Most history books don’t mention queer folks. And while that’s starting to change a little on the national scale, Louisiana’s queer and trans communities are still regularly ignored by historians.

When we collect personal stories by and about us, we make sure we can’t be ignored.

As one small step in the process of undoing queer erasure, this project aims to train a cohort of queer-identified youth in (1) recording oral histories, (2) editing interviews, and (3) creating outreach material such as podcast episodes.

We foresee the following structure:

1. A workshop on oral history best practices

2. Project planning sessions to find individuals to interview

3. A workshop on audio production and podcast creation

4. A guided period of podcast episode creation

5. Project planning session for carrying on post-cohort

Schedule and specifics will change based on needs and interests of cohort members.

We foresee the following timeline:

1. Mid-January: Cohort kickoff meeting and oral history practice workshop

2. Throughout February: Cohort members interview at least one person

3. Mid-March: Interview transcription and audio production workshop

4. Throughout April: Podcast episodes and other outreach products are created (with guidance)

5. Mid-May: Cohort Members meet to share projects

6. Late-May: Podcast episodes are shared

As always, schedule and specifics will change based on needs and interests of cohort members.

We intend to offer monetary compensation to Cohort Members, the exact amount is as yet unclear as we continue fundraising. We’ll also work with each person to ensure they get the most out of the project for their individual future goals.