Non-fiction Writer
Portland, OR
June 2009, 4 weeks
Kate De Gutes worked on her manuscript and creative thesis for Pacific Lutheran University, How I Came Out in 1978 and Again in 2008. The manuscript is a memoir, but the story is not just hers. Instead, it belongs to the whole Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and Trans (GLBT) community. De Gutes looked at how coming out in 1978, nine years after the Stonewall rebellion, was different than stepping out of the closet 10 years earlier, and how coming out again 30 years later isn’t easier, just different. Her manuscript includes interviews with those who came before her and the voices of those who came after her. While the GLBT community is no longer hidden from history, there are a dearth of well-written memoirs about coming out. De Gutes’ thesis, in particular, weaves the cultural in with the personal, giving readers the story and the story of the times — 1978 and 2008 — and all that occurred to make coming out challenging. (Can you say Anita Bryant? How about George W. Bush?) By also including interviews with younger and older gays, lesbians, bi, and trans people, After the Stonewall gives voice to those not heard outside the sometimes insular GLBT world.