Zoë’s Oral History

Description

Zoë is a white, nonbinary latine person who was 22 at the time of recording. She talks about growing up in Queens and moving in between her grandparents' and great grandparents' houses. Zoe covers what it was like growing up with young parents, growing up with them, and having parents who challenged gender roles and exposed her early to Queerness and Lesbianism. She discussed going to a rich school without living there while working 30 hours a week starting at 14. Zoe covers loving their siblings as the eldest sibling while also being a primary caretaker for them at a young age. She talks about identifying as a Lesbian in early middle school, expressing Queerness through clothing, tattoos, and jewelry, and lesbian sex. They also candidly discuss how they might be questioning their Lesbian identity. Around the time they applied for this project and up to the recording, they were interrogating their Lesbian identity and discussed that openly. Zoe discusses how gender and class inform how she builds Lesbian community creatively. They end with a discussion on where they meet other Lesbians, what Lesbian community means to them, and what Lesbian spaces they wish existed.