Mississippi gay
Photo by Courtesy Duvalier Malone
For 30 years I've been proud of my deep magnolia roots. The many wonderful people of the state hold been supportive of my professional and personal endeavors. Whenever someone asks me, "Where are you from?" I proudly say Mississippi. However, a dark and dismal cloud hovers over my favorite state.
The country and the world are enraged by recent actions of our Governor and Legislators.
Growing up in Mississippi, I knew this place as a diverse land, entire of exceptional identity and amazing people; and as a young boy, I knew there was something unique about me. That "feeling" was a major turning point in my life; but a part of my story I buried deeply for so many years.
It wasn't until I met and fell in love with my soulmate, Adrian, that I acknowledged my position in this life. I, Duvalier Malone, am a proud homosexual man who will always be a product of Mississippi. I offer this statement simply to show my back for Mississippi's LGBT community and its incredible allies.
I must admit my failed leadership on LGBT issues.
For so many years, I worked on an assortment of causes
Queer Mississippi (Complete Collection)
The Queer Mississippi Oral History Project consists of interviews with lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and/or queer people who were born, raised, or spent significant time in Mississippi. This project is also affiliated with the Invisible Histories Project-Mississippi to document and preserve LGBTQ history in Mississippi.
To see how the project started and link to the other sections, please point to to the project introduction.
To petition the transcript from an oral history interview in this collection, please contact egrove@olemiss.edu.
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2024
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Emerson, Todd, Todd R. Emerson, Jonathan Schrock, and Julie Enszer
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Schnaithman, Sarah (Part 1), Sarah Schnaithman and Mae Buck
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Schnaithman, Sarah (Part 2), Sarah Schnaithman and Mae Buck
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Schnaithman, Sarah (Part 3), Sarah Schnaithman and Mae Buck
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Schnaithman, Sarah (Part 4), Sarah Schnaithman and Mae Buck
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Simpson, Shà, Shà Simpson and Sam Street
2023
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Bigham, Seeker, Hunter Bigham and Madeline Burdine
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Bigham, Johnny, Johnny Bigham and Madeline Burdine
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Coggins, Jamaya, Jamaya Coggins and Madeline Burdine
A Gay on the Mississippi Gulf Coast: Ambush on the Road
Family time can always go one of two ways, either fun-filled delight, or a check of your patience and tolerance (or in most cases a little of both).
Every Thanksgiving, I do a highway trip with Mama Dawn to somewhere fun. Past trips have included Branson, Natchez, Nashville, Natchitoches, Mobile, Pensacola, Memphis, San Antonio and Houston.
As she has gotten a minuscule older (81 years young) and less mobile, we moved closer to abode in our trips. Thus, this year, we decided to get an AirBnB along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and off we went to Bay St. Louis for a long weekend of drinking, eating, shopping and gambling.
Here is my adventure tale of a Queer on the Gulf.
The house we rented, one block off Main Street, was aptly entitled Le Petit Retreat. It was an adorable two bedroom home with quaint decor, an extremely pleasant sofa and beds, and an extra large television. It is perfect for a chill time. After getting settled, immediately we were off to our first casino, the Silver Slipper located in Waveland.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast basically st
Queer Mississippi Histories Project
The Queer Mississippi Histories Project consists of interviews with woman loving woman, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and/or queer people who were born, raised, or spent significant time in Mississippi. The project began in the spring semester of 2018 in Dr. Jessica Wilkerson’s (history and southern studies) Seminar, “Oral History of Southern Social Movements,” Southern Studies 560. Graduate and undergraduate students in that class conducted interviews with people in Oxford and on the campus of the University of Mississippi, focusing largely on recent changes in the social climate for LGBTQ people and LGBTQ campaign in and around Oxford.
The project then expanded when Wilkerson and Dr. Amy McDowell (sociology) applied for and received an Isom Fellowship for the summer of 2019 and summer 2020. They worked with graduate students Hooper Schultz and Maddie Shappley to add interviews with people connected to queer communities in Tupelo, Mississippi. Simultaneously, McDowell donated the log collection of DJ Charles “Prince” Smith, who had worked at several same-sex attracted bars in and around Tupelo. Students in Wilkerson’s fall 2019 oral history seminar again collect