Queer To Tell is a storytelling series that features LGBTQIA+ storytellers sharing tales centered around a theme in Queer-owned businesses/affirming spaces across the country. The series was established to document the myriad of stories that exist within the LGBTQIA+ community, facilitate and encourage community building, and claim space in places that are actively celebrating and protecting us.
Each show has a different theme that allows for storytellers to share the universal experiences we as a community share (coming out, stories, the icons who inspired us, the clothes we chose to adorn ourselves with) but also the nuances of our different identities. We set the series in different LGBTQIA+ owned businesses and non-traditional performance spaces as a way to create a space that feels more like an intimate gathering audiences are happening upon rather than a theatrical performance. Inhabiting different spaces allows the atmosphere to change, audience sizes to vary and for them to be exposed to a plethora of Queer spaces in the surrounding area. An element we are continuing to grow is the community building portion of the event. In past shows, we have included audience participation portions where audience members have the chance to get up onstage and share a story of their own. As we continue to develop Queer To Tell, we hope to include elements such as "community speed-dating" prior to the show, providing audience members with resources pertaining to any sensitive topics discussed in the show, featuring local LGBTQIA+ serving organizations, and a storytelling workshop portion where anyone will have the chance to share and develop their own stories for a Queer To Tell event.
