Interview with Josh Langdon Hooser, August 26, 2018
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- Title:
- Interview with Josh Langdon Hooser, August 26, 2018
- Date:
- 2018
- Interviewer:
- Haas, Percy
- Interviewee:
- Hooser, Josh Langdon
- Description:
- Josh Langdon Hooser grew up in Pea Ridge, a small town near Huntington, West Virginia, which he describes as “very conservative.” During this interview, he discusses his childhood, with mentions of being bullied in school until he switched from theatre to sports, his experience coming out, what led him to settle in Charleston, some experiences at the College of Charleston, including being excluded from a fraternity, his marriage, and his work as a lawyer focusing on LGBTQ clients and issues. His coming-out experience, in which he called a “family meeting,” began a process of acceptance within his family. He describes the judgements directed his way by Democratic and more liberal members of the LGBTQ community, due to his being a Republican, yet he also explains how he tried to impact the Republican Party and some of its candidates on social LGBTQ issues, noting that he was active in the John McCain Presidential Campaign and served on a statewide board of South Carolina College Republicans. He worked for the Human Rights Campaign in West Virginia, and details the attitudes he encountered from a very religious woman state legislator on LGBTQ issues. He also discusses some discrimination and resistance he and his fiancé encountered while planning their wedding and describes the culmination of factors that led to his decision to plan to relocate his practice from Cincinnati, Ohio to Charleston, South Carolina. He refers to the importance of both biological and chosen families, and how he and his husband plan to start a family, contrasting the issues gay men face in that field versus those faced by lesbians. He describes many of the legal issues confronting LGBTQ people, due to conflicting state and federal laws, and is particularly sympathetic to the difficulties of trans people. In replying to the interviewer’s questions, he sums up difference between his “millennial” generation and the generation that came before and the one that is coming after. He mentions many legal decisions and social shifts that have impacted LGBTQ communities, and sees fragmentation and intersectionality as one of the biggest hurdles facing the LGBTQ community today, particularly in respect to race and gender.
- Collection Title:
- South Carolina LGBTQ Oral Histories, Archives, and Outreach
- Contributing Institution:
- College of Charleston Libraries
- Media Type:
- audio/mpeg
- Personal or Corporate Subject:
- College of Charleston
McCain, John, 1936-2018
Human Rights Campaign (U.S.) - Topical Subject:
- Coming out (Sexual orientation), Same-sex marriage, Homophobia, Homosexuality--Law and legislation, and Gay conservatives
- Geographic Subject:
- Charleston (S.C.), Cincinnati (Ohio), and Huntington (W.Va.)
- S.C. County:
- Charleston County (S.C.)
- Language:
- English
- Shelving Locator:
- MSS LGBTQ-OH-019
- Date Digital:
- 2018-08-26
- Digitization Specifications:
- Mp3 derivative audio created with Audacity software. Archival masters are wav files.
- Internet Media Type:
- audio/mpeg
- Copyright Status Statement:
- Copyright © College of Charleston Libraries.
- Access Statement:
- All rights reserved.
- Access Information:
- For more information, contact Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries, 66 George Street, Charleston SC 29424.
- Admin ID:
- 220836
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