Norfolk’s Hidden Queer Histories: Art Spaces as Community

Using archival research that draws primarily on Our Own, Norfolk’s gay newspaper from 1976 - 1998, and a series of oral history interviews, this project uncovers pieces of Norfolk’s queer past. This research began as part of a class-based research project that culminated in the first student-led and designed queer walking tour of Norfolk. It is hard to understand our present without a clear understanding of our past, and this project seeks to give us a lens through which to examine queer Norfolk today. A powerful component of the work was the experience of physically standing in spaces previously occupied by local LGBTQ citizens, past and present. To stand where Norfolk’s Queer foreparents once stood and discuss their lives is to draw a connection from then to now, to understand our own lived experiences. The Norfolk Hidden Queer Histories poster series illustrates those connections in three specific areas: Norfolk’s gay bar scene, arts spaces, and Norfolk Police Department’s LGBT liaison officers. In general, bars historically functioned as the primary community and meeting spaces for LGBTQ individuals. This poster explores how various Norfolk art spaces offered an alternative to the bar scene by providing opportunities for connection around art, film, and literature. Locations to be highlighted include Jaffe Arts Center, the Naro Theater and Expanded Video Store, the Todd Rosenlieb Dance Center, and Lambda Rising