LGBTQ

Orlando Shooting Shakes Birmingham LGBT Community

Sunday was Birmingham's Pride celebration, in honor of National Pride month. It's a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies come together to honor the LGBT community. That event was marred by what is now known as the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Early Sunday morning a man entered a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida and began shooting. At least 49 people are dead and dozens more injured. WBHM's Esther Ciammachili spoke with Eva Walton Kendrick of the Human Rights Campaign of Alabama, an LGBTQ advocacy group. Kendrick says this tragedy has shaken the LGBT community in Birmingham.

StoryCorps: “There’s a little piece of you that’s still shining through.”

Amanda: So how does your queerness impact you on a day-to-day basis? Steven: My queerness operates in very different ways when I’m in a professional setting. I’m expected to be in slacks and things that are not form-fitting. Three months into the job, I was told if I wanted to fit in, I needed to […]

StoryCorps: “I’m not complicated…”

Lacey: I identify as bisexual so that means that I am attracted to people of multiple genders. I used to feel like, in queer spaces, that I wasn’t queer enough to be there. I was constantly having this fear that other people were sort of assessing my queerness. It constantly felt like it was insufficient […]

StoryCorps: “You’re a person of value…”

Kristye:  I feel like I loved you before our first date, but I didn’t think that was possible. And when I pulled up to meet you, I got out of my car and you got out of your car, and I’ll never forget the look on your face because you … your eyes were real wide, […]

StoryCorps: “I got in the most trouble I think I ever had in my entire life.”

Derrick: When I was younger, I remember I was on the playground and I kissed a boy. It wasn’t like anything sexualized or anything like that, but I got in the most trouble I think I ever had in my entire life. I had no perception of what bisexuality was, but I guess that was when I would […]

StoryCorps: “The difference is in everybody’s heads.”

Jonathan Hankins and partner Maura Barnett are expecting their first child and discuss raising him with their gender nonconforming values. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL

StoryCorps: “I need to get my last name legally changed, please.”

Gregory and Joshua Laning share their experiences getting their names changed and talk about being one of the first legally gay married couples in Alabama. They had a conversation at Storycorp’s mobile booth in Birmingham, AL

StoryCorps: “Because I love him.”

Neil Rafferty talks to his partner Mike Rudulph about their emotions before Mikes deployment to Iraq. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL

StoryCorps: “We’re just people too.”

Jennifer Sumner and her 12-year-old son Rae talk about the challenges of being transgender. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL

WBHM Partners with StoryCorps OutLoud

Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM is partnering with StoryCorps to broadcast selections from its StoryCorps OutLoud initiative recorded in Birmingham. StoryCorps OutLoud is a multi-year project dedicated to preserving the often unheard voices of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. WBHM will share these stories on air and online Tuesdays and Fridays throughout November, 2015. […]