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Interview #10 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
A gay man from his twenties from a very small community in the southern half of West Virginia describes having sexual desire for boys from the time of junior high school. This, mixed with his family background, his dislike for fishing and a love of reading made him “odd” in various ways. His identity as a gay male was established only after hearing, at age twelve, that there were others in his community.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #11 Abstract, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
The transcript of this interview has not been located/may not exist. All that is present for this one is the abstract.
An African-American man nearing seventy is from an urban area in the southern half of West Virginia. Referred as someone who believed this individual would fit within the scope of the project, interviews with sexual minorities from West Virginia, this informant did not identify himself as gay, bisexual or trans gendered. He spoke of his mother as a "fiercely independent person," a classification he now gives to himself. He depicts scenes of black urban neighborhood life before the time of desegregation.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #12 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
This bisexual woman in her twenties was raised in a small community in the Southern half of West Virginia as well as another state further south. She portrays her path to self-acceptance, having “tried not to be like this,” and having been condemned as a lesbian in her high school. She calls for support groups and a greater understanding for those who are not gay or lesbian, but comfortably bisexual.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #2 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
This is an interview with a gay man in his forties. In it the informant stresses his appreciation for the complexity of life, particularly the value of carefully assessing all elements of one’s identity, including regional, sexual, and gender identities, and retaining all that is positive and useful. His early years were spent in a small town in the Southern half of West Virginia and in a neighboring state. He describes adult role models, both parental and teachers, who have helped him to feel free enough to behave differently from societal norms.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #3 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
The informant in this interview is a gay male in his thirties raised in a rural area in the southern half of West Virginia. He addresses the conflict that he believes is present within most if not all Appalachian sexual minorities: whether to leave the region in order to be better accepted as a sexual minority, or whether to cede to the ties that keep one near to the family, friends, landscape, and way of life present in the Southern mountains. He describes being cognizant of his sexuality in the third or fourth grade, and slowly, painfully, becoming aware of his family’s view of gays.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #4 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
This is an interview with a gay man in his fifties raised on a farm, one of several siblings, in Southern West Virginia. Not aware of his sexual orientation until he had been married with a family for several years, the informant came out to himself and others well into his adult years. He chronicles that experience, as well as directions his life has taken subsequently in committed relationships with men and with a continuation of close involvement in the church. This interview contains descriptions of the formation of West Virginia’s first gay pride march.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #5 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
We have no transcript, only a description in a few pages of the content of his interview with a gay man in his sixties whose childhood years were spent in an urban neighborhood in Southern West Virginia. He articulates a theme of Victorian living brought on by both his church and his mother. He carries some of these ethics into his life today, striving to present himself as an example of a gay man who is a good, quiet neighbor and community member. It was not until his marriage to a woman ended that he recognized his sexual orientation.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #6 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
This is an interview with a transgender woman in her fifties in rural Southern West Virginia. She articulates an ever-present sense that she was supposed to be female, expressed as early as the age of five when she put on her first dress. A stalwart member of her church and loyal contributor to an industrial workforce, she described her efforts to “have the problem taken care of” by God. When this was not possible, she was forced to end her marriage in order to begin her life as a woman. Her good-will, sense of humor, and self-respect have gradually brought her not only hard-won self-love, but also respectful treatment by many.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #7 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
A lesbian in her fifties describes her life and her philosophy in a small town and rural area in the northern half of West Virginia. She has come to view a difficult childhood as an opportunity for the development of survival skills. She was divorced and a mother when she began to acknowledge her sexual orientation. In this interview she describes a path through struggle to self-acceptance and spirituality, positioned now as a community mother of sorts local gay and bisexual youths.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #8 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
This is an interview with a rural transgendered person, still in a male’s body. He is in his fifties and is a native of the northern half of the state. He speaks of an early denial, both to himself and others, of his desire to wear makeup and dress the part of a woman. Reaching self-acceptance and striving for community tolerance, he has had to abandon relations with a Fundamentalist church and not “rub” his identity in the face of certain family members.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #9 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Anonymous
This lesbian in his fifties in the southern half of West Virginia grew up surrounded by several generations. She credits her elders, primarily women, with giving her strong images of people who tailored their dreams to the realities of their lives, but did not give up on their aspirations. She describes an introduction to lesbianism through a community of back-to-the-land women, coupled with a free spirit of her own.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available because of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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Interview #1 Abstract and Transcript, 2001
Carrie Noble Kline and Corky
Corky is a pseudonym chosen by this transgender in her forties. She began life in the body of a male and has never lived in Appalachia. Her interview was conducted partly as a comparison to those stories recorded in the Appalachian region. This interview introduces the concept of social capital, the tools we acquire through our early socialization process, from which we can draw for the duration of our lives.
This interview focuses largely on Corky’s personal experience and academic research on the subject of “deadbeat dads,” particularly sexual minorities who have been denied access to their offspring.
Disclaimer: Some of the language in this interview may use outdated terminology or language.
This interview was made available as a result of the Honors 480 course, Trash or Treasure: An Introduction to Archives during the fall 2021 semester. This item was digitized and metadata was provided by Ashalia Aggarwal.
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