UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM

Interview #1111
STARKEY, STEVE

Starkey, Steve (1953-)
Occupation: Executive Director, OutReach Community Center
At UW: n/a

Interviewed: 	2010 (2 sessions)
Interviewer: 	Kelly Rupp
Index by: 	Kelly Rupp
Length: 	2 hours, 26 minutes
Series: 	Madison’s LGBT Community, 1960s to present

Abstract: In his 2010 interview with Kelly Rupp, Steve Starkey details his life in Madison. He spoke of the time period between the 1950s and present and of the following topics: LGBT activism and outreach. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the project, Madison’s LGBT Community, 1960s-Present, part of the UW-Madison Oral History Program’s general collection.

Key Words: Madison (WI), OutReach, Madison’s Gay and Lesbian Resource Center, The United, GALVANIZE, Pride March, Madison Pride, Out Newspaper, AIDS, Ralph Ovadal, transgender protection laws, gay community, gay marriage, gay rights, civil rights, coming out.

First Interview Session (November 10, 2010): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction

00:01:00	Question:  How did you feel about people of the same sex during your teen or pre-teen years. Answer: Starkey grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin in the 1950s. Being gay was not a topic of conversation. He was attracted to boys but didn’t understand what this meant. In junior high, Starkey was bullied for being different. In high school, in the 60s, there was not one kid who was “out”. He came out as gay when he was 27. 

00:06:30	Question:  Did you ever date women? Answer: Starkey had relationships with women before he came out but these were never very successful. Starkey didn’t feel comfortable or satisfied in these relationships. While still in a relationship with a woman, he fell in love with one of his best male friends. These feelings got him past his own homophobia and clarified Starkey’s thoughts about being gay.

00:10:10	[No question.] While in his 20s, Starkey was bisexual: openly straight, privately gay. Neither of these situations worked. He met and fell in love with a man from Columbia, South America. The relationship got him out of the closet, which was a good place to be. In the 70s there was little support for bisexual men. Starkey defined himself as on the gay end of bisexual. It was easier to be gay.

00:13:00	Question:  How did your family react to you coming out. Answer: Starkey came out to his family in 1981. He worked on a letter for three months. Upon receiving it, his mother called and was supportive. His father said nothing about it for about 12 years. Starkey described their strained relationship. Coming out didn’t change their relationship.

00:17:35	Question:  Has your relationship with your father improved? Answer: In 1993 Starkey went to a march in Washington D.C. His father saw him on television and, for the first time, expressed support for his son being gay. Their relationship improved tremendously because of two factors. Cancer made Starkey’s father confront his mortality. His father also retired from work and had time to read and think. Starkey talked at length about their relationship.
 
00:25:30	Question:  How did the rest of your family feel about your coming out? Answer: Starkey’s younger sister didn’t care either way. His older sister took longer to come to terms with it because of her religious beliefs. She never treated him poorly though.

00:27:48	Question:  Describe your first long-term relationship. Answer: In his late 20s he had a relationship with a man from Columbia, South America. He was “out” and an activist. Their personalities were entirely different and he (not Starkey) had a problem with alcohol. The turbulent relationship lasted for a couple years. 

00:32:55	Question:  What brought you together if you were so different? Answer: Starkey was attracted to the ways his partner was different from himself. There was also a physical attraction. He was also the first openly gay man Starkey met. 

00:35:10	Question:  Any other relationships that you want to talk about? Answer:  Starkey had four or five long-term partnerships with women and men. His relationship with his current partner, Donald, was his most successful. At the time of the interview they had been together for 5 years. They were married the summer before and had a legal domestic partnership. They had a quiet, supportive relationship. 

00:39:15	Question:  Gay marriage in Wisconsin? Answer: Starkey and Donald got married at OutReach in a religious ceremony, but it was not a legal ceremony. Starkey did not understand why there was so much fuss about gay marriage, though he recognized people’s religious beliefs prevented them from supporting it. He expressed frustration that detractors were displeased with gays regardless of whether they had numerous relationships or whether they were in committed relationships. Starkey thought society would eventually change to support gay people and gay marriage.

00:42:50	Question:  Why stay in Madison? Answer: When Starkey was in his 20s and 30s, there wasn’t a supportive culture, community, or services for gay people like at the present. The opportunities for arts and culture in Madison kept Starkey here.

00:45:00	Question:  What places in Madison did you feel comfortable socializing? Answer: In the early 80s, there weren’t many organizations for gay people except for The United (OutReach’s predecessor) and a few bars. He had a community of friends in his neighborhood. After the 80s that community splintered. At the present he associated with people through organizational or professional connections. 

00:48:00	Question:  What does OutReach do? Answer: Madison’s Gay and Lesbian Resource Center started in the early 70s with a hotline and small library. The United formed in the late 70s early 80s to challenge homophobia and pass the Gay Rights Law. The two organizations merged in 1998. OutReach focused on promoting healthy happy lives for LGBT people. Starkey described in detail the services OutReach provided, including referrals, a library, computers, and social/support groups.

00:58:40	Question:  Have the library materials changed much over the years? Answer: The older reference materials were outdated and removed from the collection, like materials about AIDS from the 80s. 

01:00:51	Question:  Talk more about the youth group. Answer: OutThere was for young adults 18-24 years old. They watched movies, went to the Wisconsin Dells, etc. The group was peer-led and welcomed people of all ages at a monthly potluck. Most kids were not at the nearby University of Wisconsin-Madison. The parents group brought younger kids ages 3-10 years old to OutReach. 

01:07:25	End of First Interview Session

Second Interview Session (November 22, 2010): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction

00:00:15	Question:  In the first interview, you described yourself as politically radical. What does this mean? Answer: Starkey got his left-leaning political ideas from his grandfather, a self-educated farmer. He visited black ghettos in Milwaukee with a neighbor and peacefully protested the Vietnam War. Now he worked within the system with non-profit organizations and on legislation.

00:07:40	Question:  What projects have you worked on as an activist? Answer: During the 1970s Starkey lived in a housing cooperative and worked with food cooperatives. 

00:10:15	[No question.] In the early 1980s, Starkey started “Out Newspaper,” the first statewide gay newspaper with a small group of friends. A political newspaper, it was published monthly (1982-1987) with a free distribution of 10,000 and 200 paid subscribers. The 5 employees were part-time. They eventually burned out, and the paper was taken over by a Milwaukee contingent, which published the paper for another 11 years. The paper fulfilled a need for growing the gay community. It broke stories about HIV and AIDS. In Madison, the newspaper was very popular but more controversial in rural communities. 

00:22:30	Question:  In what other projects have you been involved? Answer: Starkey was part of GALVANIZE (Gay and Lesbian Visibility Alliance), which organized pride marches in 1989, 1991, 1994-1998/99. The first march in 1989 had many volunteers, and the AIDS Quilt was brought to Camp Randall, the football stadium on the UW campus, and the participants marched down State Street. It snowed during the first May event. The first two events were a success—5,000 people attended in 1989 and 8,000 in 1991—but very disorganized. 

00:30:21	[No question.] Starkey helped plan the July 1994 event in less than three months with Ben Doran, Maria Hanson and former partner Alan. Tammy Baldwin did a house party to raise money. 1,000 people attended. The 1995 march was bigger and more organized. 

00:37:05	[No question.] In 1996, Ralph Ovadal, a self-proclaimed minister, protested at gay events and got a lot of publicity. He energized the community to come out to the 1996 march, and 5,000 people attended. CNN covered the march. This was Starkey’s last march. It later was organized by Madison Pride. 

00:43:00	Question:  What was the purpose of the marches? Answer: The marches showed mainstream society that LGBT people existed in Madison en masse. It was for visibility. 

00:45:07	Question:  Did the community support Ovadal or was he a lone figure? Answer: Ovadal had some support, but he was not organized. He was not a minister and his church was not a real one. He was a local version of Fred Phelps, an outspoken Baptist minister. 

00:48:30	Question:  Could someone like Ovadal happen in 2010? In Madison? Answer: Yes. Some churches welcomed gay people. But others, like the Catholic Church, were openly anti-gay. Bishop Morlino in Madison was anti-gay but not as public. The Lieutenant Governor Kleefisch compared gay marriage to marrying a dog. The Wisconsin legislature swayed to the right. Starkey thought this could have implications on gay rights in Wisconsin. Overall, gay rights had improved, though it was still okay to be openly anti-gay.

00:55:10	Question:  Is there a specific LGBT issue that you’ve seen change the most you’re your lifetime? Answer: Starkey said gay rights and culture had changed the most. People coming out and being open helped raise the visibility of being gay. Most people now knew a gay person first-hand. Being gay was a possibility. The media helped usher in the change with television shows like “Ellen” and “Will & Grace”. However, some of these shows created stereotypes, like being white and wealthy, or campy and flamboyant. 

01:04:09	Question:  What has not changed? Answer: There was little acceptance or visibility for bisexual and transgender people. The transgender community was where the gay community was in the 1970s. It was the most marginalized, repressed, and financially challenged group. The Wisconsin gay rights laws did not address transgendered people, though Madison, Dane and Milwaukee counties had these laws for transgendered people.

01:09:30	Question:  What might or might not change in the future? Answer: People under 50 were more likely to be pro-gay. It was a generational issue. Starkey predicted that for the younger generation, gay rights would not be a big deal, but it would still be an issue in 20 years. 

01:13:27	Question:  Anything else you want to add about your activism? Answer:  Starkey worked for 20 years with Wisconsin Community Fund that allowed him to be involved with funding a number of social justice organizations. He worked with a variety of different organizations on similar goals.

01:18:22	End of Second Interview Session

End of Oral History #1111