Some very exciting news today (unless you’re an IFD fan on Facebook, then it was very exciting news yesterday).

This fall, Marquise, the amazing director and editor of all the Video Stories, and I are going to travel to all 50 states to do what IFD does best: prove that LGBT people are everywhere by collecting and sharing our community’s true stories. For the past 14 months of IFD’s young life, we’ve had to either wait for stories to come in via email or only get Video Stories of people who live in NYC (where I live) or Philadelphia (where Marquise lives). By traveling to all 50 states, we’ll be able to document an even more diverse and honest look inside the lives and stories of LGBT Americans. For folks living outside the U.S., keep sending in your stories–if the U.S. Story Tour goes well, we’ll hit up your country next!

So what does all this mean for IFD and what will change? Continue Reading for those details as well as how you can be personally involved in the Tour.

Along the way, we’re going to collect more written stories and Video Stories, as well as add a new Audio Story feature on the site which will be downloadable as a podcast. We’re also going to have Reading Events at different venues in almost every town we visit, where we’ll read stories from the site and project Video Stories.

We’re soon going to add another page to IFD. There will be the main site page which will continue to keep all the focus on your stories and nothing else, and the new Story Tour blog page which will document our adventure along the way so you can keep up with our journey. We’re going to make it as interactive as possible so it should be a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to getting tips and advice about certain towns we visit.

So…how can you be a part of the IFD Story Tour? First of all…help make sure it happens! We started a KickStarter page where we’re hoping to raise $15,000 from individual donors. That won’t cover the entire cost of the tour but it will be enough to make sure we get started. Every donation helps, no matter how small. There are lots of fun incentives to donate…check it out.

Also, we’re trying to do this on the cheaper side as well as be able to meet as many different LGBT folks as possible. So we’re looking for any friendly people to open up a spare bedroom along the way. Our map route is still being ironed out, but if you want to be part of the IFD Story Tour, we’d be thrilled to be your guests. Keep in mind…we’ll have a camera with us and will want your video, audio or written story so make sure you’re not too shy.

Finally, if you have any suggestions, recommendations or ideas of where to go and what to do along the way…leave a comment! We want this to be as community-oriented as possible and we’d love to hear what you think. We’re going to every single state, so if you want us to go to your hometown or the town you live in now, let us know in the comments. If you want to open up your home to us for a night, contact me.

We’re really looking forward to making IFD bigger and better and getting these stories in front of as many people as possible, as well as hopefully meeting many of you along the way.