Barret, Robert L.

Wright, Christina

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2015-02-24

1 audio file (1:13:33) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Bob Barret was a 74-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee in 1940. He was educated at Rhodes College, Vanderbilt University, UNC Charlotte, and Georgia State University. Dr. Barret was employed in several professions; as a high school teacher and administrator at Charlotte Country Day School and at the Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia, as a professor of counseling at UNC Charlotte, as a staff psychologist at the Behavioural Medicine Unit of the University of California San Francisco Medical School, and as a counseling psychologist in private practice in Charlotte.

In this third of three interviews, Dr. Robert L. Barret, professor emeritus in counseling at UNC Charlotte, practicing psychotherapist, and LGBTQ activist, discusses at length the reactions and ramifications of coming out to his family as a gay man during the mid-1980s. Dr. Barret recalls his strained relationship with his wife, Diane, and their decision to separate. He also discusses his post-coming out relationships with his three daughters: Laura, Amanda, and Ashley. Dr. Barret's oldest daughter, Ashley, came out as a lesbian. Amanda and Laura entered hetero-marriages and adopted Christian lifestyles that Dr. Barret explains were often at odds with his own lifestyle.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on a Marantz PDM 670 digital recorder with external mics.

Counseling psychologists
College teachers

Barret, Robert L.

Coming out (Sexual orientation)
Gay men--Family relationships
Lesbians
Homophobia
Gay men--Religion

North Carolina--Charlotte
California--San Francisco

Interviews
Oral histories

1980-2020

Charlotte LGBTQ+ oral histories

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This material is protected by copyright. Copyright is held by Robert L. Barret.

audio/mpeg

Robert L. Barret oral history interview 1, 2014, and Robert L. Barret oral history interview 2, 2014, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Barret (Robert L.) papers, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. http://archivesspace.uncc.edu:8081/repositories/4/resources/499

QH-BA0003