Scope and Contents Ben Barr grew up in the 9th and 9th neighborhood of Salt Lake City, in a Jewish immigrant family. He recounts his early childhood bullying, a result of effeminate behavior, and how he banded together with classmates who suffered the same abuses. As a teenager, he was in a relationship with a female classmate, and the two became teenage parents at the ages of 15 and 16. Barr discusses his relationship with his...

Scope and Contents Lois Bartholomew was born in Springville, Utah. Her family moved back and forth between Utah and California throughout her life. Bartholomew describes growing up poor and living outside the LDS Church community while in Utah. She talks about her difficult upbringing. Bartholomew details her 61-year relationship with her husband and the romance and the hardships of their marriage. She and her husband were nurses in...

Scope and Contents Sister Linda Bellemore spent six years working with the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Salt Lake City. She was assigned to visit recently discharged elderly patients when the AIDS epidemic struck. Because of her background in nursing and her desire to serve the population, Sister Bellemore decided to be a part of starting a service to care for people with HIV/AIDS. The service was called the...

Scope and Contents Twinkle Chisholm was a medical reporter for KUTV in the late 1980s and 1990s. She describes her experiences as a reporter covering the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In particular, she talks about reporting on The Names Project. Chisholm was also a caregiver for a friend who had AIDS and she talks about her experiences providing support and care for him. She also worked in LA and San Francisco and compares the epidemic and...

Scope and Contents Dr. Paula Gibbs was born in Alabama in 1956. Her father in the Air Force, and as a child she moved frequently. Gibbs discusses her upbringing and family history. Gibbs earned her medical degree at the University of Utah, and specializes in HIV psychiatry. During her residency, she worked at the Holy Cross Hospital, where she met Dr. Ries and began working with HIV patients. Gibbs discusses attitudes of the LDS...

Scope and Contents Christine Jamjian was born in Lebanon and grew up there during the civil war. She talks about the difficulties her family faced living in Beirut during wartime. Jamjian studied biology and architecture in Lebanon but eventually decided to study pharmacy in America. Her brother, who lived in California, helped her with her decision to attend the University of Utah. Jamjian talks about transitioning to living in the...

Scope and Contents Suzanne Kaempfer was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. She went to schools in Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco, mostly working in oncology settings. Kaempfer spent time as a member of the Visiting Nurse Association of San Francisco, for which she began caring for people with HIV/AIDS. She then took a job in Salt Lake City in the Infectious Disease Clinic at the University of Utah, which later became...

Scope and Contents Jenn Mason was born in England and raised in England in Scotland. In 1978, her father received a call to be a general authority for the LDS Church and so the family moved to America. Jenn describes growing up in a LDS household. She also talks about her struggles to reconcile her homosexuality with her family’s religious background. Jenn describes her experiences dealing with her siblings and her mother after...

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...