Oral History with Beth Benoit, April 4, 2019 (Ms2019-001)

Oral History with Beth Benoit, April 4, 2019 (Ms2019-001)

In this interview, Beth Benoit talks about computer science classes and the campus climate for gay men and lesbians at Virginia Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She recounts how it felt to come out publicly in the school paper while having family in Blacksburg and the effect that coming out had on her career prospects regarding government computer science jobs. She then discusses how different things are today for her children, her observations of Denim Day in 1979, and the legal issues and societal acceptance of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Content Warning: Brief description of violence and homophobia.

An interview with Beth Benoit about her life and her experiences as a lesbian at Virginia Tech.

2019-04-04

Permission to publish material from the Denim Day 40th Anniversary Oral History Collection must adhere to the CC BY-NC 4.0 license and credit Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

English

Ms2019-001_BethBenoit

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Oral History with Beth Benoit, April 4, 2019 (Ms2019-001), Denim Day 40th Anniversary Oral History Collection, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Evan Robohm

Beth Benoit

Holtzman Alumni Center, Blacksburg, VA

23:35

H.264

29.97

1920x1080