The interviews in this collection were donated by QMUNITY, British Columbia's largest LGBTQ community centre, located in Vancouver. They were conducted as part of a project called Stories of Older Queers: Videography and Archives of Queer Elder Experiences.
Stories of Older Queers was a project of QMUNITY's Generations program, which offers services to LGBTQ adults 55+ to address their specific needs. The project creates a collection of video interviews and still pictures chronicling the experiences - good and bad - of older lesbian-gay-bisexual-transfolk before these pioneers' voices are stilled. The project seeks to recognize the skills and experiences of older LGBTQ adults in successfully navigating a homophobic world and provide a platform for sharing their accumulated wisdom. By recording their experience in a welcoming, non-judgmental environment, queer seniors' histories have been preserved for future generations of researchers, students, historians, and others interested in the stories of older queers.
The project was funded by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (later renamed the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada). It received a grant from the Community Participation and Leadership Fund of the New Horizons for Seniors Program.
The interview recordings and records from "Stories of Older Queers" were donated to Dr. El Chenier's Archives of Lesbian Oral Testimony (ALOT). A portion of these interviews featuring lesbian content are also available to watch on the ALOT website.
