Museum of Queer Stripe Stories is an archival project, between Tinder and Gaysi Family, that seeks to highlight the complexities of queer dating. Experiencing the dating world can be daunting, especially, as a queer person. Representing these funny, seemingly casual and budding romances in all their nuanced glory can be a defining catalyst to our evolving perceptions of queer love itself.
On asking the Gaysi team about how Queer Swipe Stories came together, they said, “Queer Swipe Stories came together when we realised that a lot of us had not grown up with positive, real-life stories of queer folx who had the same kind of cultural background as us, looked like us, and could be role models to aspire to. This sparked an interest to archive all the great love stories our queer friends had in their lives, all the little nights of giggling over people we fell for, people who were not meant to be. The archive serves as a collection of all kinds of things that are related to romance, dating, and all aspects of love and connection. Tinder’s partnership and support have also alleviated our ideas to create a powerful catalyst for change. ”
Wonderfully articulating the smaller delights of love and pointing out the incredible importance of seeing people who look and act like us can have on our collective cultural experiences. Also, reiterating the power of narrative when combined with diverse representation–-a truer depiction of the world we live in.
Upon delving further into what Gaysi looks for, editorially, when they look to unearth stories about queer love and emotion, they recounted, “We first started off by looking for stories of first dates that have occurred to queer couples. We then expanded to include all kinds of experiences of connection including heartbreak, any sort of date at any point in the relationship, a few minutes of flirtation. We realised that these nuances of feeling need to be archived as well and they say so much about the experience of human feelings as well!”
Furthermore, commenting on the queer community and the power of stories, they said, “not seeing anyone who looked like us being from gender, the sexual or romantic minority is a scary feeling. We created this archive for the 15-year-old us who wanted to see a queer love story and daydream. The power of each of these stories and anecdotes is the acceptance that comes with it. The unlearning of years and years of the stigma that so many of us have been put through.”
You can follow Queer Swipe Stories on Instagram here.
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