Tom Stebel Interview, 01 August 2023

Abstract

Tom Stebel (b. 1962) was born in Garfield Heights and grew up in Seven Hills before attending Miami University. He discusses coming out as a gay man in the 1980s and becoming involved in LGBTQ+ activism in college. Stebel recounts moving to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe in the 1980s during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis before returning to Ohio in the 1990s. He describes the impact of HIV/AIDS on LGBTQ+ communities in Cleveland in the 1980s and 1990s. He also describes working as a volunteer at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland for over 20 years and the changes to LGBTQ+ communities and spaces in Cleveland he witnessed during this time. Stebel also discusses his participation in Cleveland's leather subculture, the Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend (CLAW), the Cleveland Aquatic Team, and the Gay Games in Cleveland.

Interviewee

Stebel, Tom (interviewee)

Interviewer

Habyl, Riley (interviewer)

Project

LGBTQ+ Cleveland

Date

8-1-2023

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

88 minutes

Recommended Citation

"Tom Stebel Interview, 01 August 2023" (2023). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 701006.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1268

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