Forms part of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).
Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, care of Pat Young, May 2013 (Lib. Acc. 27902).
Audio and transcript for this interview are available on the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest Archives website at
Khalil Tamir Edwards was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1978. He earned a master's degree in education from Portland State University, and taught middle- and high-school English. In 2011, he began working with the Portland Black Chapter of PFLAG, now known as Sankofa Collective NW, and served as its co-executive director until 2016. He worked with Basic Rights Oregon from 2010 to 2016, and was a Racial Justice Fellow at the organization in 2011. He then served as organizing director for the Los Angeles Black Worker Center for one year, and beginning in 2018, he worked in development for Power California, a civic organization that works to increase voter turnout among young people of color.
Forms part of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).
Oral history interview with Khalil T. Edwards, by Natasha Lipai and Stephen Quirke, SR 11360, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Khalil Edwards was conducted by Natasha Lipai and Stephen Quirke at the offices of Basic Rights Oregon in Portland, Oregon, on February 27, 2013, for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. The interview was conducted as part of a senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University with instructor Pat Young. A transcript of the interview is available.
In this interview, Edwards discusses his involvement with the Portland Black Chapter of PFLAG, talks about its origins, and describes the intersection of racism and homophobia that Black LGBTQ youth face. He also talks about his parents' social justice activism. He discusses his involvement with Basic Rights Oregon, including his work on the Our Families video project and as a Racial Justice Fellow. He speaks about some of the goals of Basic Rights Oregon, including marriage equality and trans-inclusive health care, and talks about issues that the organization may focus on after achieving its current goals. He also speaks about racial inequity in the U.S. justice system. He discusses his career as a high school English teacher in San Bernardino, California, and shares his reasons for returning to Portland and focusing on racial justice and LGBTQ advocacy work. He closes the interview by talking about his love for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,