Oral History with Crysta Highfield, June 23, 2015 (Ms2015-007)

Partial Transcript: Megan Lee Myklegard: Hello this is Megan Myklegard we are at the University of
California at Berkeley I'm here with Crysta Highfield. Would you like to
introduce yourself with the date of birth and place of birth?

Crysta Highfield: Okay. My date of birth is the 19th of October, 1984 and I was
born in Dallas, Texas.

Keywords: born; parents

Partial Transcript: So anyway, it went kind of unquestioned and unchallenged in my family
that this was a completely fine way to be. It wasn't until I got to high
school that I realized it could actually be a problem. Like I did the mental
disconnect that people claim when they use gay as an insult. They're like "No
I'm not actually saying he's gay I'm just saying he's gay."

Keywords: labels

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Was there any other person besides the boyfriend you dated in high
school who talked to you about bisexuality or anything related to the LGBT community?

HIGHFIELD: Yeah, I actually I had a friend later in high school who came out as
bi and was dating a girl but she actually was dating a guy at the same time so
it kind of did reinforce what that first boyfriend had told me.

Keywords: bisexual; boyfriend

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: [laughs] Did you have any religious influence in your childhood?

HIGHFIELD: Not much. My family doesn't engage in any religion in any strong way,
and my mother had a very intentional idea about exposing us to all kinds of
different religions so that as adults we could choose.

Keywords: adults; choice; religion

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: So when you got into college, did you seek out a LGBTQ+ community or
did it seek you out?

HIGHFIELD: I've always somehow just found myself in one. I don't know if that's
an unconscious seeking on my part, or an unconscious, or conscious recognition on
other's parts.

Keywords: LGBTA; ally; college

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: [laughs] So what was the moment that you labeled yourself as bisexual?

HIGHFIELD: It was probably the end of my sophomore year or maybe my junior year
because I felt so damn awkward that I was going to the LGBTA meetings and I had
been calling myself straight so people labeled me an ally and I understood that
an ally was not LGBT and I was like "But, but, but."

Keywords: bisexual; label; straight

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: What sort of things did you talk about in these LGBT meetings that
you went to?

HIGHFIELD: What did we talk about? A lot of it was just social, it was just a
time and place to meet with friends and chat with people and you'd talk about
your dating life or not.

Keywords: LGBT; LGBTA; events; meetings

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Were there ever any space at Tech that you felt uncomfortable being LGBT?

HIGHFIELD: Hmm, I almost forgot this. This wasn't a specific space, but one
thing I did a lot with the LGBTA was I put up fliers.

Keywords: spaces; tech

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Do you notice a difference in terms of the LGBT community in Virginia
Tech versus the one that you find here?

HIGHFIELD: Yeah definitely. Um, I felt it at least— for one thing, maybe its
just a natural kind of um distilling process again— I always find myself in a
very LGBT+ friends group.

Keywords: community

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Were there any specific professors or faculty at Tech who you felt
that you could talk to about LGBT, or were there any that, any professors or
faculty, that you knew were LGBT at the time who were like influencers to you?

HIGHFIELD: I knew that Karen DePauw was there. She didn't feel like someone I
could directly talk to because she seemed too high up.

Keywords: communicate; connect

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: You mentioned something about den mothers.

HIGHFIELD: [laughs]

MYKLEGARD: How did the group meet them? [laughs]

HIGHFIELD: I don't know, they were there before I was there. I assume they're
still there and still involved in the LGBTA.

Keywords: ally; church; den mother

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: You mentioned before that you like to keep your professional and
personal lives separate, but in your experience in the professional world has
anything about your identity ever come up?

HIGHFIELD: Well, I ended up in this program— I joined a very small program, and
there was only one person in the program who was openly gay and I don't know if
this was just silliness on my part, but I was very afraid— he was a bit younger
than I was— and I was a bit afraid that coming into a small program and him being
the only person who was openly gay would put pressure on him or exclude him in
some way

Keywords: inclusive; job

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Has there ever been a time where you felt like because you're queer
you struggle with what sort of identity you're supposed to have in terms of like
outward appearance?

HIGHFIELD: Uh, a little bit but mostly it's in the opposite direction of what I
think people tend to.

Keywords: beauty; identity; look

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Okay speaking of relationships, where did you meet your husband and when?

HIGHFIELD: We met at Virginia Tech we actually met very early, we went we lived
in the same dorm.

Keywords: husband; meet

Partial Transcript: MYKLEGARD: Alright I only have a few more questions. Is there anything that you
thought I might ask that I didn't already?

HIGHFIELD: Anything I thought you might ask, you know I don't think that I
thought too much about what you would ask.

Keywords: offer; tech