“The Central Coast celebrated virtual Pride from May 16-23 and included some of the stories from Central Coast Queer Archive Project. The Central Coast Queer Archive Project collects oral and video histories of the LGBTQ community to preserve them in a historical archive.” For the full story, see: KCBX, “Central Coast Queer Archive Project transforms from an oral to a video history,” June 1, 2021
Author: admin
The latest issue of the GALA Pride & Diversity Center newsletter features the work of our two student interns and their experiences so far as a part of the CCQAP. Read the full story in the newsletter here:
California Humanities has announced the recent round of Humanities For All Quick Grant awards, and The Central Coast Queer Archive Project has been chosen for its video oral history program.
The Central Coast Queer Archive Project (CCQAP) is a collaborative and community-based oral history project that documents the lives of elderly LGBTQ+ residents on the California Central Coast. “Half way between the historic meccas of Los Angeles and San Francisco, members of the LGBTQ+ community have found San Luis Obispo and made their homes and lives in this coastal region,” notes project co-director, David Weisman. “Why did they choose this area, and what were their successes and challenges related to the overall LGBTQ+ experience of the second half of the 20th Century and the first decades of the new millennium? Those are questions we will explore in the coming year.”
Working since 2018, the production team started by restoring and transcribing vintage video interviews done by GALA in 2005. Most have been posted to the website and the remaining will be added later this spring as the transcriptions are edited. In addition, the team, conducted its first original contemporary interview, featuring Lisa Dean, who co-owned and managed Breezes, San Luis Obispo’s last openly queer bar in the 1990s.
The project directors are now reaching out to senior members of the local LGBTQ+ community who might be interested in sharing their stories with the broader community. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed the rollout of the project, the anticipated schedule is to locate participants and plan the interviews this spring with hopes that increased vaccination rates and a slowing of the spread will allow for in-person interviews, conducted according to appropriate health guidelines, later in the spring and into the summer. Interviews will be recorded using state-of-the-art high definition video processes to insure their longevity.
This project also provides mentorship for local queer and trans youth by centrally involving them in the work of designing, conducting, and processing oral history interviews, thereby by facilitating transformative intergenerational exchanges between youth and their elders. The resulting video interviews will be publicly available through a curated website and will be featured as part of a virtual public forum facilitated by The Gala Pride and Diversity Center, and moderated by local experts in LGBTQ+ culture and history. The CCQAP seeks to bring awareness to these often ignored and marginalized communities. Programming will occur in the latter part of 2021.
“Projects like this really help enlighten and enliven our local LGBTQ community,” adds Weisman. “For example, we celebrated the premiere of the video interview with Lisa Dean by holding an evening banquet at the current Sushiya Restaurant, which had been the site of Breezes. Word went out, and ultimately nearly 50 people showed up for a delightful evening of memories and nostalgia. The event was also a catalyst, and the buzz around the room turned to the question, ‘hey, why don’t we have such a queer public space in SLO today, and what might be done to change that?’ That’s the sweet spot where historical investigation can lead to action.”
The CCQAP is honored and grateful for this new grant award. “These projects will bring the complexity and diversity of California to light in new ways that will engage Californians from every part of our state, and, will help us all understand each other better,” said Julie Fry, President & CEO of California Humanities
In celebration of National Coming Out Day, the CCQAP has uploaded two interviews to its website. The first is a newly available interview conducted by members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of San Luis Obispo in 2006 with Carroll Leslie and Barbara Strauss. The second is a CCQAP-original interview conducted on May 19, 2019 with Lisa Dean, a long-time resident of San Luis Obispo who was a former manager and co-owner of Breezes, the last queer bar to operate in the area before its closure 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!
After watching the interviews, come celebrate National Coming Out Day and the Central Coast Queer Archive Project (CCQAP) at Sushiya Restaurant on Friday, October 11, from 7-9 PM.
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
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
On Sunday, May 19th, CCQAP members completed their first video oral history interview with Lisa Dean, who helped to manage (and eventually became a co-owner of) Breezes, the last gay bar to exist in San Luis Obispo. Breezes opened in 1992 and closed its doors at midnight on December 31st, 1997. Currently, CCQAP members are hard at work transcribing the interview, getting it ready to deposit in the Special Collections and Archives of Kennedy Library, on the campus of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Below are some production stills from the interview day.
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