CLAIMING SPACE

Queer People of Color on Identity, Power, and Resistance

In Partnership with Lambda Archives of San Diego

WNDR and the Lambda Archives of San Diego are proud to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month throughout the month of October!

History is best reflected in the records and cultural artifacts of those directly involved in its events. In celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, Lambda Archives is sharing snippets from a series of oral history interviews with prominent members of the LGBTQ community in San Diego.

About Lambda Archives
​The mission of the Lambda Archives of San Diego is to collect, preserve, and share the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in San Diego, Northern Baja California and Imperial County region. Lambda Archives is dedicated to preserving and interpreting this important historical material and making it available for learning.

About LGBTQ+ History Month
First celebrated in 1994, it was declared a national history month by President Barack Obama in 2009. LGBTQ+ History Month is a month-long annual observance in October of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements.

Julia Legaspi
Intersectional identities within the LGBTQ+ community. Trans + POC.
Recorded: November 24, 2007

Recorded as part of the Lambda Archives of San Diego’s 20th anniversary. City Commissioner Julia Ashley Legaspi is one of our community’s most respected and loved personalities and activists.

Norman Braxton
On the legacy of one of San Diego’s first Black female impersonators.
Recorded: January 28, 2016

Norman recollects his career in the San Diego supper club scene, the early history of the Imperial Court and his role within it, the AIDS crisis of the 80’s and his experiences as a gay black male in the San Diego LGBTQ+ community for the past 53 years.

Vertez Burks
On building a coalition of LGBTQ+ POC people and organizations.
Recorded: December 2, 2007

Vertez Burks was a newcomer to San Diego in 1985, when she arrived to spend a summer vacation. “I walked into The Center (San Diego LGBT Community Center) when they were located behind the Brass Rail (oldest gay bar in San Diego) and, according to her, “life has never been the same. I was welcomed with open arms”.

Carolina Ramos
On coming out to her “traditional” Mexican Catholic family.
Recorded: November 2007

Where you’ll find Ramos most days is working as the program coordinator of Latino Services at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, where she conducts sensitivity training on LGBTQ+ issues throughout the county and state.

Larue Fields
Giving Bayard Rustin his due and gratitude for receiving recognition for local Black LGBTQ+ folks who continue to do work for the movement behind the scenes.
Recorded: January 7, 2016

Larue Fields has been a tireless worker and advocate for low income people of color and LGBTQ+ seniors. Currently she serves as Coordinator of Senior Services at the San Diego LGBT Community Center providing vital resources and referrals regarding health care, social services and community activities.She was a Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honoree in 2015.

Nicolette Ibarra
Challenges within the community/infighting.
Recorded: February 24, 2016

Noticing that those afflicted with AIDS in Mexico were getting sicker and dying at a higher rate, Nicolette Ibarra felt that she had to get involved and bravely became an AIDS activist on both sides of the border even while suffering the pervasive abuse, discrimination and indignities that are unfortunately a fact of life for those in the transgender community.

Tracie Jada O’Brien
On what she would change (racism, self-loathing, sexism) in the LGBTQ+ community if she could.
Recorded: November 4, 2017

Tracie Jada O’Brien has become one of the most respected and elegant role models of our community, a testament to beauty, survival and perseverance.

Teresa Oyos
On racism and xenophobia within the LGBTQ+ community central to responses regarding immigration.
Recorded: November 16, 2008

In 1986, Teresa Oyos co-founded the first LGBTQ+ Latin organization, Orgullo, which translates to “pride.”

Alberto Cortes
On racism within the LGBTQ+ community. In this snippet, he recalls an event where, despite giving someone the correct pronunciation of his name, they proceeded to say it incorrectly using a completely different “Latino name.”
Recorded: November 16, 2007

Alberto Cortes has been involved in the fight against AIDS in San Diego ever since fall of 1983 when he started volunteering with the San Diego AIDS Information Line.