Mike Brunstedt Interview, 12 July 2023

Abstract

Mike Brunstedt (b. 1964) was born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and grew up in Macedonia. Mike discusses coming out as a gay man in the 1980s while attending Case Western Reserve University and his subsequent discovery of the Cleveland's underground gay and straight club scenes in the 1980s. He discusses attending various gay and straight clubs in Cleveland's Flats district in the 1980s and 1990s, including his participation in Cleveland's underground Club Kid and rave scenes. Brunstedt discusses moving from Cleveland to Houston, Texas, where he lived from 1993 to 2000 before returning to Cleveland. He discusses various changes in Cleveland's underground club scene between the 1980s and 2020s. He also reflects on the evolution of Cleveland's LGBTQ+ communities since the 1980s, including the impact of the AIDS crisis on the underground club scene and gay communities and his efforts to preserve Cleveland's LGBTQ+ history.

Interviewee

Brunstedt, Mike (interviewee)

Interviewer

Habyl, Riley (interviewer)

Project

LGBTQ+ Cleveland

Date

7-12-2023

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

87 minutes

Recommended Citation

"Mike Brunstedt Interview, 12 July 2023" (2023). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 701002.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1271

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