Oral history interview with Vikram Srinivasan, 2019 March

This oral history interview with Vikram Srinivasan was conducted by Sankar Raman and Shea Seery in March 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, Srinivasan discusses his family background and early life as a member of the Brahmin caste in Chennai, India, and describes life in a multi-generational household and a close-knit neighborhood. He speaks at length about his experiences during his education in India, talks about his love of studying languages, and about the social pressure to study science and math. He describes navigating romantic relationships as a teenager and realizing that he was gay. He speaks at length about his relationship with his first girlfriend.

In the second interview session, Srinivasan continues to discuss his relationship with his first girlfriend. He talks about his experiences as a gay man in India, including his social life. He then discusses the reasons he came to the United States to continue his studies, and shares his experiences at the University of Cincinnati, including his social life, his studies, and getting involved in the gay community. He also talks about racism he experienced. He speaks about moving to Wilsonville, Oregon, in 2006, discusses his involvement with the Portland Gay Men's Chorus, and talks about his dating life. He then talks about changing jobs and moving to Boston, Massachusetts, then Bangalore, India, in 2012; about falling in love before moving, and returning to the U.S. to marry his boyfriend in 2015; and about coming out to his family. He closes the interview by discussing his relationship with his family after his marriage, by talking about his relationship with his husband, and by sharing advice for gay and lesbian South Asians, and their families.