Summary: Interview with Ira Rogers for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Ira (he/him) is a gay Jewish man, born in Manhattan and currently residing in Vancouver. Ira describes his parents’ history and some of his early memories in New York City, and in Los Angeles with family friends. Ira describes coming out at 21, two years after Stonewall, and how it was largely met without resistance in the Jewish community in NYC; a contrast to his time living in Nashville as a songwriter and musician. He talks about his transition out of pre-med in college to major in music at Brooklyn College and how his 19 years in Tennessee allowed him personal and career growth. Ira explains how he was prompted to move away from Nashville to find a place that aligned more with his queer, liberal Jew identity and eventually settled on Vancouver. Ira talks about being married to a woman, while still wanting to explore his queer sexuality and how this complicated their relationship. He then talks about his current partner of over 17 years that he met soon after moving to Vancouver. Ira closes with reflections on being gay and Jewish, and the advice that one’s care, compassion and kindness can be the keys to fulfilling relationships alongside being oneself.

Interview with Marsha Ablowitz regarding her uncle Max Dexall for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Marsha recalls what she knows of Max (he/him) and his family who originated as farmers in and around Antopol, Belarus. He immigrated from Belarus to Vancouver with siblings in attempt to avoid Russian pogroms. Marsha describes how Max was well connected in the gay and Jewish communities, including stories of meeting gay men at gender-segregated synagogue meetings and how the community had hoped to make a Jewish gay synagogue in Vancouver similar to San Francisco. Marsha also discusses how Max continued in the family shoe store business where he was very successful and offered a safe space for the queer community including gay men and drag queens. Marsha shares the story of how Max would meet his life-long partner George at the store and discusses their relationship dynamic, including caring for the queer community in Vancouver. Marsha goes on to relish stories Max had shared about his time as a drag queen, different men he encountered and how he would get recognized wherever they went based on his reputation from his shoe store.