Smith, T. Love

Interviewer

Kassey Kreer

Files

Description

T Love Smith is a 46 year old born in Lincoln, ME, who identifies as non-binary and queer. After coming out to their mom at age 19, who had also come out as gay when T was 5, they were met with an unsupportive, negative response. Going through a tough childhood filled with alcohol abuse and no community for T to confide in about their gender/sexual identity, T found themselves in toxic relationships in their early adulthood. Eventually they were able to come to terms with their identity and came out as non-binary. T discussed their time in the military and how, even though it was a traumatizing experience, it played a big role in shaping them into the person they are today. During their time at USM, T got heavily involved in the activism scene in Portland. They spent time organizing and being a part of groups such as the League of Pissed Off Voters and Maine Won’t Discriminate.

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 more information about the Querying the Past: Maine LGBTQ Oral History Project, please contact Dr. Wendy Chapkis.

Publication Date

11-21-2023

Publisher

USM Special Collections

City

Portland, Maine

Keywords

Acceptance, activism, alcohol abuse, anti-gay and gay bashing in Portland, army, bars, Blackstones, bullying, butch, closeted, coming out, community, don’t ask don’t tell, femme, gay bars, gender identity, homophobia, lesbian, Maine, Maine Won’t Discriminate, military, misogyny, mother, non-binary, polyamory, Portland Pride, queer, recovery, relationships

Disciplines

History of Gender | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | Oral History | Women's Studies

Recommended Citation

Kreer, Kassey, "Smith, T. Love" (2023). Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection. 103.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/103

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.