by Heather Aronno

Editor’s note: I met Heather Aronno in May 2009, and sat beside her & her husband John Aronno, the other half of Alaska Commons, through out that year’s  long summer of public testimony on the Anchorage equal rights ordinance AO-64.  She’s one of our best allies in the Alaska blogosphere all that time, and she’s also pretty smart & cool.  I hope you’ll consider participating in her study. — Mel

Some of you may know me best for my work at Alaska Commons. What you may not know is that I’m also a full-time college student at UAA, with a concentration in Strategic Communications through the Journalism and Public Communications department.

As part of my capstone class, I’m writing a research paper on influences on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender self-identity. Over the next week or so, I plan to conduct several one-on-one interviews with LGBT participants. I’m looking for participants ranging in age from 18–99 years old, and who live in or near Anchorage (interviews must be done in person).

I invite you to be one of these participants and help with my assessment.

The interview will be conducted in private and at a time in the next week or so that is convenient for you. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes to one hour, and will cover a range of topics related to LGBT self-identity and culture. Your responses will be confidential. Your name will not be associated with this study.

If you would like to be interviewed or have any questions regarding this study, please send an email to hjaronno@alaska.edu. We can coordinate a time and place to meet next week.

If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact my professor, Dr. Joy Chavez Mapaye at jmapaye@jpc.alaska.edu

Thank you for your help,

Heather Aronno
Student
Department of Journalism and Public Communications
University of Alaska Anchorage

Photo credit: Heather Aronno at the Student Union, University of Alaska Anchorage, October 2009. Photo by Mel Green.