Bluiston DeYong

Abstract

A retired house painter living outside Northampton, MA, Bluiston was born in 1960 and raised in Beverley by a single mother. They discuss the shame and resilience that came with growing up in poverty. Combative from an early age, DeYoung spent much of their life fighting, both literally and figuratively. Their interview discusses being misgendered as a child, getting in scraps with boys, and hiding their identity from their mother. They talk about the community at Fran's, where they and their friends could go to "forget about our bullshit." Bluiston describes consistent police harassment and an all-out brawl with officers in Fran's parking lot. The interview addresses generational differences in language, including the class dimensions of the butch-femme dynamic. The interview concludes with commentary about the recent backlash against LGBTQ+ people. Interview carried out by Andrew Darien.