Joshua Hadfield

Dance and Culture

Life History Interview

Life History Interview

I decided to choose a person that I knew during my high school years. A person that I
viewed to be different and because of this I avoided him. I chose to interview him because I
knew that he would be comfortable and willing to share his thoughts and experiences. Ron is a
23 year old Pilipino man and is homosexual. The interview took place at a Starbucks in Salt Lake
City on the 3
rd
of March 2014. During this assignment and the interview that took place I
realized that even though Ron is different than the average person of Utah, all he wants is to be
treated equal. It helped me realize that there is more we can do to take down the walls of
prejudice feelings and actions amongst the privileged.
Ronald Gambeson was born in a small town in the Philippians called Pururan. He is the
oldest of three children and he and his family moved to the United States in hopes of creating a
better life when Ron was 5 years old. That turned out to be more difficult than expected. With
the cultural differences Rons parents quickly noticed that the American Dream didnt seem so
realistic.
Growing up in elementary school and middle school people always viewed me as the
colored kid Ron first noticed the effects of being from an under privileged race when he was in
fifth grade. He was picked last to play a game at recess and overheard two of the kids whispering
about how weird his parents were because they couldnt speak English. Comments like these
became a regular occurrence growing up. From the color of his skin, to the way he spoke even to
the clothes that he wore, seemed to plague him in this Westernized culture.The majority of
people havent treated me poorly because of my race but those that have make my life much
more difficult than it needs to be. If we sit back and think of how greatly we influence the lives
of others we would recognize the little things that have had big impacts on our lives. One person
can encourage us to be the best we can be or stomp us into the ground with their demeaning
words and other negative actions. Although the majority of people treated Ron and his family
well the few that didnt made their lives a living hell.
Learning English for Ron and his siblings was an easy task, they were all young enough
to pick up on the language quickly. The same cannot be said for Rons parents. Rons father has
jumped from job to job, he has worked in construction and lawn care most of his life. He has
learned English and worked extremely hard to do so but still notices that companies are reluctant
in hiring him because of his accent even though he has the skills necessary to complete the job as
well as anyone.
Ron has had to deal with racist individuals since childhood and when he began to
experiment with his sexuality he again realized that he was different than those around him in
Utah. Ron accepted his sexuality quicker than most that are brought up in Utah. Religion plays a
huge role in Utah and often times creates closed mindedness it can often times be very difficult
for people that arent heterosexual to feel accepted and loved by close family members and
others in the community. Ron is not a member of any particular religion. He believes that it has
made it easier for him to be open about who he is than it is for others that are so closely affiliated
with culture and tradition in Utah.
The culture of his family and others from the Philippians is more accepting and this
makes it easier and better for individuals to express who they really are through dance and in
their everyday lives. The Philippians is strongly influenced by the Islanders. Samoans, Tongans
and New Zealand natives flourished there in the early twentieth century. For many years the
Philippians was governed by the Mexicans and Spaniards so they have a strong Hispanic
influence also. This diversity and the culture brought from the other Islanders created an
environment of acceptance. Many of the cultural dances are forms of sexual expression. The
individual moves their body freely, often times expressing sexuality and personality of each
person.
Even though Ron doesnt share the culture or beliefs of most Utahans doesnt make him
exempt from prejudice and unkind acts. My junior year of high school my boyfriend and I went
to the park to relax and enjoy each others company. Some other students saw us exchange kisses
and before I knew it rocks were being thrown our way. During his high school years Ron was
victim to many forms of abuse because of his sexual orientation. His car was scratched with the
words faggot across the hood. Harder than this were the feelings of loneliness accompanied with
the hatred felt by others. I respect Ron for his bravery, I admire him for his courage to be
different and stand up for who he is and what he believes even in the midst of hate and prejudice.
As Ron continued to share this experience it made me feel empathetic toward him and
others that are recipients to bullying or other acts of prejudice. I always believed that
homosexuals chose to be gay. I believed that based on situations of individuals whether it be
abuse or other psychological reasons caused individuals to turn gay. After speaking with Ron
about his beliefs of being born gay it sparked my interest to further study the topic. I studied the
topic, compared it to my beliefs and slowly realized that in fact it is possible for people to be
born gay. This was very difficult for me to realize that I myself may have treated others
differently because of their sexual orientation. Thinking that I could have possibly had a negative
impact on someones life by treating them poorly based on their sexual orientation, made me feel
like a terrible human being and a worse Christian. In understanding Ron through this interview I
was able to understand more where people like him are coming from to feel empathy for those
that are victims of such prejudice actions. I will now be able to have a stronger voice to combat
racism and prejudice in our community, I am grateful for that.