{"id":49,"ordinal":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:57:31","content_modified":"2026-04-17 19:57:31","featured":0,"title":"LGBTQIA+ Histories in Rhode Island","creator":"Casandra Inez, United We Stand Engagement Coordinator and RI Humanities Staff in collaboration with Community Content Partners: Janaya Kizzie, Selene Means, and Mev Miller.","description":"<p>A non-binary religious visionary from Cumberland—born in 1752. The Black Lesbian host of a 1990s Rhode Island public access television show, Obviously Women, focused on women’s issues—obviously. The owner of a twentieth-century hair salon on Providence’s Broad Street, which also served as a trans and nonbinary community center. These are just a few of the fascinating Rhode Islanders who profoundly impacted their communities, and the state we know today, that you’ll meet while exploring this tour.\r\nThere are as many LGBTQIA+ histories in Rhode Island as there have been LGBTQIA+ people and communities. These histories make up a diverse, intersectional, multifaceted, and complex tapestry colored by collective beauty, joy, and action; conflict, pain and violence; and individual, communal, and societal transformation. This tour is just the beginning of telling some of these stories on the Rhode Tour platform, and does not pretend to be comprehensive. Rather, it is a seed that we hope will thrive and grow with additional future contributions from community members sharing more LGBTQIA+ stories on Rhode Tour. \r\nTo tell these stories, Rhode Island Humanities worked with three Community Content Partners: Janaya Kizzie, Selene Means, and Mev Miller. We are profoundly grateful for their contributions, insights, and partnership. We also thank Matthew Lawrence and Jason Tranchida for their thoughtful and thorough input on the tour.\r\nIf you are interested in contributing stories to Rhode Tour on this topic or any other, please contact us at info@rihumanities.org–we will be glad to hear from you.</p>","postscript_text":"Development of this tour was supported by “United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture,” a nationwide initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities focused on combating hate-motivated violence.","tour_img":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/d1cf7db9db872866ce252609bfff6506.jpg","items":[{"id":439,"title":"This Impetus to do the Right Thing","latitude":41.78078500000000161662683240137994289398193359375,"longitude":-71.40095900000000028740032576024532318115234375,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/d1cf7db9db872866ce252609bfff6506.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/d1cf7db9db872866ce252609bfff6506.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"1665 Broad St. Cranston, RI 02905","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":435,"title":"Kandy’s Of Course Beauty Salon and the Lola","latitude":41.80201844199873306706649600528180599212646484375,"longitude":-71.4184858197188106032626819796860218048095703125,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/6656caa15399a113af2e36b43949700f.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/6656caa15399a113af2e36b43949700f.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"802 Broad Street, Providence, Rhode Island","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":438,"title":"Lesbian Founders Distill Herbs and Queer Pride","latitude":41.877916288750355988668161444365978240966796875,"longitude":-71.3879069522025702099199406802654266357421875,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/4905dfed7281a4d189fd122bcff6ca91.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/4905dfed7281a4d189fd122bcff6ca91.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"40 Bayley Street, Pawtucket, RI 02860","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":433,"title":"I’m a political statement just by living!","latitude":41.83738066666666810533570242114365100860595703125,"longitude":-71.422551333333331058383919298648834228515625,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/860e115ef715730d02f6e697220a9df0.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/860e115ef715730d02f6e697220a9df0.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"209 Douglas Ave, Providence, RI 02908","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":434,"title":"Goddesses Among Us!","latitude":41.82900158823529324081391678191721439361572265625,"longitude":-71.400876647058822754843276925384998321533203125,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/8e775ca2478bfcff58d1a3672a1cf409.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/8e775ca2478bfcff58d1a3672a1cf409.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02906","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":432,"title":"“Women! OBVIOUSLY!!”","latitude":41.79486738383837973742629401385784149169921875,"longitude":-71.4385986363636362739271135069429874420166015625,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/4fa339d2f610e3af8847a25b4b08dc65.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/4fa339d2f610e3af8847a25b4b08dc65.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"300 Niantic Avenue \t Providence, RI 02907","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":430,"title":"Lesbians as Bait: The Development of the RI NOW Platform","latitude":41.8315882871969506595632992684841156005859375,"longitude":-71.3997495174407958984375,"thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/c7c3eaf2a5c302ccac2a8ec79b6a8c52.jpg","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/c7c3eaf2a5c302ccac2a8ec79b6a8c52.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"Hope St & Lloyd Ave, Providence, RI","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}}]}