Nathan Manske wants to know. A native of Driftwood Texas (about 45 minutes southwest of Austin), Manske found himself inspired by the iconic albeit tragic life of Harvey Milk–specifically by one photo of SF’s first openly gay Supervisor holding a sign that read, “I’m From Woodmere, N.Y.”
“The sign was intended to show how far people came to attend the San Francisco rally, but it meant something more to me,” says Manske, the founder of the blog ImFromDriftwood.
“It meant that there are gay people in every small town and every big city across America and the world.”
And this is what inspired him to create his blog — part historical journal, part inspirational affirmation — ImFromDirftwood collects “true stories by gay people from all over” with the goal of reaching out to GLBTQ teens.
Manske’s passion is contagious. His project reminds me of Dave Isay’s StoryCorps (NPR listeners will know this) but with the added layer of queerness and queer self-identification and a substantially lesser budget — to say the least.
So, what are you waiting for. There’s a gay teen out in Minnesota who wants to hear from you.
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AND according to his website he’ll be filming interviews in NYC this weekend.
“If you’re in the NYC area this weekend, April 11-12, and would like to tell your story instead of write it, now’s your chance. You will sit down with me in a public setting (coffee shop, park bench, etc.) and simply tell me a story on camera, so please come with a story in mind. We will film in a way that’s unobtrusive – you might not even see the camera. We’re allocating one hour for each story, but only expecting it to take 15-20 minutes. If you’re able to commit, please contact me as soon as possible with the times you’re available.”
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I really love this site, and can’t wait to submit a story. One of my favorite parts of moving to NYC has been getting to hear other people’s stories about growing up god-knows-where.
People talk about the legacy of gay culture being in decline, but I can’t help thinking that’s not really the case — ultimately the process of self-recognition is something we all go through alone, regardless of how tolerant or intolerant the environment around us may be, and the transformation that initiates is itself a profound and unique experience, something that most of us can only truly appreciate the value of later on once we’ve seen more of the world.
Thanks for posting this!
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have read that Nathan is turning his imfromdriftwood stories into a book, collecting them all under one cover. Had it before several publishers, hope one steps forward and takes it. A terrific idea, this entire imfromdriftwood site.
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