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Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

2019

HIV/AIDS

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

Keppel, Bobbi, Megan Mcknight, Janine Rynkowski Nov 2019

Keppel, Bobbi, Megan Mcknight, Janine Rynkowski

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Bobbi Keppel is an 87-year old bisexual activist. Her father was a civil rights activist and union organizer; in part because of this, she felt she was a born “disruptor.” As a child, Bobbi Keppel was ill and struggled with being a “sickly kid.” She later married and had two children. During her marriage, she came out as bisexual with the support of her husband. She is a contributor to the classic anthology “By Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out” (edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Ka'ahumanu). For many decades, Keppel has been an educator on issues of bisexual …


Drew, Gia, David Kersey, Katie Prior Nov 2019

Drew, Gia, David Kersey, Katie Prior

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Gia Drew is a 52-year old transwoman who serves as the director of Equality Maine: an organization in Portland, Maine that provides educational programs to support the LGBTQ+ Community of Maine. Her life experience has greatly prepared her for this role, and she shares that with us in this interview. Her story is vast as it spans over several topics (as indicated in the “keywords” section), several different states, and two very different regions of the country. Gia struggles with coming out as trans for her entire young adult life as she navigates bisexuality, hypermasculinity, social pressure in K-12 schools, …


Reckitt, Lois Galgay, Johnna Ossie Mar 2019

Reckitt, Lois Galgay, Johnna Ossie

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Lois Galgay Reckitt was born and raised in Massachusetts. She attended Brandeis University and then Boston University for her graduate degree. After college, she married a man who was in the Coast Guard. They moved to South Portland to the house she still lives in today. She came out at age 33 when she was deeply entrenched in the growing women's movement. She had a rocky divorce with her self-proclaimed feminist husband who blackmailed her when he found out she was a lesbian. In 1971 she became the treasurer for the first National Organization for Women (NOW) chapter in Maine. …