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  Abdurraqib, Samaa

  Iris Sangiovanni and Samar Amhed

  Description:

  Samaa Abdurraqib is a Black, queer, Muslim woman living in Portland, Maine. Abdurraqib was raised in Columbus, Ohio. She attend the Univesiry of Ohio, and later the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she recived a PhD in English Literature. After graduating she worked as a visiting professor at Bowdown College in Brunswick, Maine. Next she went on to work the American Civil Liberties Union in Maine as a reproductive rights organizer. She now works for the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. Her advoacy and organizing work has included places such as Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine, Southern Maine Workers Center and the Portland Racial Justice Congress. She helped create the For Us, By Us fund, a flexible fund to help support People of Color in their ownorganizing for their own communities.

  Citation:

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

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  Antonik, Thomas

  Ethan Masselli and Kailyn Braley

  Description:

  Thomas Antonik is a gay man from Maine. Thomas moved to New York City in 1979 to attend the School of Visual Arts. He was diagnosed with HIV in the early days of the epidemic and one year later was diagnosed with AIDS. He was a part of the People with AIDS Coalition. In 1989, Antonik moved back to Maine and worked part time while also attending to his health. Antonik is an artist who woks in painting and photography. He is also a practicing Quaker.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

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  Arbor, Kelly

  Alanna Larrivee and Emma Wynn Hill

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

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  Barteaux, Kennedy

  Kayla Woodward and Nathanial Koch

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

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  Beck-Poland, Sherry

  Ariana Wenger and Johnna Ossie

  Sherry Beck-Poland is 64 years old and lives in Lewiston, Maine with their wife Dee, and two sons, Jacob and Joe. Sherry has dedicated much of their life helping others including fostering over ten children, adopting their two sons, working for DHHS with individuals with PTSD, personality disorders, and other disabilities, as well as their involvement with political activism for marriage equality, and their help in organizing pride in Lewiston.

  Sherry has attended the University of Southern Maine for their undergraduate degree where they graduated with honors, then attended Seminary where they received their master’s degree in theology. Sherry is known for their work ethic as always having a job and attending school. Sherry is now retired and focuses on their boys, aged 18 and 19, their involvement in the church, and organizing pride events.

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  Berger, Fred

  Wendy Chapkis

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

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  Brooks, Frank

  Rachel Spiegel and Elizabeth Wise Horan

  Frank Brooks is a 64 year old Social Worker and Social Work educator born and raised in Maine. He when came out as gay in 1976, he was in a heterosexual marriage and he has a son from that marriage. He was involved in an LGBT parent's group, LGBT social worker's group, volunteered for the AIDS project, worked on referenda and political campaigns, and was a board member of both the MLGPA (now Equality Maine) and the MCLU (now ACLU of Maine). His life's work has been serving the LGBTQ community through both activism and social work. He's worked extensively with the LGBTQ community as a social worker, done dissertation research on gender nonconforming behavior in boys, and worked to make social work curriculum LGBTQ inclusive.

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  Brushaber, Skip

  Jack Barrett and Branden Pratt

  Skip Brushaber is a 71-year old gay man who uses he/his/him pronouns. Skip worked as a nurse and social worker during the AIDS crisis. He was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 9th, 1947. Skip studied English in college but later became a nurse and social worker. He lived in New York and Pennsylvania before moving to Portland in 1980. He helped found the AIDS Project in 1983, a group in Portland that helped support individuals dealing with AIDS, and founded and wrote for Our Paper throughout the 80s, an LGBTQ paper aimed at covering issues related to queerness and the AIDS epidemic while the mainstream press was still ignoring it. Skip shares his thoughts on a wide range of topics that include gay life in 1980s Portland, working in healthcare during the AIDS crisis, current national politics, the loss of queer spaces, and the importance of recording queer history. Skip is retired as of 2012, but volunteers at the Westbrook Food Pantry and still does nursing visits part-time.

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  Bull, Steven

  Alanna Larrivee and Tracy Payne

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

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  Bunker, Lisa

  Molly Roberts and Jesse Lucas

  Lisa Bunker is an author who lives in Exeter, New Hampshire and worked at WMPG at the University of Southern Maine for fourteen years during her process of coming out as transgender. She is the author of Felix Yz and an upcoming book called Zenobia July, but spent most of her life in broadcast radio before she left to pursue a full time career in writing.

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  Dionne, J. Remi

  Daija Paradis and Johnna Ossi

  J. Remi Dionne is a 42-year-old educator and was born in Northampton, MA but currently residing in Portland, ME with his husband. He spent some time as a professional dancer, touring and performing around the country and the world. J. discovered a passion for education, holding positions in both teaching and administration. He is currently a principal intern at Westbrook High School and is finishing up a post-graduate education leadership program at University of Southern Maine.

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  Ellison, Marvin

  Elyssa Pennell

  Marvin Ellison is a 69 year old gay man originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. He earned his bachelors degree in Religion at Davidson College. He then went on to get his Masters in Religion and Society at The Divinity School at the University of Chicago. Ellison then got his PhD in Christian Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was a professor of Christian Ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary from 1981-2012. He was also an Ordained member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) until he retired. In 1988 Ellison was on the Presbyterian Special Committee on Human Sexuality and he wrote a very controversial report at the time, which was very sex positive, feminist and LGBT friendly. His report was rejected by the church, but it sold 400,000 copies. Ellison enjoys doing social justice work in many different disciplines. He has formed two organizations that were very politically active; Religious Coalition Against Discrimination and Maine Interfaith Council on Reproductive Choices.

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  Fenton-Snell, Butch

  Danielle Fraser and Jarod Wescot

  Butch is 68 years old and was born in Youngstown Ohio, One of 6 children, Moved to Maine in 1980 to be with his husband. Family life was relatively normal for Butch in terms of coming out. However his father was not very emotionally available in general. Butch Knew he was gay from a very young age and did not feel as if he was ever confused about his sexuality. Butch later joined the military and was in the Vietnam War. Continued to move to different states and eventually ended up in Maine later becoming owner of Blackstones in Portland. The bar is no longer under his ownership but is one of the last remaining gay bars in Portland Maine. Butch is one of the original members of a group called Harbor Masters and continues to be an active member.

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  Grindle, Charles

  Gwendolyn Wolf and Johnna Ossie

  Charles Grindle is a 66-year-old man from Ellsworth, ME. He is a piano player, as well as a minister. He has been heavily involved in church, music and theater since childhood. He has also done a lot of traveling- he’s lived in Portland, Boston, San Diego and England. He has years of experience working for churches- doing sermons and weddings, etc. In his earlier years, he played piano at many hopping places- such as The Front Porch and the Inn By the Sea. He worked at Blackstones when it first opened. Other bars that he frequented were Styxx and Rollins. He spent a gap year living in London. In 1988, he was diagnosed positive for AIDS. However, he did not let that get in the way of living his life. Nowadays, he writes columns for the Peabody newsletter, as well as continuing his involvement in church, theater and music. He currently lives with his partner, with whom he has just bought a house. His goals for the future are to stay healthy and continue working.

• 

  Henderson, Susan

  Emma Wynn Hill

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Hopkins, Susan

  Ysanne Bethel

  Susan Hopkins is a 53-year-old member of the LGBTQIA community, living in Westbrook, Maine. Susan grew up with her family on the small island of Vinalhaven in Penobscot Bay, hearing tales of her anti-racist bisexual aunt. A self-identified feminist in her adolescence, Susan recognized that she was not straight early on, but did not feel safe to come out in her small community. Going to the University of Maine, Orono, Susan experienced her first lesbian relationship and taste of chosen family. Eventually, Susan found herself at the Howard University School of Law, where she interned at Whitman Walter Clinic in D.C, and immersed herself in ‘queer’ culture. Many years later, Susan was connected with June Harris, a woman she dedicated much of this interview to, and they became close confidants. During their friendship, June introduced Susan to the hidden history of lesbian life in Maine during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Susan is passionate about Maine’s hidden sub-cultures, chosen family, intergenerational friendships, and the right to self-identify.

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  Johnson, Myke

  Marwa Abdalla and Colleen Fagan

  Myke Johnson (she/her pronoun) is a 64 year old Unitarian minister currently living in Portland Maine with her partner of 24 years. She is from Michigan and later moved to Texas and Wyoming with her family. She is the oldest out of 9 children. She grew up Catholic and found herself being an activist during her college years. She became a feminist and was part of the Women's Peace Encampment, March on Washington, Marriage rights campaigns and many more. She got her doctorate degree in the Feminist Liberation Theology Program and became a minister in Massachussets. She then continued to do advocacy work and came to Maine and became a Unitarian Universalist Minister.

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  Joy, Drew

  Andrew Volkers

  Drew Joy is a 37 year old living in Portland, ME. They are the executive director of the Southern Maine Workers Center. They have been organizing and participating in activism since early adulthood. They have participated in public housing activism with Survivor's Village in New Orleans, anti-racism work in San Francisco with People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER), and now working class issues such as healthcare for all with SMWC.

  Drew has a very 'do it yourself', anarchism grounded ideology in their political beliefs. Their peer environment was in punk music, specifically the radical political sub-genres of queercore punk music.

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  Kawamoto, Eric

  Cosette Holmes and Tiana Cope-Ferland

  To completely understand of the history of an oppressed community, we must understand the personal stories of the members of that community. To dig deeper into their stories, the Querying the Past project at the University of Southern Maine collects interviews illuminating the struggle. Specifically, queer people have long struggled to balance their identities in society, overcome discrimination, gain legal rights, and survive disease. This interview with Eric Kawamoto reveals a journey of self-discovery in Chicago, L.A., Boston, and Portland; an intersection between being Asian American and being queer; and survival of AIDS as a result of reserve. Kawamoto places these personal themes among his account of the LGBTQ+ and Asian American communities’ overarching struggles, like the fight for domestic partnership benefits, representation of Asian American gay men, and spreading awareness about Japanese American internment in California.

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  Leveille, Lee

  Adele Hayward

  Lee Leveille is a 30-year-old Californian transplant that grew up in Sumner and Greene, ME. S/he works as an intentional peer support specialist in central Maine and is currently finishing up his/her bachelor’s in Psychology and Community Studies at the University of Maine at Machias. S/he is an active member of his/her local synagogue after beginning the conversion process to Judaism in 2016.

  Lee considers him/herself to be a transgender butch, or someone who lives simultaneously as both a butch woman and transman. His/her pronouns are thus conditional in order to provide him/her with the flexibility to adapt to different environments. S/he hopes to bring more visibility to how living in these two worlds can influence each other, as well as seeking to mend rifts between different groups in the LGBT community.

  Leveille lives in central Maine. S/he discusses their experience with gender using a metaphor about living in multiple worlds. Throughout the interview Lee stresses his/her distaste for socially constructed identity boxes. S/he also delves into topics such as bullying, intimate partner violence, and abuse; being autistic; and converting to Judaism

• 

  MacEachern, Meredith

  Skylar Hebert and Emma Chapin

  Meredith MacEachern is a 25 year old graduate of Acadia University in Canada, and has completed the Stonecoast MFA program. The only child of two archeologists, Meredith spent her childhood in Canada and South Africa, with most of her middle and high school years in Brunswick, Maine. She is passionate about activism for the indigenous populations of Canada, and uses her voice as a writer to speak about stigma towards psychosis and mental illness. She is hoping to move back to Canada in the next year and act as a supporter of justice for indigenous peoples.

• 

  Manson, Barry interview

  Alanna Larivee and Emma Wynn Hill

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  McKenzie, Ellen

  Caroline Wheeler and Marwa Ibrahim

  This interview features Ellen McKenzie, an African-American lesbian woman living in Portland, Maine. Having lived in Portland for almost her entire life, Ellen can provide insight on growing up in one of the only black families in her community, the intersections between race and sexuality, co-parenting children from a spouse’s previous marriage and generally navigating the world and her career as a queer woman of color. Throughout this interview, we hear a lot about her childhood and her family’s history as civil rights activists in Maine, her relationship with her spouse and and co-parenting their children with both her spouse, and the children’s father and stepmother. This insight into LGBTQ blended families is insightful and interesting. We also hear about the loss of one of their sons to suicide. Lastly, she provides insight into her career as a social worker, and how to navigate the workplace as a woman of color and how she handles racism and discrimination.

• 

  McKenzie, Mike

  Wendy Chapkis

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Moser, W. Jo

  Wendy Chapkis

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  O'Day, Janet

  Johnna Ossie

  Janet O'Day is 71 years old. She lives in Maine with her wife, Rosemary. She has one adult son. She was raised in a Catholic Family in Quincy, Massachusettes. She came out later in life after being married to a man and having a son. Religion is important to Janet and she was involved with Dignity in Boston and Maine, an organization that provides Catholic Mass and religious support to Catholic LGBTQ people. Janet continues to stay involved in her church community. During the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Janet worked at the Deaconness hospital in Boston as a discharge nurse with patients with HIV and AIDS. At this time Janet was also a Eucharistic minister and provided communion to people on the HIV/AIDS floor of the hospital, which priests at the hospital would not do. She also stayed overnight twice a week with a patient who had been discharged but needed a friend to stay overnight with him.

• 

  Parsons, Betsy

  Shanisa Rodriguez and Madison Leblanc

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Pezet, Antoinette

  Emily Durgin

  Antoinette Pezet was born in New York April 23, 1937 as William Anthony Pezet. She recognized she was bisexual in her early teens. Her family was accepting of her sexuality very early on. Before enlisted in the military in her early twenties, she married her first wife, Helga. Due to mental health issues, Helga and Antoinette divorced. Antoinette then married her second wife, Emily, and went on to have two children.

  It was not until Antoinette was divorced from Emily that she started dressing as a woman. In her early fifties she had a conversation with Jean Vermette that first gave language to Antoinette; transgender. This language molded her own version of her gender. Antoinette identifies as “a man who lives as a woman.” She notes her strong connection to both men and woman frames her gender identity.

• 

  Quezada, Alzenira

  Wendy Chapkis

  Alzenira Quezada, also known as Lady Zen, is a queer artist, singer and performer. Quezada was born to Brazillian parents and raised by white adoptive parents who were members of the Church of the Nazarene, a branch of evangelical Christianity. She was cut off by her adoptive parents when she came out at 17. She studied music at Evergreen College in Washington State. She grew up in Arkansas and spent many years in Portland, Maine before moving to Mexico where she currently resides. Quezada owns a production company in Mexico and also works at a queer run bar. Her current projects include modeling and working on poetry and song writing, as well as producing films.

• 

  Rand, Erica

  Demary Danella

  Erica lived in Chicago for many years, but relocated to Maine because of her teaching position at Bates College. She is a Professor of Art and Visual Culture and of Gender and Sexuality Studies, and is acting interim chair of the Gender and Sexuality Studies department. She discussed her coming out process as well as her experiences as a budding activist in ACT UP and a branch of ACT UP, called The Pissed Off Dyke Cell. Erica talked significantly about her previous relationships and how those connections shaped her activisim as well as how her activism shaped her relationships. She spent the second half of the interview discussing her interests and passions for activism in this time of her life, her teaching and her ice skating. Erica also focused on her involvement, both personally and professionally with discovering and expressing sexual desire through her own journey with partners and her work with Salacious which is a queer feminist anti-racist sex magazine that began in 2013.

• 

  Rich, Penny

  Bianca Sturchio and Johnna Ossie

  Penny Rich is a 70-year old lesbian living in Portland, Maine. She recieved a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Southern Maine. She is known for her involvement in major social events such as Portland Pride and the Women's Coffeehouse, as well as her experiences with gay bar culture throughout the 60's and 70's. She spends her time socializing, exercising, reading, and getting involved in local political and social issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community in Portland, Maine.

• 

  Sager, Rachel

  Abbey Donahue

  On November 16, 2018, Rachel Sager from Buffalo, New York was interviewed. Rachel Sager was a part of the Mattachine Society in Buffalo, New York. Sager was an improv actor at custom parties where she would explore male privilege through drag.

• 

  Smallwood, Thomas

  Miasarah Miskoon and Winter Devyn

  Thomas Smallwood moved to Portland, Maine in 2002 from Maryland and made the city his home. He has been a nanny for 14 of those years to two boys and watched them grow up under his care and treats them as family. He now nannies for two little girls, volunteers as an Outreach Counselor for the Frannie Peabody Center because he feels it is his duty to his community to educate and spread awareness. Thomas acts, sings and dances in theater, Maine Gay Men’s Chorus and performs as a drag queen, Miss Lajoy, at Blackstones during his free time.

  His love for performing, music and dance started from a very young age and he went

  to Point Park University for Music and Dance for 2 years before dropping out to

  pursue theater. Ever since he can remember, he always knew that he was gay.

  At 16, he came out to his mother. He publically came out at 21. Religion played a

  huge part in his life and he still goes to the First Parish Church in Portland. He spoke

  about BLM, #takeaknee, and what the First Amendment rights meant to him. He also discussed the intersection of being a Black man in a predominantly white city. Thomas is also a strong advocate of the right to bodily autonomy with trans people, women’s rights to birth control and abortions.

• 

  Solomon, Howard

  Richard Morin and Michelle Johnston

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Vaughan, Cait

  Kyle F. Cumiskey and Diane Martin

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Vermette, Jean

  Annie Holland and Olivia Tryon-Nadeau

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Verzosa, Andres

  Brendan Butler and Alexander Blake

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Waitzkin, Rich

  Kristen Cates and Emma Donnelly

  Rich Waitzkin is a 69-year-old social worker originally from Akron, Ohio residing in Portland, ME. Waitzkin came out as a gay man in his late twenties after moving to Maine. He holds two Masters degrees in both education and social work. Waitzkin has years of experience working both in administration and in the home health care field providing therapy to the LGBTQ community. During the AIDS epidemic, Waitzkin worked as a social worker helping to guide clients on resources and even preparing some for death. Waitzkin also helped establish Portland’s first LGBTQ community center known as the Equality Community Center. Waitzkin has been involved with the political sphere by serving on an advisory board for former Governor John McKernan and fighting the AIDS epidemic in the 80s.

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  Wood, Barb

  Issabella Rieger

  Barbra ‘Barb’ Wood is 63 years old and lives in Portland M.E with her partner Carol. Barb realized she was queer her junior year in college when an underclassman that she met at a party took her back to her apartment and kissed her. After this kiss Barb recovered her other queer crushes through her series of romantic friendships with women. After college Barb worked as an insurance inspection agent in the state of Maine and later went on to become a resident of Portland. Barb was instrumental in the creation and distribution of Maine’s first queer newspaper OUR PAPER and would in later years become a founding member of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (now Equality Maine) after the murder of Charlie Howard in 1984. Barb also went on to help Dale McCormick with her campaign for senate and won a seat of her own as the first openly lesbian City Counselor in Portland. Throughout her years as an activist and a prominent person in the queer community, Barb discusses her friends, community and many fun nights dancing and organizing—she even speaks about closing down The Underground/Styxx by throwing Penny Rich a grand 70^th birthday party.