Celebrate National Coming Out Day and the Central Coast Queer Archive Project (CCQAP) at Sushiya Restaurant on Friday, October 11, from 7-9 PM. The CCQAP is a local community organization dedicated to researching, recovering, and writing San Luis Obispo’s queer and trans history. It will feature an online portal for collected interviews and written transcripts.
In honor of National Coming Out Day, the CCQAP will debut two oral history interviews: a restored, vintage interview with Carroll Leslie and Barb Strauss, owners of Volumes of Pleasure Bookstore in Los Osos (conducted by GALA members in 2005); and a brand new interview with Lisa Dean, former manager and co-owner of Breezes, the last queer bar operating in SLO before it closed its doors on January 1, 1998. Today, Breezes is the Sushiya Japanese restaurant in the Laguna Shopping Center. Please join members of the CCQAP, and honored guests Lisa and Barb, for an evening of food, drink and celebration as we once again bring a queer presence to this landmark SLO location!
The CCQAP project is a volunteer effort that currently involves members of the academic and student communities at Cal Poly and Cuesta, along with local advocates and professionals. With an intergenerational and interactive approach to storytelling, the project hopes to inform the greater SLO community of its largely unheralded LGBTQ+ history, while inspiring and engaging newer generations with a history upon which they can build SLO’s future queer legacy.
Where: Sushiya Restaurant 11560 Los Osos Valley Rd (Laguna Shopping Center at Madonna Road intersection), San Luis Obispo When: Friday, October 11th, 7-9 PM