Oral history interview with Randy K., 1967-
Oral history with Randy K., who talk about his work as an advocate and activist and work with D.C.'s HIPS program, which provides harm-reduction services for sex workers. Interview conducted by Caitlin Firmage.
4 December, 2015
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1970s-- Randy K. was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1967. His family moved to D.C. in 1974, and he has lived in the city since then, and sees it as his home. Randy grew up in the Adams Morgan neighborhood with his mother and four siblings. He knew he was gay from a young age and was often bullied in school. He was also caught up in the juvenile judicial system, and as a result became involved with the Big Brothers of America program. The program matched him up with Congressman Mickey Leland. Leland helped Randy with his schoolwork and helped him start taking horseback riding lessons. He served as a mentor to Randy until his death in 1989, and remained the person to whom Randy would attribute much of his success later in life. As a teenager in the 1980s, Randy often walked through the Dupont Circle neighborhood and observed the many gay clubs in the area. He would often stand in front of them and watch patrons leave, afraid to be seen going to the clubs himself. In 1984, Leland flew Randy to Houston, where the latter took aptitude tests and was diagnosed with dyslexia. This discovery made Randy feel pessimistic about the trouble he was having in school, and he decided to drop out as a result. After he dropped out, Randy started going to gay bars such as the Clubhouse, Tracks, Bachelor’s Mill, and Brass Rail. Around this time he also began engaging in sex work, as well as burglary, to make money. It was during this period that Randy first became acquainted with HIPS, a harm-reduction organization that provides services for sex workers and drug users. Randy recalls HIPS volunteers providing him and other sex workers with condoms, candy, hot chocolate, and clothes. Randy was diagnosed with HIV on January 28th, 1986, the day of the Challenger space shuttle disaster. He was devastated by the diagnosis, and remembers wishing he were on the space shuttle because he dreaded the thought of his friends and family seeing him waste away. Randy was in the Job Corps at the time, but was asked to move out of his dorm after his diagnosis because doctors there couldn’t help him. He was given the address of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a D.C. health center that specializes in HIV/AIDS care. Despite the medications he received from the clinic, Randy felt hopeless about his illness, and as a result smoked crack, drank, and wouldn’t take his medication for many years after his diagnosis. He eventually decided to stop taking drugs, start taking his meds regularly, and turn his life around. Randy says that “HIV is the reason [he is] here today” because if not for his diagnosis, he would not have started living a healthier life. Randy lost many friends during the AIDS epidemic; he remembers going to “three funerals a week” and feeling numb to death. After being in and out of prison for many years, Randy was released in 2011 and decided that he wanted things to be different, and to stick to his plan of going back to school. He took part in Narcotics Anonymous, began attending church and eventually graduated from UDC, where he studied social work with an emphasis on public health. Randy came to HIPS as an HIV activist and advocate, working with HIPS staff member Earline Budd. He then met with HIPS harm reduction service manager Debbie Macmillan, who told him he should apply for the community health worker position, because of his HIV status and his relationship with the community. Randy loves his job, which involves helping make daily life easier for people living with chronic illness, because he feels that HIPS is a safe space in which he can be himself. He also feels that the organization does a good job of welcoming its clients, many of whom are transgender women, because the whole staff is very caring and committed to the work that HIPS does, and because many HIPS workers share experiences that the organization’s clientele also struggle with. He especially appreciates the commitment of administrators Cyndee Clay, Elizabeth MacIntosh, and Sara Knotts. Some services HIPS provides, in addition to the outreach van, which Randy says clients flock to “like ants on a sugar hill,” include a syringe exchange, showers, a clothing closet, a 24/7 hotline, laundry service, legal help, and linking clients to medical care. Randy is also a commissioner on the Ryan White Planning Council, which plans for the allocation of HIV/AIDS services and resources in the D.C. metropolitan area. This position allows him to serve as a voice for people with HIV/AIDS in the D.C. area. Randy feels that although organizations like HIPS and Whitman-Walker have pushed against the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, this stigma is still a major barrier towards seeking care for the infection or disease. Randy is glad that, as a community health worker, he is part of the fight against HIV/AIDS and the stigma associated with it.
Oral History Interview with Ken South, 1945­-
Ken South recounts his coming(s) out, his relationship with religion, his work on HIV/AIDS, and his advocacy on LGBT aging issues.
9 June 2016
1980s­- present Around the same time Ken South had his first experience with another gay man, he also got involved with the United Methodist Church. After coming more fully out, after study at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, he was defrocked by the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist Church and discharged from the Navy Chaplaincy. He was later ordained by the United Church of Christ. He began his AIDS work with AID Atlanta and later came to Washington, DC to work with the AIDS Institute of KOBA Associates and the AIDS National Interfaith Network. He was a staffer on Ronald Reagan’s President’s Commission on the AIDS Epidemic. Later, the worked on LGBT aging issues with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and served as president of the Prime Timers DC Chapter. Discussion also covered: ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act),Windows (DIK Bar),DC Eagle, Gay Marriage, SAGE, the FDA, and the American Society on Aging.
Oral History Interview with Tom Bower, 1948-
Moriah Petty interviews Tom Bower, a Catholic gay-identified man who has lived in DC since the 1960s working in museums and organizing the LGBTQ Catholics and greater gay community.
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19 March 2016
Oral history with Boden Sandstrom, 1945-
Oral history with Boden Sandstrom, know for recording, engineering and mixing live music, especially within the women’s music and political communities. Later also ethnomusicologist and professor at University of Maryland.
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1970s to present. Boden Sandstrom, was born and grew up in Fairport, N.Y. (Born Barbara Carol Sandstrom.) While earning a Master’s Degree in Library Science at the University of Michigan (1967-68), she became more politically engaged due to the social and political upheaval of the day. She then moved to San Jose, Calif., where she met (and eventually married) folk/flamenco singer, educator and Brown Beret member Rogelio Reyes. She lived and worked in Boston from 1970-72, where she became further engaged in feminist consciousness and political activism. During this time, Sandstrom came out as a lesbian. Arriving in D.C. in 1972, she found new ways to be involved in feminist activism. Beginning about 1974, Sandstrom began what would become a major part of her career: recording, engineering and mixing live music, especially within the women’s music and political communities. Early sound engineer experiences included Sophie’s Parlor, the oldest women’s music show on radio and the 1st National Women’s Music Festival. Sandstrom co-founded with Casse Culver a woman-run sound co., Woman Sound (later City Sound Productions), in Washington, D.C. During her career as a sound engineer/technical producer Sandstrom worked for many major events and artists including the American Folklife Festival, NOW, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Cris Williamson’s Flying Color Tour, the 1978 ERA rally, Michigan Womyn’s Festival, Sisterfire, D.C. Gay Pride Days, RFK Stadium, Lily Tomlin, Hispanic American Cultural Festivals and the 1979, 1987 and 1993 LGTBQ March on Washington and March for Women’s Lives, 2004. After the sale of Woman Sound, Sandstrom enrolled in the ethnomusicology program at the University of Maryland. She earned her Ph.D. in 2002, and taught in the School of Music from 1996 until her retirement in 2013. Sandstrom was co-producer of the documentary, Radical Harmonies, which documents the women’s music movement from the 1970s through 1990s. Sandstrom also discusses her relationship and eventual marriage with well-known musician Casse Culver.
Oral history interview with David Perez, 1983-
Interview describes D.C. Latino Pride, Latino LGBT History Project, D.C. Latino Pride, D.C. Mayor's Office LGBT advisory council.
Coverage: 2000 to present. David M. Perez, 1983-present. Born in Torrance, Califonia to a tight-knit evangelical Christian family with roots in New Mexico, Mexico, and Detroit, David attended the evangelical Biola University to study Latin American studies, religion, and Spanish language. Although he began questioning his sexuality midway through college, it wasn’t until he moved to DC in 2005 to attend graduate school at Georgetown that he began making gay friends and entering more gay spaces. Though his friends never pushed him, he came out in 2006 to a largely supportive family and friends. He eventually felt less comfortable attending his home church in San Diego with his family and switched to the open and affirming St Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Dupont Circle, but his family knew that none of his core values, like the importance of volunteerism and family, had changed. He joined the building and grounds community for the church and began seeking out events that honored both his gay and his Latino identity. He had a hard time finding any details about DC Latino Pride, but eventually he found it at the HRC with a panel moderated by Jose Guttierez, founder of the Latino GLBT History Project, and Laura Esquivel, Political Director for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Laura told a story from her time in the first national Latino LGBT Organization, Llego, when it marched on Washington in 1987 accompanied by Cesar Chavez. She had also been involved in mobilizing farm workers, and she told Cesar that she was having a hard time choosing which cause to dedicate her energies to. And Cesar said, ‘you can do both.” This was a story that resonated strongly with David, who had often noted that events honoring LGBT or Latino leaders rarely had anyone representing both communities. He then got more involved in volunteering for Latino Pride and the Latino GLBT History Project, becoming its board chair in 2011 along with Vice President Esther Hidalgo, who founded Mujeres en el Movimiento. They found letters to pride from the 80s and 90s complaining about lack of inclusion, and David still saw problems with that today in the way groups of color were clumped together at the back of the parade and not announced properly. However, they found Pride to be generally responsive to their comments and grew Latino Pride programming. Events included the selection of a Royal Court to serve as media ambassadors, a bilingual interfaith service at MCC DC, an annual fundraising dance party at Town, and the Plactica panel. The group also facilitated increased participation from El Sol Radio station in Pride festivities, from marching in the Pride Parade to DJ’ing the dance party at Town, and holding radio spots to discuss HIV and trans issues. David has also focused his advocacy efforts at the local government level, and is passionate about language access, increasing support for victims of hate crimes, and serving on Mayor Gray’s GLBT advisory committee. On that committee, they discussed issues like public safety, health, housing and homelessness, trans inclusivity, and the effectiveness of competency training provided to DC government employees. David values working in coalition with other groups of color to ensure that they all have a seat at the table and are visibly honored whenever award nominations are possible, and intends to continue his involvement in the community for years to come.
StoryCorps Interview Lesbian History The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture Rainbow History Project
Rainbow History Project board members Dr. Bonnie Morris and Vincent E. Slatt participate in StoryCorps, during its 2016 visit to DC. Vincent interviews Bonnie concerning her latest book, The Disappearing L, and the relevance of lesbian history for the present and future, and the role of RHP in documenting women's history--especially the difficulty of tracking events that were intentionally not recorded at the time. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE RECORDING
22 April 2016, Washington DC
Oral History Interview with Frank Blackburn, 1936-
Frank Blackburn, a long-time resident of Washington, D.C., recounts his arrival in the DC area, coming out, being a doctor during the AIDS crisis, and meeting his partner.
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20 September 2015
The interview belongs to the Rainbow History Project. The RHP release form was used, and all right belong to RHP.
Oral history with Bryan Dalton (1962-present)
Oral history interview with Bryan Dalton, who cofounded Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies in 1992.
Interested in listening to this audio? Email oralhistories@rainbowhistory.org for access
The interview belongs to the Rainbow History Project. The RHP release form was used and all rights below to RHP.
1980s to present. Bryan Dalton-1962-present. Bryan came to DC in the early 1980s to attend Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, later joining the Foreign Service in 1987 and going on to serve in a number of posts around the world, including Mexico City, Taipei, Bangkok, Hanoi, Chennai, Romania, and Bulgaria. He began his career under the assumption that he should be in the closet professionally. Early on, however, he began singing with the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of Washington, and was introduced to other gay Foreign Service members, which proved helpful when in 1991 he came under investigation at work due to his sexual orientation. Though it was never explicitly outlawed or accepted in the Foreign Service and Dalton found a number of passive supporters among his straight colleagues, the theory at the time was that any gay person could easily be blackmailed if an unfriendly foreign element were to learn of their “lifestyle.” With the legal assistance of Frank Kameny, however, Bryan successfully argued that as he was out in all aspects of his life, he could not be blackmailed and therefore should be permitted to continue his service. He went on to cofound GLIFAA (Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies) in 1992. GLIFAA struggled in the early years with gender inclusivity and maintaining a balance between social and political goals, but its advocacy led to a number of important strides, including the removal of sodomy as grounds for visa ineligibility and the inclusion of same-sex partners in Eligible Family Member Status. This allowed same-sex partners access to official visa sponsorship, flights to and from post, embassy medical facilities, and paid evacuation, but currently same-sex partners can only access federal health plans and pensions if legally married. Bryan also speaks about his parents’ extensive PFLAG involvement in the upper Midwest and his partner of 22 years’ role in their foreign posts in local GLBT activism and organizing gay pride parades and other events. Though he marvels that there are now 7 openly gay ambassadors serving around the world and that Randy Barry was just named Special Envoy to the State Department for the Rights of LGBT persons, Bryan believes the next step for the State Department would be to extend protections to LGBT foreign service nationals, to better integrate transgender employees and family members, and to extend rights and benefits to all partners regardless of legal status. He also speaks about local reactions to his sexual orientation in several of the countries he served in as well as the ways that DC’s neighborhoods and communities have changed since he first arrived in the late 80s, from specific neighborhoods where all gay establishments were located to one in which gay establishments are interspersed with straight venues.
Oral history interview with Tom Goss, 1981-.
Tom Goss, a musician now living in Los Angeles, recounts his arrival in D.C . for seminary school, his musical career and its intersection with gay rights advances in the late 2000s, and meeting his partner.
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1990s-present Tom Goss was born in Quincy Illinois, and moved to Washington, D.C., to attend seminary school. After leaving, he began a musical career while working for a nonprofit serving the homeless, Charlie’s Place. The music he wrote spoke to central gay rights fights of the 2000s, including the repeal of DADT and marriage equality. As a result, he partnered with gay-rights organizations such as the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), for benefits and awareness raising efforts. He discusses his relationship with his sexuality, meeting and marrying his husband, and his support for Bears. Discussion covered: DADT, DOMA, Marriage Equality, SLDN, The New Gay (blog), Bear Happy Hour at Town, Cobalt.
Oral history interview with Ellen Kahn, 1963-
Oral history with Ellen Khan, director of the Children, Youth, and Families Program at the Human Rights Campaign and former Lesbian Services Program Director at Whitman-Walker Clinic.
1990s to present. Ellen Khan is currently the director of the Children, Youth, and Families Program at the Human Rights Campaign in Washington D.C. Kahn has worked at LGBT organizations for most of her life and the Human Rights Campaign is her first nationally focused job. Prior to working at HRC, she also worked at Whitman-Walker Health (formerly Whitman-Walker Clinic) for thirteen years. While there, she served as the third director of the Lesbian Services Program. In addition to that work, Kahn serves on the board of Rainbow Families DC, an organization that she raised up to what it is today. Kahn, the mother of two daughters, tells her story of growth in the LGBT community in D.C. since she moved here in 1993. She highlights some of her proudest accomplishments such as her work with HIV/AIDS in the 90s, Maybe Baby queer parenting support groups, and HRC’s Welcoming Schools program, which promotes LGBT inclusive environments at elementary schools across the country. Kahn also shares her experiences of being an active participant in the D.C. LGBT social scene.
Oral history interview with Brigadier General Tammy Smith, 1962-
Army Brigadier General (BG) Tammy Smith is the first openly gay general in the United States military. Smith discusses her life in the military before, during, and after DADT.
27 September 2015 (Interview) 13 July 2016 (promotion to rank of Major General) 30 April 2021 (retirement)
Oral History Interview With Denise Bump, 1971-
Denise Bump, former owner of Lammas Books and a leader of the D.C. Women's Initiative, discusses finding and sustaining LGBT community and women's spaces in D.C. and elsewhere.
Interested in listening to this audio? Email oralhistories@rainbowhistory.org to get access
The interview belongs to the Rainbow History Project. The RHP release form was used and all rights belong to RHP.
Oral History Interview with Bonnie Morris, 1961-
AU student Rebecca Day interviews Dr. Bonnie Morris, a long-time resident of Washington, D.C. who identifies as a lesbian woman and works as a professor and writer.
06 April 2015
1960s-present Dr. Bonnie Morris is interviewed by Rebecca Day. Dr. Morris describes her childhood and family life, her education, her family’s geographical history, and her coming out experience, describing both her intellectual and sexual awakening. She speaks about various LGBTQ spaces in Washington, D.C. - bookstores, women’s groups, concerts and festivals, bars and clubs, et cetera. She discusses feminism, women’s culture of the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties, the era of the woman-identified woman, and several landmark events in women’s, LGBTQ, and civil rights history. There are various accounts of her education and her career - including work as a professor, writer, speaker, performer, and working with institutions including Michigan Women’s Music Festival, Olivia Cruises, and Semester at Sea. Dr. Morris speaks to various movers and shakers in the gay rights movement, and landmark media and publications. She additionally describes her personal life, including several girlfriends and lovers. Dr. Morris speaks to themes of intersectionality, racism and homophobia, progressive politics and the effects of technological advancements, and the erasure of her generation’s era in the modern LGBTQ dialogue.
Oral history interview with Anne Q. Scott, 1982-
Anne Scott discusses her life in the Washington DC LGBT community, highlighting her experience with Capital Pride (2005-2012).
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February 5, 2015
No restrictions on access; no restrictions on use.
1982-2015 (bulk 2005-2015) Anne Q. Scott was born outside of Boston, MA, on January 29, 1982. In this Rainbow History Project (RHP) oral history Scott briefly discusses her background and life at Mount Holyoke College before graduation and relocation to the Washington, DC area (Alexandria, VA) in 2004. Scott discusses her interests in moving to the District and her introduction to the city and its gay community. The largest part of the interview involves Scott’s involvement (2005-2012) in Capital Pride and the different entities that managed the annual LGBT pride festival. She documents the transition period (2007-2009) of Capital Pride management from the Whitman-Walker Clinic (clinic) to the Capital Pride Alliance (Alliance). As a founding member of the Alliance, Anne discusses the clinic’s Capital Pride Request for Proposal (RFP) process and her expertise in non-profit finance. Scott explains the Alliance’s transition from RFP candidate to Capital Pride steward and subsequent years of the festival. Scott closes the oral history reflecting on changes in the city and the gay community during her years in the District. Keywords: Dumbarton House, Capital Pride, Whitman-Walker Clinic, the DC Center for the LGBT Community, Capital Pride Alliance, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington Plaza Hotel, Tagg Magazine, Vincent Slatt, Dave Mallory, Bill Miles, Larry Stansbury, Michael Lutz, Bernie Delia, Adrianne Jones, Dyana Mason.
Oral history interview with David Mariner,
12 Feb 2015
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David Mariner is the current director of the DC Center for the LGBT Community. He grew up in Corning, New York and attended Furman University where he came out and began work as an activist around LGBT issues, HIV, and sex education. His work with Advocates for Youth brought him to Washington, DC where he has lived most of his adult life and worked as a leader in the LGBT community. Topics of the interview include his early life, aspects of community education around HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, organizing early HIV vaccine studies, description of the gay scene in DC, decision to become director of the DC Center, history of the DC Center, current activities at the DC Center.
30 January 2015
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Susan, originally from New Jersey and currently living in Takoma Park, is an active lawyer and mother of two children who has lived in the DC area since 1977. In the decade of 1980’s she was co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Section of the D.C. Bar. Through her work she has treated Lesbian and Gay parenting issues and has experienced some shocking situations. Susan testimony is an overview of the lesbian and gay life in university, bar association and activist groups from the times of the First National March in the capital of the United States (1979).
Oral history with Mindy A. Daniels, 1954-
No restrictions on access; no restrictions on use. This oral history belongs to the Rainbow History Project
Mindy Daniels came to the DC area in 1976 leaving her native New York behind. She served as President of GLAA during 1990-1992 and as Vice-president prior and after those years. She has always been an active member in the community. She initiated Walk without Fear in 1991 to highlight the difficult situation of violence against the LGBT community. She also organized a campaign of public service announcements on radio to make people become more aware and sensitive about the inequities that LGBT community suffered. In 1996 Mindy founded the National Lesbian Political Action Committee.
Oral history interview with Paul Albergo
In this interview, Paul Albergo discusses his involvement with a number of LGBTQ organizations, including Dignity Washington, the Gay Rights National Lobby (which preceded the Human Rights Campaign) , the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation, the National Association of People with AIDS, and Whitman-Walker Health's peer counseling program. Paul was president of the Washington DC chapter of DignityUSA, a national organization of LGBTQ Catholics, from 1986 through 1989. During that time, the group was ousted from its first home on the Georgetown campus because of its LTBTQ affiliation, and it moved to St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, where it still celebrates Mass today.
Oral history interview with Wallace Corbett
The journey of a HIV/AIDS survivor
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Oral history interview with Jonathan Blumenthal (1969- ) and Eric Cohen (1968- )
Want access to this audio? Email oralhistories@rainbowhistory.org to request access
8 Feb 2015
Oral history interview with Nicholas Shi, 1958 -
Gay Chinese-Latino immigrant faces racial tension and a struggle with personal acceptance coming out in the gay community in the early 1980's.
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1986-present Nicholas Shi was born in El Salvador to full-Chinese parents, but moved to United States for college to escape building civil conflict. Shi moved to Washington in 1986 to start work. Not yet fully out of the closet, he secured brief relationships through The Washington Blade and frequented many gay bars and restaurants in Dupont Circle, where he often felt invisible. He sought out company from other Asians and eventually helped found and manage the social group 'Asians and Friends' even running their newsletter and marching with the group in early Pride parades. He experienced a lack of community among gay Latins but found a home in the Asian community despite tensions over Asian fetishes and emasculation. He and a partner bought a house between Dupont and Logan circle in 1986 and has lived there ever since, noting the changes in the neighborhood, which he borders with P St and 16th St NW. The rest of the family remains in the El Salvador with varying levels of acceptance of his sexual orientation and marriage to a long-term partner. He talks about 'de-gaying' the house when his relatives came to visit, until eventually coming out. Places mentioned include Lambda Rising bookstore, Friends, a showtunes piano bar, Mr. P's, P Street Station, The Fireside, JR's, Trumpets, Lost & Found and The Glory Hole. Includes brief commentary from Shi's husband.
Oral history interview with Jodi Morrison, 1945 -
1970s-1980s. Jodi Morrison is a trans woman who came to DC as Joey Morrison in 1972. In this interview she discusses her involvement with the DC LGBT community in the 70s and 80s, describing many bars, clubs and restaurants where LGBT individuals gathered. She also discusses her service in the US Navy before coming to live in DC, as well as her transition from male to female, which she began while living in DC and continued after she left DC in the 80s.
Oral history interview with Vincent E. Slatt, 1979 -
15 November 2014
2003-2014 Vincent Slatt was born in Indiana on March 26, 1979. In this Rainbow History Project (RHP) oral history Slatt discusses his background, relocation to the Washington, DC, area, and his work in DC’s gay community. Interests in languages and research opportunities in Poland led Slatt to the district in 2003. Slatt describes arriving around the time of Capital Pride 2003, his involvement as a Capital Pride volunteer, and his work on planning committees in subsequent years. Slatt worked on Pride from 2004-2008—years in which the Whitman-Walker Clinic (clinic) sponsored and planned the event. Slatt was a founding member of Capital Pride Alliance (CPA), the organization that organized Capital Pride when the clinic selected a non-profit to take over managing the event. Slatt discusses volunteering for the planning committee for Capital Pride 2008 and his involvement in creating the successful CPA proposal in response to the clinic’s 2007 request for proposals to take over management of Capital Pride. Slatt also describes his three year term (2008-2011) as secretary on the CPA board of directors. In 2013 Slatt began volunteering with the Rainbow History Project, a membership organization committing to documenting the district’s gay community. Slatt discusses RHP collections (e.g. Cheryl Spector’s personal papers), public events, and community programs.
Oral history interview with Lynne Brown, 1955 -
9 December 2014
1974- 2014 Brown focuses on her business career at the Washington Blade newspaper, and begins with a description of her ancestral ties to North America's early European settlers. She came out as a lesbian in 1974 at Syracuse University, where she found strong acceptance partly rooted in the period's feminist politics. Brown moved to DC in 1977 in search of a local lesbian community she had started to discover through a college girlfriend and the publication "off our backs." She joined a car dealership and met the local activist Mary-Helen Mautner as a customer; Mautner introduced the young saleswoman to lesbian gathering places including the Owl and Tortoise, the Bachelor's Mill and Phase 1, and to several feminist theorists behind the journal,"Quest: A Feminist Quarterly." Brown became involved with groups that included the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of Washington, the DC Area Feminist Chorus (later renamed Bread and Roses), and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, where she served as treasurer on the board of directors. The Blade hired Brown for an advertising sales role in 1984, after she had returned to DC from a costly one-year stay in San Diego with another girlfriend. Shannon Rodes, the sales manager who recruited Brown, soon resigned from her position so the women could begin a relationship that remains ongoing. Brown discusses the Blade office's culture; the classified section's critical role in connecting readers over the 1980s and 1990s; and the struggle to sustain revenue as Craigslist and social media applications gained prominence. She touches intermittently on subjects that include local Pride celebrations in the 1980s; the prominent gay nightclub Tracks; ambivalence over her business career as an avowed critic of capitalist institutions; and business disruptions linked to the 2001 anthrax mailings. The firm Window Media purchased the Blade from the newspaper's employees in May 2001, and Brown details an intensive staff and community campaign to save the newspaper after the company moved to halt its publication in November 2009. They published as the "D.C. Agenda" until April 2010, when staff members retook ownership of the "Blade" brand. She concludes by considering the future of newspapers and of "the gay community," and by describing efforts to digitize the Blade's sizable archive.
Oral history interview with Jill Strachan, 1949 -
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1977+-+2014%0D%0A%0D%0AA+DC+resident+since+1977%2C+Jill+has+been+primarily+involved+in+the+arts+community%2C+including+groups+such+as+the+Lesbian+and+Gay+Chorus+of+Washington%2C+GALA+Choruses%2C+and+the+GLBT+Arts+Consortium%2C+in+the+early+days+of+SMYAL+and+in+delivering+food+to+HIV%2FAIDs+patients.++She+brings+up+some+of+the+tensions+between+gays+and+lesbians+in+the+GALA+Choruses+movement+and+mentions+finding+a+DC-based+feminist+newspaper%2C+Off+Our+Backs%2C+that+pointed+her+to+under-the-radar+GLBT+bars+in+DC%2C+particularly+the+Capitol+Hill+area.++She+also+speaks+about+some+of+the+early+legal+support+for+LGBTQ+people+in+DC%2C+particularly+under+former+mayor+Marion+Barry.+++">1977 - 2014 A DC resident since 1977, Jill has been primarily involved in the arts community, including groups such as the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of Washington, GALA Choruses, and the GLBT Arts Consortium, in the early days of SMYAL and in delivering food to HIV/AIDs patients. She brings up some of the tensions between gays and lesbians in the GALA Choruses movement and mentions finding a DC-based feminist newspaper, Off Our Backs, that pointed her to under-the-radar GLBT bars in DC, particularly the Capitol Hill area. She also speaks about some of the early legal support for LGBTQ people in DC, particularly under former mayor Marion Barry.
26 October 2014