W0043_Transcript |
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Object Description
Interview no. | W-0043 |
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 | 22 January 2005 |
Interviewee | Countess Vivian, pseud. |
Interviewee occupation | Nurses |
Interviewee DOB | 1912 |
Interviewee ethnicity | African Americans |
Interviewer | Johnson, E. Patrick, 1967- |
Abstract | Countess Vivian was born in New Orleans, La. in 1912 and has lived in New Orleans his entire life. Most of his adult life was spent living in the French Quarter on St. Anne Street, near the divide between the gay and straight sections of Bourbon Street. The Countess is a nurse and also served as a nurse in the Army in the 1940s. Beginning parts of the interview are focused on the Countess's childhood and life in New Orleans before World War II, with particular focus given to what life was like for blacks during this time period. The Countess mentions segregation, how his mother made money by washing other people's clothes, and how blacks in New Orleans often had to resort to making money by selling drugs or engaging in prostitution. Much of the rest of the interview is spent discussing the black gay scene in New Orleans from when the Countess was younger to the 1980s. He explains how he was even more segregated in society because he was gay, but also mentions that the black gay scene in New Orleans was thriving. The Countess claims that he did not know that white gay men existed until he was older. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is also touched on, as is the topic of drag queens. 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 Countess Vivian, pseud. by E. Patrick Johnson, 22 January 2005 W-0043, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Description
Interview no. | W0043_Transcript |