The OUTWORDS Archive
 | |
| Formation | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Type | NPO |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) |
| Purpose | Oral history of the U.S. LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, ally, and two spirit) human rights movement |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, United States |
Founder | Mason Funk |
| Website | theoutwordsarchive.org |
The Outwords Archive (OUTWORDS) is a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. It records and archives on-camera interviews with elders from the LGBTQ+ community throughout the United States.[1] [2]
History[edit]
Inspired by the Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive of interviews with Holocaust witnesses and survivors, documentary TV and film producer Mason Funk established OUTWORDS in 2016. Half-day interviews are conducted on high-definition digital video by film crews, primarily in the homes of interview subjects.[3] Interviewees have included lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex individuals, as well as representatives of various sub-communities of the LGBTQ community including drag queens, leather daddies, lesbian separatists, and allies. Most interviewees are over 70 years old.[4]
In May 2018, OUTWORDS received a Creator Award in the Community Giver category from the co-working company WeWork.[5] In May 2019, HarperCollins published the first compilation of OUTWORDS interviews, entitled The Book of Pride, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.[6][7] At the same time, OUTWORDS released a searchable digital platform which makes video interviews and historical photos freely available to the public.[8]
Interviews[edit]
As of August 2023, OUTWORDS had recorded on-camera oral histories with over 300 LGBTQIA2S+ elders in 40 states. Interviewees have included:[9][10]
- Daayiee Abdullah – openly gay Imam
- Roy Ashburn – former anti-LGBT politician
- Eden Atwood – intersex activist, jazz singer
- Arlene Voski Avakian – Armenian American academic
- Don Bachardy – portrait artist, longtime partner of Christopher Isherwood
- Bruce Bastian – technology pioneer
- Brett Bigham – 2014 Oregon State Teacher of the Year
- Sharon Bridgforth – writer, theater jazz artist
- David Bohnett – GeoCities founder, philanthropist
- Cidny Bullens – transgender singer-songwriter
- David Edward Byrd – graphic artist, illustrator
- Grethe Cammermeyer – retired colonel, DADT activist
- Mandy Carter – civil rights organizer
- Karen Clark – long-serving lesbian politician in Minnesota
- Sharon Day – Ojibwe leader, Native American activist
- Rochelle Diamond – research biologist, Out to Innovate chair emeritus
- Martin Duberman – playwright, historian, activist
- Elana Dykewomon – lesbian activist, author, teacher
- Denise Eger – first lgbt leader of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
- Sokari Ekine – Nigerian activist, author, blogger
- Beth Elliott – transgender lesbian folk singer
- L. Frank – Tongva-Ajachmem artist
- Chris Freeman & Jon Ginoli – musicians who formed Pansy Division
- Kenny Fries – disability activist, memoirist, poet
- Phyllis Randolph Frye – first openly transgender judge in US
- Gilberto Gerald – gay rights and HIV/AIDS activist; co-founder of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays
- Jewelle Gomez – author, former president San Francisco Library Commission
- Jamison Green – former president of WPATH
- Beverly Greene – clinical psychologist, scholar, author
- Susan Griffin – ecofeminist activist, essayist, playwright
- Miss Major Griffin-Gracy – transgender activist
- Dean Hamer – geneticist, ‘gay gene’ researcher
- Monica Helms – creator of the Transgender Pride Flag
- Ray Hill – organizer, radio host
- Alice Y. Hom – Asian American community activist, author
- Karla Jay – author, activist
- Lorri Jean – CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center
- Janetta Johnson – executive director of the TGI Justice Project
- Lani Ka'ahumanu – bisexual pioneer and author
- Rupert Kinnard – creator of the first lesbian/gay African American cartoon strip
- Kay Lahusen – pioneering photojournalist
- Dick Leitsch – former president of the Mattachine Society
- Yoseñio V. Lewis – transgender healthcare activist
- David Mixner – civil rights organizer, playwright
- Nancy Nangeroni – transgender activist, founder of GenderTalk Radio
- Holly Near – singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, activist
- Diana Nyad – open ocean swimmer
- Robyn Ochs – bisexual pioneer and educator
- Torie Osborn – community organizer, political activist
- Shanna Peeples – 2015 National Teacher of the Year
- Troy Perry – founder of the Metropolitan Community Church
- K.C. Potter – academic administrator, led LGBTQ+ group at Vanderbilt
- Jennifer Pritzker – investor, philanthropist, military museum founder
- Margaret Randall – writer, photographer, academic
- Joan Roughgarden – ecologist, evolutionary biologist
- Donna Sachet – drag performer, activist
- Alex Sanchez – author of LGBTQ+ books for adults and teens
- Diane Sands – Montana state senator
- Mark Segal – journalist, founder of the National Gay Newspaper Guild
- Ruth Shack – sponsor of the Dade County 1977 Human Rights Ordinance
- Charles Silverstein – mental health activist, author
- Alan M. Steinman – retired admiral, DADT activist
- Susan Stryker – transgender academic, filmmaker, author
- Jewel Thais-Williams – Los Angeles nightclub owner
- Jim Toy – college campus activist
- Jean-Nickolaus Tretter – LGBTQ+ historian
- Kitty Tsui – Chinese-American poet, author, bodybuilder
- Carmen Vázquez – health care activist
- Bruce Vilanch – Emmy-winning comedian
- Del LaGrace Volcano – artist, performer, intersex activist
- Phill Wilson – Black AIDS Institute founder
- Evan Wolfson – marriage equality activist
- Mia Yamamoto – attorney, transgender activist
Publications[edit]
- The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World, (HarperCollins, May 2019), ISBN 978-0-0625-7170-0
See also[edit]
- LGBT History
- Mattachine Society
- ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
- Lesbian Herstory Archives
- Tretter Archives
- Transgender Oral History Project
References[edit]
- ^ "OUTWORDS Archives". Faces of Freedom. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "OUTWORDS: The National Interview Archive of the LGBTQ Experience". International Documentary Association. 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Book captures stories of LGBT trailblazers". The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "This Filmmaker Is on a Quest to Capture the Stories of LGBTQ Pioneers All Over America | NewNowNext". www.newnownext.com. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Uncovering LGBT stories that were hidden from history". Ideas. 2018-05-13. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Meet the LGBTQ+ Elders Who Rioted, Organized and Lobbied to Change History". KQED. 2019-06-10. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "'The Book of Pride' Celebrates LGBTQ+ Trailblazers". www.out.com. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "At WeWork's SF Creator Awards, Big Ideas Deserve Big Celebrations". 7x7 Bay Area. 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Lavender Legacies Guide: United States: California | Society of American Archivists". www2.archivists.org. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
- ^ "Two local residents participate in national LGBTQ+ elders project The Outwords Archive". Desert Sun.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Alan Steinman on-camera oral history The Outwords Archive, August 15, 2017