W0046_Transcript |
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Object Description
Interview no. | W-0046 |
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 | 11 January 2005 |
Interviewee | Dean. |
Interviewee occupation | Ministers |
Interviewee DOB | 1962 |
Interviewee ethnicity | African Americans |
Interviewer | Johnson, E. Patrick, 1967- |
Abstract | Dean was born in 1962 in Leesburg, Tex., and had what he described as a difficult childhood. Growing up, church was an important part of his life but he states that he did not like church, as most young boys do not. However, as he got older church and religion became very important to him, and Dean characterizes himself as a devout Methodist. Dean is in fact a minister who engages in counseling of those who seek help instead of preaching. Dean first realized he was different around the age of 3 or 4 and realized early on that being different, especially in the South, was something that not everyone necessarily agreed with. He does not prescribe to any theories of homosexuality, other than God created and loves every person, and that sexuality is a learned behavior and people lean towards what makes them feel the best. Dean is not out to his family and does not believe it is any of their business, but he does not think it would bother them. There is discussion about what it means to be gay in the South, with Dean stating that Southerners tend to believe that gay men are sex-crazed fiends. However, he does not think there is anything gay people can do to change this view, noting that the AIDS crisis hit Dallas very hard but churches and heterosexuals were only worried about how it was contracted, and not treating the disease. As such, he definitely believes the South is more homophobic and that it is difficult to be a gay black man in the South. Tragically, Dean was murdered in 2006, one year after this interview was conducted, presumably because he was gay. 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 Dean by E. Patrick Johnson, 11 January 2005 W-0046, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Description
Interview no. | W0046_Transcript |