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Object Description
Interview no. | W-0060 |
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 | 3 May 2005 |
Interviewee | Kenyatta. |
Interviewee occupation | Teachers |
Interviewee DOB | 1974 |
Interviewee ethnicity | African Americans |
Interviewer | Johnson, E. Patrick, 1967- |
Abstract | Kenyatta was born in Hampton, Va. in 1974 to a military family. Kenyatta attended integrated schools that were almost evenly split amongst blacks and whites. He mentions that he loved school and in fact worked in education for many years after graduating from college. Religion never played a large role in Kenyatta’s life. He mentions that his parents made he and his siblings attend church regularly, but his parents never went. He describes his dislike of church as being against the black church culture; he does not believe you have to attend church and “do it that way” in order to be close to God. As such, he has not been to church since his teenage years. Kenyatta always knew he was different and was often called a sissy when he was younger, but he did not realize he was gay until his freshman year of college. Even then, he did not come out to anyone until his first date eight years later. Kenyatta believes people are born gay and when he came out to his parents he describes their reactions as typical of those who already knew. He describes how he believes the South is no more homophobic than the rest of the country and that he has never seriously considered moving out of the South. However, he is very adamant that things will change in the gay community when visible personalities come out as gay (celebrities, high-ranking officials, etc.) Finally, there is discussion on how HIV/AIDS has affected the black gay community, with Kenyatta mentioning that it never affected him personally but he believes people are more sexually risky now than they were because HIV is treatable and less people are dying. 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 Kenyatta by E. Patrick Johnson, 3 May 2005 W-0060, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Description
Interview no. | W0060_Transcript |