Omaha organization 'Queer Nite' holds event celebrating city’s queer history

Oct. 14, 2024, 5 a.m. ·

Welcome from Out in the Park
Queer Nite held its Out in the Park celebration of Omaha’s queer history and community. (Photo by Arthur Jones/Nebraska Public Media News)

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On Sunday afternoon at Benson’s Elmwood Park Pavilion, Queer Nite held its Out in the Park celebration of Omaha’s queer history and community.

Attendees were able to learn about the history from UNO’s Queer Omaha Archives and the Queer History of Omaha Mapping Project. UNO’s project has been ongoing since 2016, but the mapping project is new this year.

The creator of the LGBTQIA2S+ history of Omaha mapping project is Marcus Chaffee. They spoke about how their grandpa came out as gay late in life, and Chaffee was not able to speak to him before he passed.

“When I think about that as a personal example of how a queer story can get lost through time and just think about that at the city scale,” Chaffee said. “And part of this project is hoping to be able to link elders with young people to have those types of conversations so that way their experiences can be honored and represented in the work that I'm doing with the mapping project.”

Examples of The Gayzette
One of the many examples of queer history the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Queer Omaha Archive has. (Photo by Arthur Jones/Nebraska Public Media News)

One of the many young, queer people in attendance at the event was Joslyne Debonis. She was familiar with those putting on the event but had no idea about the rich history her city held.

“I'm trying to figure out where all the queer spaces are,” Debonis said. “And so to go back and see that they were doing events, you know, in 1987. You just think it's a very new recent thing, but it's like, no, there's been this history here for a really long time, there's been these places for a very long time."

The Queer History of Omaha Mapping Project is looking for stories from the queer people who have lived in the city. UNO’s Queer Omaha Archives is looking for stories as well as items such as zines or photos that pertain to the city’s LGBTQ+ history.