Westport Museum preserves history, stories of LGBTQ+ community with Oral History Project
The Westport Museum is aiming to share and preserve stories from the LGBTQ+ community with a new project this Pride Month.
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The Westport Museum is aiming to share and preserve stories from the LGBTQ+ community with a new project this Pride Month.
Programs manager at the Westport Museum Claire Menard knows firsthand the importance of the history of the LGBTQ+ community.
"I was outted against my will at a very young age, and so I've had to live this reality for most of my life," said Menard.
When Westport Pride and the Westport Museum announced they were launching the LGBTQ Oral History Project this Pride Month and asked Menard to be a part of it, she jumped on board.
"I think in a way I've been preparing for it my entire life," she said.
The purpose of the project is to welcome the LGBTQ+ community and to make them feel safe to tell their stories.
"Throughout history, there's been danger to this community in terms of telling their stories, if not, outright criminality, for people that have held them back," said Ramin Ganeshram, executive director of history and culture at the Westport Museum.
"It is important to record the struggles but also the joys and the triumphs of being a queer person in this community," said Menard.
To participate, choose a timeslot where you will be interviewed at the museum by Menard.
"We want to hear the reality of their lives whether that is a good thing, a bad thing," Menard said.
Each story will be transcribed and archived demonstrating that these are stories worth telling in our history.
"I'm incredibly happy to see it coming to light now. Queer people always have and always will exist," Menard said.
This project will continue even after Pride Month ends.
