Oral History with Tobias Quaranta, June 23, 2015 (Ms2015-007)

TRANSCRIPT: TOBIAS QUARANTA

Date of Interview: June 25rd, 2015 Interviewer: Megan Lee Myklegard Place of Interview: Salesforce Tower Length: 40:17 Transcribers: Megan Lee Myklegard

Megan Lee Myklegard: Hello this is Megan Myklegard it's June 25th, 2015 we are at the Salesforce Tower on 50 Fremont. I'm here with Toby, would you like to introduce yourself?

Tobias Quaranta: Sure, my name is Tobias Quaranta, but everyone calls me Toby and I'm an account executive with the Salesforce foundation. I graduated from Virginia Tech a PoliSci major class of 2006.

MYKLEGARD: Awesome, so can you tell us your date of birth, place of birth, and then tell us a little bit about how you were raised up until college?

QUARANTA: Sure, I was born on January 27th, 1984 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I don't remember Florida. My parents met in New York and my father moved to Northern Virginia to run a car dealership. He bounce around a little bit in between and we— I just happened to be born in Florida. How I was raised— you 1:00know this isn't like, I don't get to talk about this stuff very often so I guess I'll just dive right on in. I mean who asks you right? Who says like "Tell me how you were raised." I don't know, both my parents worked. My mom worked at Sallie Mae as an administrator, my father did a car dealership until I was maybe nine and then started running a very small vending machine company. So soda machines, chocolate a lot of chocolate. [pauses] [laughs] Gosh, he um he ended up going to jail when I was in high school, he was running drugs behind that company. It was really a shell company. I mean he was in fact like— there were vending machines and there was chocolate, but think Walter White and his uh you know, what does he have? Car wash, right? Yeah, a 2:00lot of cash easy to move money, like that. Big trucks with boxes, moving up and down highways it made a lot of sense. Um so, that was when I was in high school. My mom I think when she found out, that's probably why she left. She became a right wing born again Christian and I came out right around the same time that my father was, uh leaving. So it was a very interesting upbringing. Virginia Tech was as far away from home as I could get while staying in state. So you know I grew up with two very different and very interesting households, probably very extreme sides of any spectrum you'd put em on. I don't know. What other questions? I mean I don't know that's just very general I guess, but I ended up going to Virginia Tech. It appealed to me being a big school, 3:00it was but really it was mostly that it was far away.

MYKLEGARD: How did it feel growing up knowing that your mom was conservative? Did that make you uncomfortable in terms of your identity?

QUARANTA: Uncomfortable? I mean, they sent me to reparative therapy so I guess my virtue of her being conservative and making that decision then yes. I was probably uncomfortable about it. It was a long time ago I guess I could say that yeah sure I was probably more angry than uncomfortable. I think everyone whose— yeah everyone growing up is uncomfortable with themselves or at least I hope so I mean. I certainly was. But I think I was, I think being gay and being the only out gay kid at Herndon and having a parent who was vociferously opposed to that 4:00part of me it just added a layer of discomfort. But it wasn't really uncomfort or discomfort with myself it was more discomfort with my situation. The awkwardness of you know, having something gay come up on a TV show and everyone you know stiffening up and not wanting to talk about it. But no I'd say that that the discomfort was more with the situation then then myself.

MYKLEGARD: When did you start the like coming out process?

QUARANTA: You know it's funny, I was— I remember sort of events and you know everything in amber right it's hard to really know what was what and what you remember it being. You know I remember distinctly having a crush on guys in my peer group in my age group, but not really identifying it as such. 5:00Not really saying like "Oh, I have a crush on this guy." Or whatever. I remember watching [phone dings] I'm sorry let me turn that off.

MYKLEGARD: It's okay.

QUARANTA: Watching a [sighs]— I did theatre in high school and we went to the cappies, k. It's the sort of awards show for all the other high school theatres and it was— one of the other school's was performing a number from their show Anything Goes and one of the dancers, I was watching him. And I'm in the seats and watching him like I'm feeling like something towards this guy. And I just can't put words to it, I wanna be his friend? I just, I remember really it set my brain down this path and it was like I had shut a door behind me and I wasn't ever going back. I don't know how else to describe it, it was sophomore year I was 15 and that summer I went to UVA summer enrichment program, SEP UVA SEP. and 6:00there was another kid who was clearly going through the same thing I was, and we bonded we were our own tiny little group and um, and yeah and that summer I wrote down in my journal for the, like I wrote down "I think I'm gay." And that fall I just told everybody cause I'm not good at keeping things in. [laughs]

MYKLEGARD: [laughs]

QUARANTA: So, yeah.

MYKLEGARD: When you got to Tech, did you seek out a community of LGBT?

QUARANTA: Oh, absolutely. Right away. I remember going down to orientation and being like "Oh my God, please let there be another gay" and I didn't find one I was so upset. I actually was kind of disappointed, when I got to Tech I made some quick friends who were gay, but I really thought there should've been more like I went to the LGBTA meeting and— you know Curtis Don— and was a 7:00freshman and Grant Otto was a freshman, Michael Sutfin was a freshman, although I don't think he came to that first meeting. But I was looking around and I was like "There should be more of us." You know that first meeting there were maybe like, maybe 100 people. I'm like "There are 25,000 students on this campus, where the hell are the gays?" and I'm like "I didn't leave Herndon for this." And maybe I should've felt like, you know, I mean it's not like I was going to New York City or something. But I was like "C'mon guys." So um yeah, I immediately sought it out. You know this was at the time where you know— and I don't know how young you are you look pretty young— this was pre-iPhone. I mean I didn't have a phone my freshmen year, I didn't have a cell phone so I mean that's sort of the time we were in. so there wasn't, Grindr wasn't a way 8:00that people got in touch with each other Tindr, or whatever the kids are using these days. But uh, or Kik or Snapchat, Hipchat I don't know.

MYKLEGARD: [laughs]

QUARANTA: But I think gay.com was actually, was a pretty common way that people got in touch with each other and I think that they used that to circumvent having to be, out in public as a homosexual. Or something resembling a homosexual, something resembling, on the path to being a— but I definitely sought it out I was never really good behind a computer I was always better in front, so the LGBTA was really my outlet for it.

MYKLEGARD: What was your favorite experience while you were in the club?

QUARANTA: With LGBTA specifically?

MYKLEGARD: Mhm.

QUARANTA: You know, I was a bad LGBTA member. You know, I think okay yeah, yeah 9:00I could prob I'd say uh I forget which brilliant human being it was that brought the N 64 to the LGBTA office, but whoever it was, just. Squires had all the organizational offices up on the top floor and for every single one of these offices it was just a physical place to keep stuff, but for the LGBTA it was where we hung out. There was a couch in there, you know the chair the books the little library and then the N 64. So the student leadership from other organizations who went to you know, the IFC office or the—oh gosh, the Asian America Student Alliance, I think what was their acronym? ASSA— they would, the leadership would put their stuff down in their office and then come to our office. So I remember one time walking in to the LGBTA office, I was office manager for a year and putting my stuff down and seeing, you know sitting there playing Mario Kart, two gays and two of these big frat boys from like the IFC just sitting in the office in the N 64 just 10:00hanging out and it was just a really cool little moment. I'd say all of those little moments in the office were probably my favorite. And then, Virginia Out which is a conference we used to do— I don't know if it still goes on. It was a coalition of me, me and a guy named Justin Wincouzci. I don't know if you've interviewed him yet, nice guy he lives out here now. We dated all through college, didn't talk to each other for years, ran into each other on the street in the Castro. Virginia Out was sort of an annual conference basically for LGBT student associations. And it was really a fun time. It was, you know I mean getting to meet strange new homosexuals was always like something that gay men have excelled at and I just loved it. So we hosted a conference in '04, it was at ODU in '03 and those I think were probably my favorites.

MYKLEGARD: Was LGBTA the only organization you were a part of for the community or what other?

QUARANTA: So I was the LGBTA's representative to SGA and that's actually, that was really my only, I guess tangible connection to the LGBTA after my freshman year and I was part of the young democrats. I was an officer in Virginia Tech young dems for a long time. I think for almost all four years I was an officer in YD. And I was a brother in Delta Tau Delta. So I mean LGBTA on my sort of list of active organizations was closer to the bottom of the pack. I have always been an out and proud gay man and I will never shy away from the fact that I am overly gay. But uh, I just liked the activities in other organizations more.

MYKLEGARD: How was being in a fraternity in terms of your sexuality?

QUARANTA: It was a blast.

MYKLEGARD: Did it come up often?

QUARANTA: Yeah mostly in jokes, but fun like good, good-natured jokes. You know there weren't any other, no one had rushed as an openly gay pledge in any organization at Virginia Tech in any fraternal organization. Some brothers of Delta Sig or other places had come out after accepting a bid. I put down Cyrus Mastageem who was an RA in the building next to mine who was like "Toby should come out to Delta Tau Delta" and I was like "Alright fine, but I'm making sure they know I'm gay." I don't think that they knew that Cyrus was gay, I don't know how anyone doesn't know that Cyrus is gay, but anyway the point is that you know I was very up front with it. I was a loose, maybe overly aggressive "By the way, I'm totally gay. I hope you're cool with that." And they were like "Yeah. Whatever." And I was like "Huh?" And none of the fraternities on campus I think would've been, reacted in such a way. It came up a bit, but it was just another 11:00thing. You know.

MYKLEGARD: Yeah. Did you feel comfortable in the Blacksburg community as a whole? Like when you were dating people did you feel okay walking down the street holding hands? Or did you ever have any negative experiences with that?

QUARANTA: Never had a negative experience at VT. Which was really awesome. Here in San Francisco I've had you know, people in trucks call me names and I'm just like "What?" right? You're like "Huh?" but in Blacksburg, never not once. I don't think I could remember, yeah I don't think I can remember an experience. Yeah.

MYKLEGARD: How would you compare Blacksburg, the way you feel there, to the way you feel in San Francisco? In terms of acceptance.

QUARANTA: You know I think that there, you know Blacksburg is such— it's 25,000 kids in a cornfield I mean it's— there's not no real outside influence in Blacksburg right? You know, if you wanna go to a gay club you have to drive 45 minutes and you're going to, oh God, The Park which is a cinder block in the middle of a crappy city. I mean, I'd say that Blacksburg, because it is such a college town, is just an experience like none other. There are very few college towns that are just college towns. Tallahassee, college town, but it's still the seat of the government. Gainesville, more like Blacksburg. But I mean Charlottesville, there's still a little bit more to Charlottesville than UVA. Blacksburg is Virginia Tech. So compare that to here, you know a lot of competing interests in humans minds. When they walk down, any human walking down the street. You will never have anything quite like the 12:00Tenderloin in Blacksburg, Virginia right? But, um, so how would I compare it? I'd say that in terms of acceptance, excellent great. The straight people here and the straight people there are of the same mind when it comes to the gays. But I mean, Blacksburg certainly in so far as the scene, parties, the ability to go have fun with your fellow you know homosexual— that Blacksburg left a little bit to be wanted.

MYKLEGARD: Who would you say your main clique was while you were at Virginia Tech?

QUARANTA: Um, probably just my boyfriend at the time. Um, I've always been a little bit of a loner. Probably why I had multiple groups. Lot of friends in those groups, but close friends? You know it changed year to year. Freshmen year 13:00was different than sophomore year, was different than junior year, I'd say they're some friends I'm [sigh]— The friends who I've kept in closest contact with, the ones I would, you know if they— "Hey, why don't you come visit me in whatever city they're in?" You know, tended to come from the SGA crowd. Just because I think we were all on the same page of what we wanted to do with our lives and we were going. And my fraternity. But with the, I'd say probably Brett Keener, Ryan Stack Clarke, Michael Levi Smith, you know David Mae, those guys was probably the ones I would willingly go spend— like I would try and do something with I would try and organize something with within the gay community. When it was just myself, Justin lived in Northern Virginia my junior and senior year so I spent a lot of time going up to NOVA and just spending time 14:00with him. And that was what kids do when they don't realize what kind of experience they're missing out on. In retrospect perhaps I missed out on a lot by doing that. You know Grant Otto, Michael Suffin, Heather Black like those are the kids I hung out freshmen, sophomore year probably. Gosh I haven't thought about this in a long time. Um, but really I'd say my YD friends, my young dems friends, my SGA friends, and my um, I don't think— I think I had one of my gay friends from college at my wedding. The others were from my fraternity and from YDA or SGA.

MYKLEGARD: When you were thinking of places to go after Tech, did you keep in mind what ever city you were going to, how you would feel as a member of the LGBT community?

QUARANTA: No, I've never really given a good gosh darn about what other people thought of me. I'm me if you don't like me move on because there are a lot of other people right? Like I mean I think I've, I've either just kind of exhibited that from my earliest ascensions into adulthood. You know in high school, which I guess you can barely call adulthood, but I guess it's the training route, right? Yeah, no one else was gay and some people were really mean and I threw it back in their face and I wore a boa to school and I would do outlandish things just to sort of push the envelope a little bit. Maybe I do care a little bit more about how people think, perceive me that I— than I might give credence to, but I wouldn't prefer to make them see things my way. So no, I don't think I really cared about what D.C at large would think of me being a gay person or San Francisco. No. And I think I pretty much knew how they would feel about me anyway.

MYKLEGARD: You mentioned the boa, when you went into college did you feel like 15:00in terms of the way you presented yourself, you kind of thought about letting people know that you were part of the LGBT community other than just saying it?

QUARANTA: Mmm, uh. Has anyone talked to you about wear jeans if you're gay day?

MYKLEGARD: [shakes head]

QUARANTA: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh this is such a thing so— The idea behind wear jeans if you're gay day was when you wake up in the morning, if you're a gay person you have to think about how you're presenting yourself in every single way if you're openly gay you have to think about how you reflect on the community as a whole, right? As politically, at the time a politically oppressed, I mean gay sex was illegal in Virginia when we were kids. So you always had to think about it, if you were in the closet you had to think "Does this make me look gay?" And straight people, they don't know. They don't 16:00think about that. They're putting on their sweatshirts, I mean you've seen the straight boys right? Like they don't give a good God damn. But you know, so I loved the idea behind wear jeans if you're gay day because it forced straight people to think and feel that kind of horror when you know "Oh my gosh, I'm wearing jeans and I'm a straight man I didn't know that it was wear jeans if you're gay day! I don't want people to think I'm gay I've gotta go back to my place and change right now!" They never had to think about that. That was a challenge that straight people on the whole never have to experience because of their sexuality. So it was a brilliant idea I loved it. But people, straights started complaining, which was the point and so the leadership of LGBTA was like wear jeans if you support gay rights day and then it became a referendum and it lost it's point. You know the point of the whole fucking thing was to make people have to feel uncomfortable, as uncomfortable as I did when I walked out the door or as uncomfortable as I did when I walked past— walked past the gigantic Cru, crusade for Christ events and thinking "Uh, I don't know what they think about me, I don't even wanna, I don't even wanna think about what 17:00they think about me." That discomfort was something that was only possible to share on that one day. So I guess, to answer your question, everyone thinks about how they look and how they present themselves of a member of the community. As an open member of the community, or not. It's just another, it's a layer to that onion of, of experience in college.

MYKLEGARD: Walking past the Cru booths

QUARANTA: [grunts]

MYKLEGARD: [laughs] Were there any other spaces or organizations at Tech that when you heard about them or when you met people that were in them that made you feel particularly unaccepted?

QUARANTA: Some of the individual fraternities, certainly. I think that, you know, whereas some fraternities are really great at promoting good work and you know 18:00tolerance, understanding of your fellow man I think that, not to name names, but like TKE, DKE, and ATO and [laughs]— I'm gonna be a little vulgar but I hooked up with a member of every single one of those awful fraternities in college. And it felt so good. Just because you know, behind all that bravado they're really human beings and I think that those fraternities really missed an opportunity to get to know one another. You know I think it says something about an organization that pledges fraternal brotherhood of an organization and they, the members of said organization's don't feel comfortable saying some of the most basic truths about themselves. Ridiculous. But other than that and Cru, no. and really it was more intellectual I never felt physically intimidated or 19:00afraid um I mean I'm a big guy so I don't often feel physically intimidated, but I don't think I would've even if I weren't. Cru, I just despised their evangelical mission of— especially considering that I had just gone through conversion therapy and was still dealing with the fallout from that.

MYKLEGARD: What professors or faculty members were a part of the LGBTA community at Tech if you remember?

QUARANTA: Susan, Susan Reinhart oh gosh you're testing my old brain. Susan Reinhart was really great and I really adored that lady. Susana Reinhart. Ed, whose last name I can't remember off the top of my head, Karen DePauw and Shelli Fowler who were part of the whole 2003 controversy. The hiring controversy, and 20:00they were great. Have you talked to Shelli Fowler, or has she done one of these?

MYKLEGARD: She, she's definitely been mentioned.

QUARANTA: Make sure you get her Kevin Spacey story it's great.

MYKLEGARD: Okay [laughs]

QUARANTA: I don't know just make sure that's written down somewhere. Cause it is something else. [laughs]

MYKLEGARD: [laughs]

QUARANTA: God, I hope she doesn't get upset at me for saying that. Yeah, the faculty wasn't as involved, Grant Moss, the faculty wasn't as involved as I think I would've expected. But, you know that's a perception from the time now as an adult I understand, "Oh, you know adults have real lives that are not connected to the university." Right? And, and I get that. But it still, it wasn't the most I think involved faculty they didn't come out to meetings or anything like that. And in fairness, you know I don't think that the LGBTA students did a really good job of engaging and of reaching out and saying "This 21:00is something we would like to do." I'm pretty sure if the LGBTA had said to the LGBT caucus, LGBT caucus of the faculty "You know, we want to do an event with you guys once a month. We wanna do dinner. Show us what it's like to be an adult" Whatever. I think that the caucus would've jumped at the chance, but we just never asked. And VT, you know, dominated by a lot of engineers and a lot of mathematicians and uh, the human interaction I think sometimes is a struggle for a lot of Virginia Tech faculty and students alike. So I don't think, whereas at a mostly liberal arts school, that would be an issue and it was at Virginia Tech.

MYKLEGARD: Were there any other grievances you have in terms of the LG, or LGBT community while you were at Tech?

QUARANTA: Grievances?

MYKLEGARD: Mhm.

QUARANTA: Uhh

MYKLEGARD: Or anything you'd liked to see improved while you would've been there?

QUARANTA: [sigh] Hm. You know, I mean it was really great I just wish there were more. I wish there were more gay people to— right after school I went to work for the human rights campaign and I was their senior field organizer. Actually, you know with the marriage decision coming down tomorrow it's, it's pretty incredible I was part of the team that did gay marriage in Massachusetts. I was on the steps of the State house that day when we won, when we fucking won. And it's amazing how quick it's all gone by. Anyway I say that to point out that I've been surrounded by a mostly gay community since college. And I thrive in it. Actually I struggle in big places like 22:00this because you know, gayness might stand out in a different way at a big, actually probably in a very similar way at Virginia Tech, as it did at Virginia Tech. You know it's sort of like, you're so small that you're, you're being gay is just like an "Oh." Like it's just there. Whereas you know in living on 17th street in DC, or working at the human rights campaign, or for a democratic member of congress or something, that you know there's, there's a community within a community and it's kind of nice. A clique maybe within a community and it's kind of nice. Um, excuse me— there wasn't really room for that at VT because there just wasn't enough of us. Enough people who were outgoing, namely non architects non engineers.

MYKLEGARD: What sort of activism have you been involved in since Tech?

QUARANTA: So, uh, huh. You know actually at Tech, at the very end of going to school there was a group called, I forget what it was called excuse me. There was a little bit of a trial balloon guy named Jacob Readon did where he took a bunch of students who were willing to get arrested and we staged a sit-in at the naval academy. Openly gay students were not allowed on campus, so it was explicitly it was US Navy property under the— in the pre don't ask don't tell world you know it was against the rules to be openly gay on that campus. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was a crazy time. And so about 40 of us took buses up there, some from Virginia Tech some from UVA, most 23:00were DC students, but we all went up to Annapolis and we all held hands and stood in front of the gate and refused to let anyone in or out until they let us on campus. And it was just weird and it was cool and it was fun. Me, Jessie Wyncowski, Kurtis Don, a couple other kids, Drew Foy. Yes since Virginia Tech, I've worked at the Human Rights Campaign. I finished up as their Senior Field Organizer. My job there was pretty cool actually, I basically flew from city to city building up small LGBT volunteer units I guess to work on a campaign or to work on a program or lobby or whatever; it was a blast it was a lot of fun. I did that for about three years. I guess, you know I 24:00was president of the DC young democrats, for the 2012 election and just being— I think there was one other openly gay president before me, but many years ago. Certainly I was the first white president of the DC young democrats, cause it's a majority minority city or at least it was. So being like a white gay man at the head of an organization that was predominately straight and African American that was an interesting dynamic. And I felt even though I was not there to explicitly work on LGBT issues, we were all working on the reelection of the president I still felt that everyday was a day as a gay man. And being a very visible one at that. So, yeah those would probably be my forays into activism. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to make it in Silicon Valley, so.

MYKLEGARD: [laughs] Let's backtrack a little bit. Can you detail a little more about the reversion therapy that you had to go to?

QUARANTA: Sure. I told my mom I was gay December 10th, in the year 2000. I was getting inducted into the National Junior Honor Society that night and we'd been yelling and fighting kind of— I've grown up I'm a gay boy I'm a momma's boy I've always been, but I knew how she felt. And that night I cried and she cried and I told her I needed to tell her this very important thing that I was gay. And she said "It's okay, we're going to get through this." I was so relieved I was like "Oh she said we're gonna get through 26:00this." And I didn't quite realize that her version of getting through it meant me not being gay anymore. And so she, we went into this therapist with a very explicit directive of me not being gay, fixing whatever made me gay. You know she was a Christian therapist whatever. When I got one on one with this therapist this doctor, she said "You know, look I'm on the fence as to whether or not someone can completely be cured of being gay. I mean I think they can live a straight life while still being gay and I think that's probably the best possible outcome for a lot of folks I see. You 27:00know, this is trying to go a little deeper than that and figure out just what figure out what ales you if, if there is something." At the same time she was talking to both my mother, and then when my father was out of jail so also my father. Frankly spent most of the time working on their issues and not mine. Which I guess was nice in a way. But it wasn't one of those crazy ones right? Its not like you know the ones where you know they make you like, hug a man until you feel comfortable about it. Like the ones you see on TV—the weird ones, it wasn't anything like that. But it was still a breech of trust, it was an unforgivable thing. That maybe one day [pauses] Yeah, I'll tell you what going to college and getting out of that. You know a 28:00lot of people feel oppressed in their parent's home in their late, mid-late teens and I felt like they had, like my friends had, no idea what it was like to feel oppressed in their own home. Likewise I wasn't— it's not like I was being beaten or anything like that I'm sure people have it a lot worse I'm, I know obviously a lot of people have it a lot worse. I mean total white suburban problems, right? But still, it was just cruel and unnecessary.

MYKLEGARD: Did you feel like going to college, were you mostly excited about school or were you more in it for the acceptance and meeting new people?

QUARANTA: Yes the latter, getting the fuck out of Herndon. I mean, look my— Yeah I was more exited I felt like it was a, it was an opportunity to really just truly start over. Which is awful when you're like 18 that's not how you should feel. But that's how I felt. I was like "Oh this is something new this is something great, exciting and different and I'm going to be able to be myself." I really thrived I ran for homecoming. I think I came in like second or third place or something, I loved it there. People loved me and I had not had that growing up. So it was really an experience. It was the experience I wanted it to be, certainly.

MYKLEGARD: Alright I just have a few more questions.

QUARANTA: Yeah!

MYKLEGARD: So, what's it been like in the professional world for you in terms of being an LP, an LGBT member? I don't know why I keep messing up that

QUARANTA: Oh it's fine.

MYKLEGARD: Phrase.

QUARANTA: You've probably said it a million times in the past few weeks. [laughs]

MYKLEGARD: Oh yeah. [laughs] But what has it been like in the professional world? Do you find that you seek, in whatever company you're working for, some sort of outlet for LGBT? Or has it just come to you naturally?

QUARANTA: I think I seek out the people. The hardest thing here 29:00is that there aren't too many openly gay sales people. Don't know why, I think that it's probably comes from— it's sort of the domino effect of you know 20 years ago people weren't, you know if you were openly gay you weren't being accepted into certain positions that stopped you from getting into a position here, when you were maybe 10 years ago because you had to. I think that the cascade effect of discrimination against people in the workplace, LGBT people in the workplace, we're still feeling it today because of the lost experiences of people who may be ten years older than me had. So I don't have as many mentors as I wish I did. I think because of that, you look at the sales organizations around a place like Salesforce and the people who are in leadership got to leadership through non traditional ways. Again I think it's just a legacy of discrimination in other parts of, not here in Salesforce but at 30:00other places. So, you know I actively have sought other LGBT people, just because there's a shared experience there. You know my jokes, my gay jokes are much funnier with gay people than they are with straight people. And there are just certain like, double entendres that are totally lost on straight people that you know I could never tell my boss, but I could tell that gay in the other row. So yeah, you know I've always sought them out.

MYKLEGARD: So, I like to ask this question. It's kind of a weird broad one, so you can take it however you want. But what would you like future historians to know at Tech?

QUARANTA: You know I would say that the LGBT community at Tech has changed so much so quickly over the years, you know we look back just into our recent history when we were students and you know maybe four or five years before we got there the LGBTA was predominately African American and predominately lesbian. When I was there it was predominately white gay male. You know it ebbed and it flowed and it changed and it was very fluid. I think that that's, that all those little pockets of time are something that would be worth exploring. I think that I want people to remember that Virginia Tech is more than just the shooting. You know I mean our community lost people too, but you know 32:00that shouldn't be the end all be all of you know what people think of when they think of Virginia Tech.

MYKLEGARD: Is there anything that you thought I might ask that I didn't?

QUARANTA: That actually is one I'm surprised, most people when they want to talk about Virginia Tech wanna talk about that. And I get it right it's a hard thing to deal with and it's a hard thing to process. You know and yeah. So that's one I thought. I actually, no I didn't know what to expect you're coming in here. Yeah, but my time was marked by that. It was a bookend to my experience so I assumed that was gonna be part of it, I figured that that's why you sought me out. Um, but no I don't know.

MYKLEGARD: Is there anything else you'd like to add before I stop the recording?

QUARANTA: You know, when I was in my twenties I was always like "Those people who said college was the best experience of their lives I don't get it. Like yeah I miss it, but I don't, I don't you know pine for it. I don't understand people who say it was just the most awesome thing ever." Now that I'm a little bit older and a little bit further away from it, I understand how truly great of an experience being at Virginia Tech was. That being gay wasn't an impediment in a state that typically tried to impede the lives of homosexuals. It was a great experience, and it was certainly among the best times of my life.

MYKLEGARD: Wonderful. Alright, thank you very much.

QUARANTA: Yeah.