The Rainbow Letters Exhibit is newly-featured on the first floor of the Stewart Library and will be displayed for the entirety of fall semester.

“Rainbow Letters is an exhibit of LGBTQ community responses about what they would want people in the future to know about being a member of the queer community today,” Sarah Langsdon, Weber State University’s head of special collections and exhibit organizer, said.

The exhibit continues to grow, being open to new submissions. Excerpts have been shared by Ogden and Davis pride events, as well as students on campus who have contributed.

“I am astounded by how many people have been willing to share,” Lorrie Rands, WSU special collections manuscript processor and exhibit organizer, said. “These are personal, intimate stories that transcend normal oral history.”

Rands also expressed her surprise and gratitude for community members getting out of their comfort zone to share personal stories.

“Some of these individuals have been through hell and back,” Rands said.

Langsdon mentioned how the exhibit has evolved over the past year as society has changed.

“It was very interesting to see the difference in response between people who lived in Weber County versus Davis County,” Langsdon said.

Some central themes Langsdon noticed in reading the letters were love, acceptance and “finding your tribe” to make things easier.

“To be honest, with Davis County, there was a lot on the negative side about bullying and how hard it is for people,” Langsdon said.

Rainbow Letters has also had an effect in the lives of those who helped organize it. Rands’ involvement in the exhibit is mostly due to the thesis she was writing at the time.

“My whole point behind my whole thesis was to understand my oldest son, who came out as transgender about a year ago,” Rands said.

Rands explained he truly wanted to understand him and approached the situation with a “mindset of understanding and openness.”

Before working on the exhibit, she admits there were times that it was difficult for her.

“It’s hard, any parent of a transgender child,” Rands said. “It’s hard because you don’t know how to look at it from a mom’s perspective because that’s your child.”

Putting up the letters in the exhibit made her realize each one had been individually written by someone who “poured their heart out and they’re hurting when they don’t need to,” Rands said. Going through this process of organizing the exhibit and watching the life of her own son changed how she looks at things, even her own self.

“I’m a better person because of this project,” Rands said. “I’m a more open, understanding person, and this project has been the one that has touched me the most and had the most impact on my life.”

Rands also saw similar effects in the lives of those who were working alongside her on the project. She has created a space where her son can be himself and continues to support him.

“It’s amazing to me how much he’s grown as a person, I’ve seen him change physically, but that’s the only thing that’s changed,” Rands said. “He’s still my child.”

“It’s allowing me a vehicle to give voices to those who may not have been able to share and have a voice,” Langsdon said.

The exhibit is part of a larger movement titled “Queering the Archives,” focused on representing LGBTQ history in Weber, Davis and Morgan counties. Rainbow Letters started at the Ogden Pride Festival in 2021. It was also displayed at Ogden’s Union Station before coming to campus.

“The whole reason we’re doing this is to allow people awareness and to let them see what someone who may be different from them is experiencing and what their life is like,” Langsdon said.

Students can visit the Rainbow Letters exhibit in the Stewart Library. To those interested in learning more about Queering the Archives and Rainbow Letters, Langsdon suggests visiting weberqueerarchives.org.