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But portal diving is what’s really on offer here.Įpisode 6 (my favorite) centers on the Great Angling Lesbian Society (GALS), a community organization started by two lesbians in Chicago in 1994 (one of whom was Sherry Pethers, who became the first out lesbian elected as a Cook County judge in 2004). What history gets lost when these community spaces shutter? Unboxing grapples with this question through intimate interviews and humorous anecdotes, highlighting stories of LGBTQ history and culture in the Gerber/Hart collections through eight lovingly researched, richly produced episodes. People Like Us closed abruptly in 1997 after a change in ownership, but not before it had become known as one of the only places where LGBTQ Chicagoans could find themselves reflected in media - a place to be reminded of the meaning of a dark blue hanky in the left-side pocket, a place to gather, a place to see and be seen. Despite some initial consternation - at the time, the Chicago Tribune wrote, “Naturally, it takes a certain amount of nerve to open such an unconventional business” - the store saw nine years of success and attracted queer literary luminaries from across the country, including Rita Mae Brown, Leslie Feinberg and Alison Bechdel. Over 25 minutes, the episode takes listeners back to when Carrie Barnett and Brett Shingledecker opened People Like Us, which also hosted events and became a place for the broader community to learn more about the LGBTQ community.
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The community archive is dedicated to LGBTQ culture and history in the Midwest. Podcast from the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives in Chicago. Mejia’s experience is the subject of Episode 4 of Unboxing Queer History, a new “I’ll stand in front of the door and I’ll imagine Carrie Barnett is actually standing right in front of me,” Mejia says. Clark St., the one-time home of People Like Us Bookstore, Chicago’s first gay and lesbian bookstore. One of her favorite places to portal dive is at 3321 N.
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In these moments, Mejia isn’t geographically lost she’s engaging in a version of time travel, what she calls “portal diving,” to visit the past. “All of a sudden…I don’t know where I am,” she says. When audio producer Ariel Mejia bikes around Chicago, something strange happens to her.