Interview with Pamela Hammond, August 13, 2018

Partial Transcript: This is Adriana Sisko, and the date is August 13th.

Segment Synopsis: The interviewer, Adriana Sisko, introduces herself and the interviewee, Pamela Hammond. Hammond introduces herself--she's 23, graduated with a degree in Russian, and works as a photographer in Lexington, Kentucky. She also lists the various places she's lived before--Somerset, Kentucky, Richmond Hill, Ontario, and Texas. She was born in Somerset when her mother was 18 and her father was 49, and as a result, her maternal grandparents took her to Canada, where she lived until she was 4 or 5, when she was sent back to Kentucky for preschool.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Appalachian Region; Bisexuals; LGBT community; LGBT+ community; LGBTQ community; Richmond Hill (Ont.); Somerset (Ky.); Texas

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Bisexuals.; Richmond Hill (Ont.); Sexual minority community.; Somerset (Ky.); Texas

Partial Transcript: All right, well, let's start with the beginning of elementary school in Kentucky, right?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about her elementary school and how much she hated it, calling it the typical small-town, Southern school, complete with still practicing corporal punishment in the 21st century. She was abused by her stepmother, and one of her teachers was complicit in that abuse.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Child abuse; Corporal punishment; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Child abuse.; Corporal punishment.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: And you mentioned that--was it late elementary school that you went to Texas?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about her experience spending late elementary and early middle school in Texas and the reasons for that. Her father had fourth stage liver cancer and sought proper treatment in Texas (she tells a story about the malpractice he underwent in Kentucky). They moved back to Kentucky after she told her teacher her stepmother hit her. She liked Kentucky better overall, but missed the academic team events in Texas.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Child abuse; Malpractice; Somerset (Ky.); Texas

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Child abuse.; Malpractice.; Somerset (Ky.); Texas

Partial Transcript: Um, when you came back to Kentucky, was that to Lexington or another city?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about her time in middle school in Kentucky. She didn't have a real rebellious phase in middle school, but had an "emo phase" and huffed acetone, while having depression and being an honors student. She considers herself a terrible influence on a friend of hers during that time period.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Burnside (Ky.); Somerset (Ky.); Substance abuse

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Burnside (Ky.); Somerset (Ky.); Substance abuse.

Partial Transcript: So you mentioned that during that time period you were kind of, like, "emo" or "alternative", or--

Segment Synopsis: When asked, Hammond elaborates on the appeal of the emo subculture, which reminded her of her sister's goth phase, and resonated with her depression from her abusive childhood. Her now-boyfriend also had a rough childhood and they bonded over that as adolescents. (Now they don't talk about their previous lives much.)

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Child abuse; Emo music; Goth culture; Goth culture (Subculture); Somerset (Ky.); Subcultures

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Child abuse.; Emo (Music); Goth culture (Subculture); Somerset (Ky.); Subculture.

Partial Transcript: Um, tell me--we'll get deeper into that story.

Segment Synopsis: Hammond calls her high school experience "super chaotic". She had a "creepy" boyfriend whom she dated until she went into foster care. She entered foster care at the end of ninth grade, because she was afraid of her dad, who had paranoid schizophrenia. Her first foster family treated her like one of them, but issues with her social worker sent her to a new family, a cousin of the social worker. Hammond had a therapist at the time, who was trying to help her and get her a new social worker; as a result, her social worker cancelled her therapy and she stayed with that family until she turned 18.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Child abuse; Foster care; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Child abuse.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did your friends at school know about this situation, or did you keep it to yourself?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about the impact of the chaos of foster care on her school life. She participated in academic team and JROTC while she was with the first foster family, but had to quit most of her extracurricular activities after she moved to the new foster family. Her technology use was also heavily moderated and she only really saw her friends at school. Her friends knew about her life, but most couldn't relate to her lack of a parental figure.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Child abuse; Foster care; High school girls

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Child abuse.; High school girls; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: When you graduated high school, how did you feel when you graduated?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about visiting her grandparents in Canada during and after high school. She had the option to live with them instead of being in foster care, but they couldn't afford college, and she'd have free tuition if she turned 18 while in the foster system in Kentucky, so she "toughed it out". The rest of her family was very emotionally abusive, and told her she wouldn't graduate high school and would become a pregnant teenager like her mom, and so she felt she had to graduate college out of spite. The emotional abuse of being told she'd become a pregnant teenager emotionally affects her thoughts on heterosexual relationships to this day, despite having a long-term boyfriend.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Child abuse; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Bisexuals--Relations with heterosexuals; Child abuse.

Partial Transcript: So very tangentially connected with that, but hopping topics a bit, um...

Segment Synopsis: When asked about her awareness of LGBTQ individuals, Hammond describes how she was always aware somehow of LGBTQ individuals. Her older sister, for instance, was open about her girlfriends, despite their dad and his side of the family being "very" Southern Baptist. This sister was also pagan and at one point Satanist.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students; Sexual minority youth; Sexual orientation

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals--Relations with heterosexuals; Bisexuals.; Coming out (Sexual orientation); Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students; Sexual minority youth; Sexual orientation--Religious aspects.; Sexual orientation.

Partial Transcript: Tell me more about the role of religion in your childhood.

Segment Synopsis: When asked, Hammond further discusses the role of religion in her childhood. She spent a lot of time growing up with her nieces, who were her age, and their grandfather was a preacher, whom she considered fairly nice but occasionally made off-color jokes. Her dad never really went to church, even though he was raised in it. Her stepmother, who she says was "a mail order bride," was Russian Orthodox, so they celebrated holidays by the Byzantine calendar. Furthermore, her mother was pagan. She states that she's explored many religions, but now lacks a positive feeling for organized religion, even though she's not an "anti-deist". The only thing she liked about organized religion was the choir. Later in college, she was a DJ; despite no longer being a DJ, she still searches for new music.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual minority youth; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern--Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals--Relations with heterosexuals; Bisexuals.; Coming out (Sexual orientation); Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation--Religious aspects.; Sexual orientation.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So, looping back a bit, was your sister the first, like, LGBTQ-identified person you personally knew, or was there someone before her?

Segment Synopsis: When asked, Hammond elaborates on the LGBTQ individuals she knew, talking about her sister, as well as her father's friends in a cult called the Rainbow Family, who were largely lesbian couples. She considers this interesting, as the rest of her father's family was homophobic. At school, people started coming out as bisexual in middle school, and upon meeting people like her, she came out as well. She tells an anecdote about getting in a fight with someone who is now out as a guy, and states that girls could get away with holding hands with each other, but not with boys.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern—Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals.; Bisexuals—Relations with heterosexuals; Coming out (Sexual orientation); Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation.; Sexual orientation—Religious aspects.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So, when was the first time, even if it was just like in your own head, that you applied the word bisexual to yourself?

Segment Synopsis: The interviewer inquires about how Hammond came to identify as bisexual. She then describes how she was never explicitly told not to act on attraction to the same gender, so she never applied that limitation to herself. Her mother is bisexual and some level of gender non-conforming.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern—Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals.; Bisexuals—Relations with heterosexuals; Coming out (Sexual orientation); Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation.; Sexual orientation—Religious aspects.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So, you had mentioned earlier that during school, that you and your friends were, like, coming out to each other as bi?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about her and her friends' process of coming out to each other as bisexual in middle school and early high school. This coming out largely consisted of simply beginning to date someone of the same gender. Many of her friends dated each other, but she dated very few people, out of a fear of becoming a pregnant teenager.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern—Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals.; Bisexuals—Relations with heterosexuals; Coming out (Sexual orientation); Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation.; Sexual orientation—Religious aspects.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did that change any when you went to college?

Segment Synopsis: When Hammond turned 18, she moved in with her boyfriend and his mother to get out of foster care. Eventually they moved into an apartment of their own with roommates, when his manipulation turned into physical violence. She kicked him out around the same time her father died. Shortly thereafter she started dating her now-boyfriend Jacob. She briefly lived in Ontario before starting at the University of Kentucky, but maintained contact with Jacob throughout that time period.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Domestic abuse; Domestic violence; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern—Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals.; Bisexuals—Relations with heterosexuals; Coming out (Sexual orientation); Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation.; Sexual orientation—Religious aspects.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Um, hopping topics a bit, tell me about your general UK experience?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond had taken general education classes and entry-level psychology classes at Somerset Community College before entering UK initially as a psychology major. She describes how she wasn't sad that her father died so much as she was sad that she missed out on real relationships with both her parents. She suffered from severe depression, and often received only automated email notices from Student Safety rather than actually being talked to by a human being. Eventually she went to therapy, but was told she would have to go talk to a psychiatrist outside of UK for help with her "many" issues.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Education; Lexington (Ky.); Mental health; Somerset (Ky.); University of Kentucky

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Education.; Lexington (Ky.); Mental illness.; Somerset (Ky.); University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So speaking of socializing and peers and what not, um, I wanted to ask you about your social circles.

Segment Synopsis: When asked, Hammond discusses her social circles, which she says largely consist of "artistic" or "eccentric" individuals. She became friends with some girls she met during K Week, but never really partied, except a bit during senior year of high school and one house party in college, where she had to parent people, in addition to going to the hookah bar during college.

Keywords: Bisexual college students; Education; Lexington (Ky.); Substance abuse; University of Kentucky

Subjects: Bisexual college students; Education.; Lexington (Ky.); Substance abuse.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: How would you characterize your relationship with the LGBT community?

Segment Synopsis: Hammond discusses her comparatively tense relationship with the LGBTQ community resulting from biphobic individuals and her own guilt as a bisexual woman who is in a heterosexual relationship. The interviewer asks what the word "queer" means to Hammond--growing up, she always heard it as a slur, but as of late, came to use it primarily as a synonym for LGBTQ.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern—Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals.; Bisexuals—Relations with heterosexuals; Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation.; Sexual orientation—Religious aspects.; Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: And so it seems like you, you know, hopping and around over the course of many years, you've spent a lot of time in Kentucky.

Segment Synopsis: Hammond states that she doesn't think Kentucky has changed much in the time she's lived in it. She moved from Somerset (in a 'red county') to Lexington (in a 'blue county'), but frequent visits to London, Kentucky, where her boyfriend lived, keep her out of the "bubble" of Lexington. However, she does express some hope for the future.

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Lexington (Ky.); London (Ky.); Rural areas; Rural conservatism; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Lexington (Ky.); London (Ky.); Somerset (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Um, so another big ques--another big picture question, but it's related to what you were just talking about.

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about living now under the current presidential administration and its attack on LGBTQ rights and protections. She describes the difference between coming out as an adolescent and being an adult, with the fear of living authentically, as both a bisexual and part-Native American (regarding the government reaction to the DAPL protests).

Keywords: Appalachia; Appalachian Mountains; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality; Bisexuals; Donald Trump; Native Americans; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community; Sexual minority students; Sexual orientation; Somerset (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachian Mountains.; Appalachian Region, Southern—Social life and customs.; Bisexual college students; Bisexual high school students; Bisexual youth; Bisexuality.; Bisexuals.; Bisexuals—Relations with heterosexuals; Native Americans; Sexual minorities.; Sexual minority college students; Sexual minority community.; Sexual minority students.; Sexual orientation.; Sexual orientation—Religious aspects.; Somerset (Ky.); Trump, Donald, 1946-

Partial Transcript: Um, all right, so, for my last question, we're gonna head in a more optimistic direction.

Segment Synopsis: Hammond talks about her hopes for the future, placing it on the younger generation, which is growing up in a different, more connected world than she'd had, with more access to information and communication with people "like them".

Keywords: Generation Y; Generation Z; Internet; Technology

Subjects: Generation Y.; Generation Z.; Internet.; Technology.