Clough, Travis

Interviewer

Josh Allen
Rachel Shanks

Files

Description

Travis Clough is a 44 year old trans man who grew up in the small town of Bucksport, Maine. He uses the pronouns he/him/his, and identifies as queer or trans. From a young age, Travis felt different with his gender identity. He attended the University of Maine Farmington in the late 1990’s, and was the only school he applied to because it was “where all the queers went”. Having been into music since the age of 14, he began playing in bands while in college. Him and his band would make the long drive from Farmington to Portland every week to play at local gigs at gay bars in the city. One of his favorite bars to go to, where he felt most at home was a place called Sisters in downtown Portland. Coming out as lesbian in 1998, then coming out as trans in 2003 and “de-transitioning” a couple times thereafter, Travis struggled with his identity. Travis moved around to places like Massachusetts, California, Oregon, and Maine. Living and working in Boston, MA is where he solidified his choice to be trans. Playing music in several different punk bands and performing covers of songs in local bars, the bar scene was a major influence throughout his queer upbringing.

Having felt a calling to move back to Maine, he did just that. Travis moved back to Maine right before COVID-19 hit. He says this impacted his ability to make new friends and explore the area and its people. Travis worked for the Venture Out Project, a group who leads wilderness trips and activities for people in the LGBTQ community. Activities such as hiking and snowboarding are some of Travis’s favorite activities, and something he does a lot in his free time. He also owns a company called T Bag Maine, where he makes small bags like fanny packs. Music, travel, nature, hiking, snowboarding, and the LGBTQ community have all been incredibly influential factors in Travis’s life.

You can see a recording of Travis's college band below.

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

11-23-2021

City

Portland, Maine

Keywords

LGBTQ, trans, queer, Farmington, Boston, Oregon, gay bars, music, guitar, outdoors, Venture Out Project, snowboarding, hiking, friends, family, home, transitioning.

Disciplines

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

Recommended Citation

Allen, Josh and Shanks, Rachel, "Clough, Travis" (2021). Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection. 78.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/78

Creative Commons License

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