GALA is looking for queer voices from lockdown

From a queer perspective, how are you coping with being in quarantine or lockdown? What are you struggling with? What or who helps you cope? How are you keeping busy? Where are you spending lockdown and who are you with?

GALA, South Africa’s queer archive which is committed to actively collecting the stories and voices from Queer people in South Africa and the broader continent, wants to know.

As the Covid-19 pandemic is drastically affecting people’s lives, and society in general, GALA believes that this is an important moment to collect and record the experiences of queer people during this time.

They are calling for members of the LGBTQ+ community to send them voice notes or emails, stating the date, your name (or pseudonym), age, where you are, and a bit about you.

You are also welcome to send in more than one voice note or email, giving them updates. Or if you prefer, you are welcome to send a picture, poem, video etc reflecting your lockdown experience.

By sharing any personal material with GALA including written submissions, voice notes, videos and/or photographs you agree to grant GALA the full right to make such material accessible to the public as part of the archive and to be used on the GALA website and various social media platforms.

You are welcome to make use of pseudonyms should you not wish to be identified in your personal capacity and GALA will take all and any reasonable effort to ensure your anonymity. GALA reserves the right not to publish any personal material submitted.

Please send through your contributions to queervoices20@gmail.com.

GALA – Queer Archive has been archiving the history of South Africa’s LGBTQ+ community since 1997. It was created to address the omission and erasure of LGBTQ+ stories and experiences from other public institutions, like the national archives. To find out more about GALA, click here.