Searainya Bond-Frojen Oral History Interview, 2017

Partial Transcript: Today's date is May 19, 2017. I am Brooke Wendland. I am Ariana Rabette. I'm Han Yu. This is an oral history interview with Searainya Bond-Frojen in Philomath, Oregon for OSU History 368: Lesbain and Gay Movements in modern America oral history projects. Please state your name and spell it out loud.

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen talks about her childhood, her parents and siblings, and fond memories she has of growing up.

Keywords: Evangelical Church; Philomath, OR; alcohol; camping; childhood; drugs; family; feminism; hippies; parents; religion

Partial Transcript: Do you remember being introduced to what being gay or what like who a gay person was at this time? Or do you remember about when you became aware that was a thing people were?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen talks about her awareness of gay and lesbian people during her childhood, specifically referencing moments with her mother about the topic.

Keywords: LGBTQ+; awareness; consciousness

Partial Transcript: Moving into a little bit more of like education type questions, where did you attend your grade school K-12?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen discusses her experiences in K-12, specifically mentioning experiences with bullying based on her weight.

Keywords: band; bullying; education; fatphobia; jobs; primary schooling; size-based discrimination

Partial Transcript: We talked a little bit about this earlier, were people out in high school, or did you know anyone who talked about or had classes that talked about gay issues at all?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen briefly describes the lack of discussions about gay issues during her time in K-12.

Keywords: LGBTQ+; education; sex education

Partial Transcript: Did you know anything or have an ideas at this time about what you wanted to do as a career in high school?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen briefly describes her ideas about the type of careers she thought about going into during high school

Keywords: career; mental health; religion

Partial Transcript: So, let's just go into college then. What college did you end up going in to?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes her experiences in bible college and returning to school after taking some time off.

Keywords: bible college; college; graduate school; relationships with women; work

Partial Transcript: At this point, after graduation, how was spirituality affecting your life?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen discusses the inner turmoil that came from the contradictions between her sexuality and her spirituality/religion.

Keywords: coming out; living in the closet; sexuality; spirituality

Partial Transcript: Was it spoken about with your fiends or the broader community? Do you remember anything like that?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen discusses the place sexuality had in her community of mostly religious people at the bible college.

Keywords: Evangelical Church; living in the closet; religion; sexuality

Partial Transcript: So, we talked a little bit about how your evangelicalism delayed your social and sexual development. So, when you finally did kind of come to that conclusion, how and who kind of educated you in your lesbianism?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes the outcomes of living in the closet for her social and sexual development and her learning about her sexuality.

Keywords: Evangelical Church; dating; experimentation; lesbianism; religion; sexuality

Partial Transcript: You were probably pretty young when the whole measure 9 issues was happening. Do you remember that at all? What was that like?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen briefly discusses her awareness of Measure 9 and her place in the Evangelical Church during that time.

Keywords: Measure 9; politics; religion; sexuality

Partial Transcript: Kind of moving into your older life, equal right issues, how have you seen that? How has that affected you?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen briefly discusses the Supreme Courts decision on marriage equality and partner benefits.

Keywords: LGBTQ+; domestic partnership; marriage; politics; rights

Partial Transcript: Who were the most important people to you during your college career?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes her mentors during grad school and her fears about coming out to them

Keywords: coming out; mentorship; sexuality

Partial Transcript: So, were going to talk a little bit more about your career after grad school. How did that transition go? Did you go directly into a job or...

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen talks about the transition between graduate school and her first career as a mental health counselor.

Keywords: career; counseling; reflexivity

Partial Transcript: How did that help you kind of confront your own sexuality?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen talks about how being a counselor affected her relationship with her own sexuality. She also discusses experiences with other therapists.

Keywords: counseling; sexuality

Partial Transcript: So, you had to break off from the church at this point and you were starting a new career and kind of also forcing that... How was that?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes the decision and process of breaking away from the Evangelical Church.

Keywords: Church; career; religion

Partial Transcript: So, what was the process like when you did decide to come out? How old were you? When dod you feel like you were ready? When was it the appropriate time?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen talks about the emption and social responses to her coming out.

Keywords: LGBTQ+; coming out; emotions; lesbianism; passing

Partial Transcript: Um, so let's just move into your partner then. Who is your partner and can you describe her? When and how did you meet her?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes her relationship with her partner and her family, which for the most part has been positive. She talks in detail about her wedding and the process of forming a relationship.

Keywords: marriage; marriage therapy; mental health; relationships; sexuality; son

Partial Transcript: What are some of your favorite hobbies and activities to do?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes her favorites ways to spend her time, such as walking dogs, hosting parties, and knitting.

Partial Transcript: What do you see as your personal strengths and weaknesses?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen discusses her personal strengths and weaknesses as well as how she would describe herself to another person.

Partial Transcript: Did you pick Corvallis, the area of Corvallis, for a specific reason? How did you end up here?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes her connections to the Corvallis area as well as her perceptions of the climate surrounding LGBTQ+ issues.

Keywords: "othering"; Corvallis, OR; acceptance; community; religion

Partial Transcript: Can you compare/contrast your first spiritual experience to your one now a little bit?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen briefly contrasts her experiences with spirituality now with her experiences in previous years.

Keywords: acceptance; homophobia; spirituality

Partial Transcript: How does your sexuality affect your daily life? Does it affect your daily life?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes the ways in which her sexuality and marriage affect her daily life due to her wife's masculine presentation

Keywords: female masculinity; gender non-conforming; marriage; sexuality

Partial Transcript: Are you involved or have you ever been involved in LGBTQA rights issues groups?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen describes her involvement with activism around LGBTQ+ issues, both historically and currently.

Keywords: PFLAG; Pulse Shooting; activism; politics

Partial Transcript: What are some of your personal accomplishments so far in your life?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen briefly talks about her accomplishments and hopes for the future.

Partial Transcript: Ok, and on to the big ones, the bit philosophical. Looking back on past experiences, is there anything you would change?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen says if she could go back, she would be more willing to make mistakes, but she wouldn't change anything about her family.

Partial Transcript: And then the last big one, what would you like to be remembered by?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen talks about what she wants to be remembered by, focusing on her capacity for loving other people.

Partial Transcript: Is there anything else that you'd like to address? Any final message maybe that will be eternalized?

Segment Synopsis: Bond-Frojen offers some final thoughts about religion and acceptance.