Oral History Interview, Felisha Boulden (2338)

Abstract

In her December 2023 interview with Troy Reeves, Felisha Boulden discusses her upbringing in Chicago and Madison. She also details her interest in theater, meeting famous Black women, gay bars she frequented, her LGBTQ+ journey as a gay man in her youth, her coming out journey, deaf culture, her shoplifting career, her dangerously close encounter with Jeffrey Dahmer, her first love, her path to an HSED, and her cousin’s coming out story. In her December 2024 interview with David Advent, Felisha discusses the role of LGBTQ+ spaces in Madison, WI. She mentions her work with the Madison AIDS Support Network, as well as what HIV/AIDS looked like in Madison. Felisha also shares what she envisions for the future of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as her coming out story to her mother. Additionally, Felisha discusses the importance of building community and how the LGBTQ+ community can become closer to fight oppression. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the LGBTQ+ oral history project in the UW-Madison Archives & Records Management oral history collection.