Interview with Carlos J. Ortuno

Charlene interviews her spouse, CJ about his childhood and his identity, as well as the influence of his parents, being a new parent, and his work with LGBTQ rights. ; 00:38 CJ’s ethnicity is Cuban and Puerto Rican, but he identifies as American. He felt like he grew up in with typical American experience. 04:30 His sister is 7 years older, speaks Spanish fluently, and has a more Hispanic identity. 14:09 CJ’s daughter Amalia carries his mom’s middle name. CJ thinks he had the best mom ever. She died in September from colon cancer. He thinks his parents passed on values that transcend tradition and culture. Values such as stability and love. 16:20 CJ recalls a conversation with his dad. That he’s not leaving him a lot of things in his will, but he has passed on things you can’t put in a will. These traditions are rooted in Amalia’s name. 20:55 CJ enjoyed studying history because he could connect his story to everyone else’s story. ; Carlos J. Ortuno identifies as Cuban, Puerto Rican, speaks English ; The interview was conducted as part of the StoryCorps Historias initiative, and this copy is housed at the Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries. ; Access to this content is limited to computers in the Richter Library on the University of Miami campus. Please visit the library to view this content. Visitors not affiliated with the University of Miami should consult the library's patron access policy.