LaDonna Moore, 2016

File — Box: 1, Folder: 10

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

LaDonna Moore was born and raised in and around Denver. She describes her early life and her family. As an older teenager, Moore was a self-described hippie. After some struggles with school, she decided to go to college to study social psychology. At that time, Moore also became politically active. She moved to Wyoming and started attending Weber State in Utah. She and her boyfriend moved to Washington and got married. Toward the end of their time in Washington, Moore started feeling attraction for women. She and her husband moved back to Wyoming and they eventually got divorced. In Wyoming she worked at the Wyoming State Hospital, doing their addictions treatment. Moore then decided to go to graduate school for sociology and chose the University of Utah. When she moved here she got a job at the Pioneer clinic. She met her partner there. Moore then became involved in the counseling community in Utah and started to work against the dominant culture of “fixing” gay people with reparative therapies. She put together conferences and panels to develop more positive, affirmative therapies for homosexuals. Moore describes the Utah culture and the LDS Church culture she has worked with and struggled against while working in the gay community. Her work was increasingly with people living with HIV/AIDS and Moore eventually became the director of the Utah AIDS Foundation. She describes her responsibilities and talks about the culture of support organizations in Utah. Moore details her clients’ needs and the support the foundation was giving them. She also talks about how the epidemic and its effects evolved over time and how the gay community has changed over time.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Clement.

Dates

2016

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.