Joanne and Julie Nemecek Oral History

OUTWORDS interview with Joanne and Julie Nemecek, conducted by Mason Funk on July 17, 2017 in their home in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Julie is a proud grandmother, Presbyterian church elder, and public speaker. She married her wife Joanne in 1972 and is an ordained Baptist minister who worked in the ministry for 20 years before moving on to higher education. In 2003, Julie came out to her wife as transgender. Joanne decided that she loved “the person, and not the package," and that she would stay with her spouse no matter what. In 2005, when she came out at work as Julie, the Spring Arbor University fired her. Julie filed a federal discrimination complaint, and eventually settled with her former employer. Since then, she has served as executive director of Michigan Equality, and on the national boards of both Soulforce and PFLAG, while Joanne works as a psychotherapist with a focus on transgender issues. Julie and Joanne often travel together to speaking engagements, where they talk about the surprises and enduring love of their 46-year marriage.

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Item Information:

Identifier: b8515n60s
Collection: Audio and Video Clips and Transcripts
Institution: OUTWORDS
Creator(s): Nemecek, Julie
Nemecek, Joanne
Contributor(s): Drucker, Scott
Funk, Mason
Publisher: OUTWORDS
Date Issued: Jul. 17, 2017
Genre: Oral Histories
Transcriptions
Subject(s): Bethel College
Christine Jorgensen
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Joanne Nemecek
Julie Nemecek
Michigan Equality
PFLAG
Renee Richards
Roberts Wesleyan College
Soulforce
Spring Arbor University
Susan Stanton
Places: New York
Illinois > Cook County > City of Chicago > Chicago
Minnesota
Michigan > Jackson > Spring Arbor Township > Spring Arbor
Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Baptists
Marriage
Transgender people
Table of Contents: ["[]"]
Resource Type: Moving image
Language: English
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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