Kendall Hallett

Born September 1963

Vinton, Iowa

Grew Up?

Independence, IA

Decorah, IA

Cresco, IA

Madison, WI

Daddy was a cop in Independence, IA when I was a toddler.  That's a real image of a fig leaf, by the way.  Now I know why they've always used fig leaves for this purpose!

I would be the youngest of four.

Here's my Paternal Grandpa, my Dad, and a great-great Uncle.

My Grandfather occasionally makes appearances in the reflection in my mirror if the angles are right.

Mommy!

Dad died of a heart attack at age 35, leaving my Mom with me and three older siblings.  I was only two and a half years old.  I don't remember much of my dad.

Mom remarried my step-dad, who was a divorcee with three boys and a girl.

Mom, my step-dad, my oldest step-brother and step-sister.

My step-dad toiled at John Deere tractor works in Waterloo, IA to keep the eight of us in clothes and food.  Mom also worked full time when we were all in school I think.  I didn't appreciate my Step-Dad until I hit my 20's.  He's become my real 'Dad' in just about every way I could think that is meaningful.  I wish things were different when I was younger.

I spend a great deal of time at my Grandmother's when I was young.  In a lot of ways that was good.  I learned to be mechanical from working on the farm, or maybe more playing on the farm.

In junior-high, the fear and self-loathing began as my sexuality asserted itself.  I had crushes on boys but I still managed to live in denial through high-school and beyond.  I hated the idea that I might be gay, and I tried to convince myself I could be 'strate' if I only worked hard enough at it.

In high school I excelled at mechanical stuff and began experimenting with drugs a good bit more than I should have.  I think that was my social crutch. I've since become a recovering 'pothead.' I can't do that anymore.

Here's my high school senior year book picture.

Mom and Dad put me through Tech School to be an Industrial Electrician.  It took me three years to make it through the two-year course because of my dope-smoking and depression I'm sure.

Around 1985-86 I finally came out of the closet. I was working as a night supervisor at a Jack and Jill grocery store in Cresco, IA.  It was a very small town and it was the darkest, most depressed and socially isolated time in my entire life.  One night, two of the high-school boys I was supervising came up to me in the back room.  Out of the blue, one of them asked, "Are you gay?"  I lied through my teeth and said "no."  To this day, I have no idea what their intent was.  It was not long after this that I came to the conclusion I could not continue living my life this way.

In 1986 the entire gay community in Northeast Iowa was an MCC Church in Waterloo, a bar in Cedar Rapids, and a bar in Dubuque. The AIDS epidemic was probably at it's height, and only a couple years earlier had been known as 'GRID'. No time is not scarey to come out, but in the Reagan era, with Jerry Fallwell's 'Moral Majority' at its height, and Pat Robertson's 'Christian Coalition' on the horizon, it was not an easy path. It certainly wasn't a 'choice'.

To this day, the hardest single thing I have ever done in my life was to sit down on the living room couch across from my Mom and Dad and say the words, "Mom, Dad, I'm gay."  That same thing is also the single most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life.

Mom and Dad have become active P-Flaggers (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), and most of my family is very supportive.  I moved to Madison, WI where it was easy to be 'out'.

That was the point in my life that I promised myself I would never lie about myself again, and really, where I left so much baggage behind and grew up.

About 1994.

About 1990, after seeing the professionalism in the Madison Police Department, I decided to go back to school for Police Science at Madison Area Technical College.  I got excellent grades and I LOVED it!  I took some extra college courses, EMT Basic, and put myself through MATC's Police Academy, graduating at the top of my class.

I applied numerous times to the Madison Police Department and got very, very close several times.  It was said it was easier to get into Law School than to get into the MPD back then.

You might ask yourself how somebody who took becoming a cop so seriously didn't get the job, but for a number of reasons, I'm glad I didn't. 

Dad, Me, Mom

1999

My friend Jason finishing his first 5k run/walk on his prosthetic left foot. 

Though shalt know respect for circular saws.

So there's my life in pictures to a point.  My most recent pictures are on my home page. 

A little more biographical stuff about jobs I've held:

I started out at age 16 at Hardee's in Independence, IA.  I was a workaholic, I think to avoid the fear and self-loathing.

When I went to Tech School a job change became 'in order' and I ended up working at Jack and Jill Grocery in Independence, IA for several months.  I transfered to Jack and Jill in Decorah, IA to resume Tech School after a one-year sabatical due to failing grades.

After graduating Tech School I got a transfer to a full time job at Jack and Jill in Cresco, IA as a Night Supervisor.  I was a crappy supervisor!

I took a Job at Sound Electric in Sun Prairie in September 1986 for $200/wk ($5/hr).  After 5 weeks there, I was fired by the owner saying he wanted an Electrician with more experience.  I wish I'd had the fortitude to ask him, "For $5 an hour?!"

This misfortune led me to Woodman's Grocery and a 3 year stint there as a graveyard shift Stocker.

I moved on to driving taxicab for Madison Taxi, then to Union Cab.  Union Cab saw me on and off part and full time through school.

I worked for the Madison Police Department as a Parking Enforcment Officer for over 11 years. My current status is a bit complicated to explain due to a contract arbitration issue. I apoligize for the 'blank space' that is left here.

I now rent a house on the east side of Madison and live alone with my dog.