Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rainbow History Project Oral History Collection Description An account of the resource Eye-witness accounts of what we’ve seen and experienced provide a valuable resource to researchers and future generations to understand our past and how we arrived where we are today. Each interview in this collection has a narrator telling the story and a documenter guiding the process. Collected since the founding of the RHP, this collection is growing and is open to researchers. All interviews have been digitized and are described in the catalog; only some of them have transcripts available. None of the interviews stream online. To obtain access to an interview, you must request by contacting us directly, providing a brief description of your project and your research interests. Our email address is: info AT rainbowhistory DOT org One of our team will share the file from our Google Drive, and you can listen from home. Please be sure to have "Music Player for Google Drive" enabled on your machine to play the recording. www.driveplayer.com Table Of Contents A list of subunits of the resource. To see all interviews in the collection, click on "Items in the Rainbow History Project Oral History Collection" link below. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rainbow History Project Various narrators per oral history Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=2&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Edward+Benfield">Edward Benfield</a> Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=3&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Barry+Robert+%22Bart%22+Forbes%2C+1956--">Barry Robert "Bart" Forbes, 1956--</a> Location The location of the interview. Washington, D.C. Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound. No Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral history interview with Robert Robert "Bart" Forbes, 1956-- Description An account of the resource Barry Robert “Bart” Forbes recounts his long career as a public television producer and political activist working on behalf of suburban gays and lesbians in Fairfax County, Virginia. Forbes’ accomplishments include the the founding of the Fairfax Lesbian and Gay Citizen’s Association and the creation of Gay Fairfax, a pioneering gay and lesbian newsmagazine television show. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=40&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=7+October%2C+2015">7 October, 2015</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=47&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=The+interview+belongs+to+the+Rainbow+History+Project.+The+RHP+release+form+was+used+and+all+rights+belong+to+RHP.">The interview belongs to the Rainbow History Project. The RHP release form was used and all rights belong to RHP.</a> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1980s-- Barry Robert “Bart” Forbes was born in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1956 and spent his formative years in the small town of Newark in Upstate New York. After studying media education at Colgate University Forbes began a career in public television, working at WGBH in Boston and WFME in Orlando before being recruited for a job as the Director of Development for WAMU (NPR affiliate) in Washington DC, in 1987. He was first introduced to the gay and lesbian community of Washington DC in 1987 by his friend Urvashi Vaid, a leader in the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) at the time. Forbes quickly became an active member of the community, serving as the Vice President of the Alexandria Gay Citizens Organization and later as the founding President of the Fairfax Lesbian and Gay Citizen’s Association (FLGCA). Forbes created Virginians for Justice in his living room, an organization which eventually became known as Equality Virginia. Forbes was also active in local politics, working as the Finance Chair for the Lee District of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. He was an elected delegate to the Virginia Democratic State Convention for gubernatorial candidates Doug Wilder in 1989 and Mary Sue Terry in 1993. Forbes strived to use his experience in both the gay community and local politics to act as a bridge between the suburban gays and lesbians of Fairfax County and the conservative community in which they lived. Forbes believed that the best way for gays and lesbians to fight discrimination and win acceptance was to publicly “be themselves” - demonstrating that they were integral parts of the community. Forbes put this philosophy into action with the creation of the public access television program Gay Fairfax, which premiered in May 1989 and aired weekly until 1993. Gay Fairfax was one of the first all-volunteer gay and lesbian newsmagazine television programs in the country to focus on a non-urban area, covering community forums, organization meetings, news events important to the gay and lesbian community and long-form stories about gay and lesbian issues. As producer Forbes focused on teaching his volunteers the skills to create their own media, which resulted in the creation of several spin-off programs including the soap opera Inside/Outside the Beltway and the newsmagazine One in Ten. Gay Fairfax allowed the gay and lesbian communities to be the media rather be covered by the media - regaining control of the way they were perceived by the larger public. Forbes remains active in public access television, working as a lobbyist for the Alliance for Community Media and the National Organization for Public Education in Government Access. Forbes also discusses his long friendship with former Republican congressman John Hinson and his involvement in the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) in the early 2000s.