W0013 |
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Object Description
Interview no. | W-0013 |
Restrictions | In-library use only. Access through the Southern Historical Collection. |
Project | W.2. LGBTQ Life in the South: Sweet Tea Interviews by E. Patrick Johnson |
Project description | Interviews, 2003-2006, conducted by E. Patrick Johnson with black gay men from the South including men from many Southern states regarding their experience of growing up gay in the South with particular focus on such topics as the influence of the church in upbringing, coming out experiences, gay vernacular, college and career in the South, gay life in small towns, segregation, gay social life, and whether the South is hospitable to gays. These interviews form the basis for Johnson's book, “Sweet Tea: Black Gay men of the South,” published in 2008 by University of North Carolina Press. |
Date | January 17, 2005 |
Interviewee | OKC, pseud. |
Interviewee occupation | Ministers |
Interviewee DOB | 1962 |
Interviewee ethnicity | African Americans |
Interviewer | Johnson, E. Patrick, 1967- |
Abstract | OKC is a black gay man who was born in Oklahoma City in 1962. He grew up protected because he had serious asthma and an adult was always present with him. His mother taught nursing, and he spent a lot of time with his grandmother and his godmother. His father was a trucker. He attended a school that was integrated midway through his education. The black population of Oklahoma City lived in an area called “the fairgrounds”, separated from the rest of town by railroad tracks. He says this did not impact him growing up and that he knew no boundaries. Church played a huge role in his upbringing, and his happiest memories are of waiting to go to church early on Sunday mornings and of spending the whole day at church. He acknowledged his call to preach early on as well as that he did not fit into any tough guy kind of mold, and went to seminary. At the seminary there was no cadre of gay comrades but there were lots of closeted men. His church is tolerant and is not a “gay church”, but rather it is affirming of each person, not of any aspect of a person in particular. He is not out to his congregation. OKC believes that the South is more homophobic than other parts of the country, which partially informed his decision to move to the northeast for his seminary program. Another factor in his sometimes rejection of the south was the intolerance his father displayed. OKC had a rocky relationship with his father until his father passed away. OKC’s partner of four years is from the south. He discusses the difference between trade and DL (down low), how to tell if someone is gay, and the reasons why gay rights cannot be equated with the civil rights movement. OKC has lost over twenty-five friends to HIV/AIDs. This interview is part of the E. Patrick Johnson collection and was conducted for Johnson's book, “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South.” |
Citation | Interview with OKC, pseud. by E. Patrick Johnson, January 17, 2005 W-0013, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Description
Interview no. | W0013 |