Brooke Collison Oral History Interview, 2017

Partial Transcript: Is it rolling? Ok, this is for History 368 for the oral history project for the Oregon State Queer Archives...

Segment Synopsis: Collison describes his background growing up in Kansas, specifically relating to his family, community, religion, and schooling.

Keywords: community; education; family; religion

Partial Transcript: So, would you say in your early school years or K-12, were any issues of LGBTQ, like was that even a topic during that time?

Segment Synopsis: Collison talks about discussions of gay and lesbian people/issues during his childhood, noting that there was a lot of silence around the topic but that individuals may have been harassed for their gender expression.

Keywords: LGBTQ; bullying; discrimination; harassment; language

Partial Transcript: So, let's go into your college experience. So what year and where did you attend college?

Keywords: LGBTQ; college; education; language; reclaiming words

Subjects: Collison describes his experiences in college, including his decision of major and some of the early interactions he has with his students.

Partial Transcript: During your teaching experiences later on, would you ay even then - were you hearing whispers of anything? Could you talk a little bit more about that?

Segment Synopsis: Collison discusses his interactions with LGBTQ students, which were at times regrettable in hindsight, but ultimately lead to a change in his beliefs and values regarding gender and sexuality.

Keywords: LGBTQ; beliefs; counseling; education; graduate school; reparative therapy; teaching; values

Partial Transcript: What was the environment in Missouri compared to Kansas...

Keywords: Kansas; Missouri; gender; sexuality

Partial Transcript: So, you would say that you started to get to know people within the LGBTQ or LGB community during that time...

Segment Synopsis: Collison describes his growing acceptance and exploration of LGBTQ peoples and issues as well as his activism with his profession counseling organization.

Keywords: LGBTQ; acceptance; activism; coming out; counseling; professional organizations; research; sexuality

Partial Transcript: Would you say most of your activism was within the association or...

Segment Synopsis: Collison describes his activism outside of his professional organization, including within the church and organizing a conference on his campus.

Keywords: Activism; PFLAG; campus; children; church; conference; education; gender; parents; race; sexuality; teachers

Partial Transcript: I guess personally, how do you feel about the progress that has been made within the community and with your help and how far? I mean you have a great start and stop point to now.

Segment Synopsis: Collison reluctantly answer the question about the progress that has been made since his youth and explains why he dislikes the question.

Keywords: progress; social change

Partial Transcript: Would you say that there was like a specific turning point in time when these issues of the community started to be talked about and discussed and openly okay to talk about?

Segment Synopsis: Collison talks about his beliefs about the progress of LGBTQ movements and historical events as well as some contemporary examples of LGBTQ peoples making change. He also discusses his wife's involvement in activism and community relations.

Keywords: Stonewall; activism; racism; social change; social movements; transgender

Partial Transcript: Clearly you and your wife's values aligned really great. So, what were some of the most impactful moments or activist times that you had with your wife

Segment Synopsis: Collison describes memorable activist moments with his wife throughout his life, focusing particularly on their trip to Kenya.

Keywords: Kenya; LGBTQ; anti-LGBTQ sentiment; capital punishment; diagnostic and statistical manual; education; housing discrimination; police education; residential schools; white privilege

Partial Transcript: So, I guess I just want to end on opening up the floor to you if there is any other experiences, mentors, moments in time you want to talk about...

Segment Synopsis: Collison talks about an additional mentor, elaborates on his experiences in Kenya, and doscusses resistance to the conference he helped organize on his campus.

Keywords: Kenya; education