Activists Strive To Make Southern Queer History Visible

Reporter Lilly Knoepp speaks with Invisible Histories Project founder Josh Burford and UNC Asheville Professor Amanda Wray about archiving the untold stories of queer history in the South.

From Blue Ridge Public Radio | Feb 28, 2019 | By Lilly Knoepp

The everyday lives of activists and community members in Western North Carolina didn’t make it into the history books.  A UNC Asheville professor is launching a project to bring to light the untold queer stories in our region.

Here’s more on the project – and how it’s a part of a larger preservation effort across the Southeast.

Queer history is presented as a narrow space, says Josh Burford. It’s mostly just for the urban, white, wealthy  and able-bodied. Burford wants to change that perception in the South.

“I think that for me as a member of the queer community having access to the past always felt like something unattainable, says Burford. “ I always just assumed that I would never see any people like me reflected in my history.”

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Photo Courtesy of the Invisible History Project / Josh Burford

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