1. More than a footnote: A Quest to Restore Queer Stories

Lauren Bianchi | Colin White | Sarah Rankin

This is the story of a quest.

This is a story about a journey. A journey to find what has been lost.

No.

A journey to find what has been stolen. A journey to find ourselves in the narrative. For all the queer lives who never had the chance to see themselves, for the queer lives who first saw themselves in Beth Jordache : that kiss, or Rosa Diaz, or Nathan Maloney Queer as Folk. For those whose story was deleted from our folk tales and from our collective consciousness, forcing us back into the closet.

Our journey begins with the spark of a story from a friend, which leads us to an old book from the West Highlands and a footnote, which leads to unpublished manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland. But will we find what we’re looking for hidden in some dusty manuscripts from the 1870s. Will we find it at all? And perhaps the biggest question – why have we started this journey/embarked on this quest?

Just to prove that we exist. And that we have always existed.

And that we defeat robbers and trick tricksters and fall in love and die old and happy, passing on our stories to the next generation.

Yes we’re queer. And we’ve always been here.

Created especially for the Village Storytelling Festival 2022 by the Village Storytellers!