The Outwords Archive (also known as OUTWORDS), is the first national effort to capture in-depth, professional quality, on-camera interviews with the full spectrum of LGBTQ pioneers and elders. So far, OUTWORDS has conducted more than 140 interviews in 26 states, including a robust cohort of subjects in the Bay Area. Some interviewees are better known to the public than others, but all played fascinating, important roles in the struggle for queer rights and representation. Join OUTWORDS founder and Executive Director Mason Funk and a panel of OUTWORDS supporters and participants for a fascinating evening featuring clips from the completed interviews and a lively discussion of the enduring meaning and importance of these stories.
SPEAKERS
Mason Funk is the founder and executive director of OUTWORDS, a Los Angeles-based, national nonprofit project dedicated to recording and disseminating professional quality, on-camera interviews with the pioneers and elders of the LGBTQ civil rights movement. In 2019, the first collection of OUTWORDS interviews, entitled The Book of Pride, was published by Harper Collins.
Marcus Arana was born in 1957 in Fresno, California, to a poor family with Blackfeet, Ohlone and Hispanic heritage. After coming out as lesbian in his teens, he made his way to San Francisco, where he transitioned in his mid-30s. Marcus has trained San Francisco police officers in transgender community awareness, integrated transgender women into women’s shelters and helped draft protocols for the fair treatment of transgender inmates.
Al Baum was born in 1930 in Chicago. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he moved to San Francisco, ditched his law career in favor of urban planning, used his combined skill sets to help save San Francisco Bay, and came out as a gay man at age 45. Since then, he has been a psychotherapist, restorer of old Victorian structures, and ardent philanthropist. In 2013, Al was honored as a Lifetime Achievement grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade.
Blackberri is a legendary singer/songwriter born in 1945 in Buffalo, New York. He developed a love of music from early on. After being kicked out of the U.S. Navy for being gay, Blackberri made his way to San Francisco. Blackberri’s music was featured in several Marlon Riggs’ films including "Tongues Untied" and "Black Is Black Ain’t." Blackberri has also worked extensively in the Bay Area as an HIV prevention educator and as a counselor to people with HIV/AIDS and their families.
Donna Sachet was born in 1954 in South Carolina, where she endured a violent, dysfunctional childhood. She escaped to New York for a career in retail fashion and moved to San Francisco in 1990. Ready for a fresh start, she got it by performing in drag at a Gay Men’s Chorus talent show. Since then, Donna’s performances have raised millions of dollars for various causes, including her annual Songs of the Season musical cabaret show to benefit the AIDS Emergency Fund.
Kitty Tsui was born in Hong Kong and raised in England. She arrived in San Francisco at age 16 in 1968, where she immersed herself in activism and writing. In 1979, Kitty co-founded Unbound Feet, a women’s performance group challenging stereotypes about Asian American women. In 1983, she published The Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire, the first book by a Chinese American lesbian. Kitty’s work has been collected in over 90 anthologies, and has been translated into Japanese, German and Italian.
LOCATION
This event has been moved online. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join the Zoom webinar as an attendee. Attendees will be able to participate as a virtual audience by asking questions, participating in polls and chatting with one another and panelists. Attendee registration is limited to 100 participants.
We will also be livestreaming this event on the GLBT Historical Society Youtube channel and linking to the video on social media for an unlimited amount of viewers.
ADMISSION
Free | $5.00 suggested donation
ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of event to leigh@glbthistory.org.
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Image credit: Bay Area singer, songwriter and activist Blackberri during his interview for the Outwords Archive, May 2017; still courtesy of the Outwords Archive.