Oral History Interview: Michael Bemis (1256)

Abstract: In his 2012 interview, Michael Bemis talks about his multicultural background in Wisconsin, California, Peru and Argentina. He describes various chapter of Madison's gay community throughout the 1960s through the present, emphasizing three chapters: First his coming out, struggles with alcoholism, and police raids in the 1960s and 1970s. He touches upon the Vietnam War Protests. Second, he describes caring for dying AIDS patients in the 1980s while he worked at the Madison AIDS Support Network. Third, he describes differences between his generation of gay men and what he perceives to be norms of the current generation of gay men from the 2000s. Finally, he discusses his Latino and gay identities, as well as his understandings of family and spirituality