by the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project.
There is a growing collection of oral histories from different members of the community that delve into what it was like to grow up as a gay/lesbian/transgender/queer in this part of the state. Some people spent their entire lives in the Roanoke area, while others moved into the area as young adults and they themselves learned about the history through their own experiences and stories they were told while they were exploring the community. The project itself is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and the archives that have and are still being collected can be found in the Virginia Room of the Roanoke Public Library. There is also a digital archive of most, if not all, of the pieces that have been collected since the project started.
Recently they have added four interns to their team to serve on their QTPOC Youth Brigade to help expand their oral history collection to include more queer and transgender people of color. It is a large section of the community’s experiences and stories that has been unexplored and with the help of the QTPOC Advisory Board, new doors will be opened to show how inclusive this project really is. I am personally involved as one of the interns, and I can say that the people working on this project are truly some of the most dedicated people i’ve ever met. We’re constantly looking for more people to help out, bring new ideas and share any historical pieces about the queer community in Roanoke and Southwest Virginia.
If you’d like to get involved, or just learn a little more then check out the project’s Facebook page for events and feel free to join in the conversation at one of our monthly meetings!