Who We Are

Curators’ Statement

Both the 2000 and 2010 censuses showed Vashon Island to have the largest per capita concentration of gays and lesbians in Washington State.  We set out to look beneath that statistic at the rich history and diverse experiences of LGBTQ Islanders.

Presently, there’s no such thing as a cohesive LGBTQ community on Vashon Island.

• The Island has been known as a Lesbian haven for some years.  
• The Gay community mourns those lost to AIDS, but is moving forward.
• Bisexuals are everywhere, but few want to talk about it.
• Trans people often face very different issues from the LGB community.  
• And Queer and Questioning? – certainly there’s a lot more openness now.

We listened to stories through video and audio recorded interviews, questionnaires, a story circle event, and the advice of the largest advisory committee the Island’s Heritage Museum exhibits have had.  It has been an enormous privilege to have folks be willing to be fully OUT of the closet, and open up their lives to us, and to you.  We hope we have made the exhibit interesting and impactful for everyone, gay and straight and everywhere on the spectrum.

Our designer Jessica DeWire has put her love of the LGBTQ community into the exhibit’s rich colors and hexagonal design that represent our connectedness.

Along the way, we found that many folks believe it’s important that we create opportunities to come together and celebrate as a cohesive community.  Hopefully, this exhibit will provide the spark. To help keep that spark alive for the 10-month duration of the exhibit, related events are being planned – art workshops and shows, story circles, musical performances of various genres, dances, and more. 

Ellen Kritzman
Stephen Silha