W0064_Transcript |
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Object Description
Interview no. | W-0064 |
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 | 5 November 2004 |
Interviewee | Stephen. |
Interviewee occupation | Actors |
Interviewee DOB | 1982 |
Interviewee ethnicity | African Americans |
Interviewer | Johnson, E. Patrick, 1967- |
Abstract | Stephen was born in 1982 in Atlanta, Ga. but has spent most of his life in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Stephen was raised in a single-parent home with his mother and two sisters. At some point during his childhood, his mother became homeless and he was sent to live with his father for a time in Mississippi. High school was a very formative time for Stephen; he had a white drama teacher who took a special interest in him and helped him get into college, though his family did not necessarily trust her because of her race. Growing up, Stephen attended a very conservative church with his family and states that he has struggled with his homosexuality his whole life because of it. In an effort to prove his heterosexuality to himself he had a relationship with a women that resulted in a son. Currently, his son is one of the few people that Stephen is out to. Finally, there is a discussion of what it means to be black and gay in the South, with Stephen stating that he does not want to be known as either of those things, he just wants to be known as Stephen. 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 Stephen by E. Patrick Johnson, 5 November 2004 W-0064, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Description
Interview no. | W0064_Transcript |