A reporter from local television station WFXR attended the Downtown Roanoke LGBTQ History Walking Tour on Sunday January 22 and reported on our project. Paris Holmes, “LGBTQ History Walking Tour guides people through Roanoke’s gay scene,” WFXR News, January 22, 2017.

Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project co-founder Dr. Gregory Rosenthal gave the sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke on Sunday, November 6, 2016. The title of this sermon was “Developing our Queer Historical Consciousness.” The audio is available below. Fast-forward to about the 10:30 mark for the beginning of the sermon. Gregory Rosenthal, “Developing our…

Roanoke College sophomore and Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project Work-Study Research Assistant Haleigh Ardolino has had an essay published in the “Perspectives from the Field” blog of the Virginia Association of Museums. Haleigh writes about the launch of the new Downtown Roanoke LGBTQ History Walking Tour. Check it out: Haleigh Ardolino, “Exploring Roanoke’s Queer Past,” November…

Dr. Gregory Rosenthal gave a “coffeeshop talk” at Mill Mountain coffeehouse on Main Street in Salem, Virginia on September 1. The title of the talk was “Queer History after Orlando.” Roanoke College’s student newspaper, The Brackety-Ack, reported on the event: Drew Luther, “Queer Coffeeshop Talk,” The Brackety-Ack, September 9, 2016.    

Roanoke College senior and Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project Work-Study Research Assistant Shannon Mace had an article published this summer in Unite Virginia magazine about our archives and oral history initiatives! Check it out: Shannon Mace, “Sex and Storytelling in the Star City,” Unite Virginia 2, no. 3 (May/June 2016): 21.

Research provided by the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project was featured in the fourth issue of Discover: History & Heritage, a magazine put out by the Roanoke Times. We got a whole page dedicated to the topic of Roanoke’s gay community in the 1970s! See the full article below. “Gay Community Coalesces,” Discover: History & Heritage, no. 4 (May 2016): 67.

Amy Friedenberger of the Roanoke Times has written a substantial article about the LGBTQ+ History Project. She embedded with our project for two weeks in late April. Read the full article below. Amy Friedenberger, “History project strives to empower Southwest Virginia LGBT community,” The Roanoke Times, May 3, 2016.    

Roanoke College senior Olivia Rhodin has written an essay about the ongoing work of the LGBTQ+ History Project for PRISM Magazine. Check it out: Olivia Rhodin, “Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project Well Underway,” PRISM Foundation Magazine 1, no. 4 (Winter 2015-2016): 12-13.

David Garland has written a fabulous essay about the LGBTQ+ History Project for the latest issue of Informative Q magazine. Check it out: David Garland, “Southwest Virginia LGBT History Comes Alive,” Informative Q (December 2015): 10-11.

Our first History Project event, a forum with LGBTQ+ community members and activists at The Park, was featured the next day in the local newspaper. Read the full article below. Amy Friedenberger, “Panel Reflects on change to Roanoke 15 years after Backstreet shooting,” The Roanoke Times, September 9, 2015