On Wednesday, June 22 StoryCorps Atlanta fans gathered for our second annual “StoryCorps Out & OutLoud: A Celebration of Stories from the LGBTQ Community.” The evening’s host, WABE’s John Lemley, commented that despite moving to a larger venue, the event was once again standing room only.

Kerrie Cotton Williams, Archivist and Manager of the Archives Division at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History and StoryCorps alumna discussed the importance of archiving our stories.

StoryCorps alumna Saralyn Chesnut explained why it’s important for the LGBTQ community to tell their own stories, saying, “for so long, members of our community had to remain silent and invisible.” Her story was recorded at Charis Books and More and you can listen to it on the StoryCorps Atlanta webpage.

Representatives of two community partner organizations, Touching Up Our Roots and Lambda Legal, spoke about the work they are doing with StoryCorps Atlanta.

Dave Hayward from Touching Up Our Roots is recording stories with pioneers of Georgia’s gay rights movement. He brought several of his storytellers with him to share their experiences.

Connor Gillis described the work Lambda Legal is doing to record stories of trangender individuals.

We’d like to thank the sponsors of Out & Outloud: Atlanta Pride Committee, The Phillip Rush Center, Radial Café and WABE 90.1.