Jim Kepner (1923 - 1997)

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Rough News, Daring Views : 1950's Pioneer Gay Press Journalism by Jim Kepner

The late Jim Kepner both capsulizes and comments on the news of interest to gays (mostly) and lesbians during the 1950's. He was not only a clear writer, but he also anticipated most of the best arguments that have been put forward since for tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality as natural. A good reminder that gay activism didn't just start with Stonewall. -- Anonymous Review (Amazon.com)

Daring to Find Our Names by James Vinson Carmichael (Editor), Jim Kepner (Contributor)

Outlines theoretical and methodological problems in documenting lesbigay history generally (and specifically, the history of lesbigay professionals, particularly those in the "feminized" professions like librarianship). This book will appeal especially to historians of traditionally underrepresented populations (women, Native Americans, African Americans, lesbigays). In particular, chapters on methodological problems in lesbigay research, separatism, and biases created by gender bias will pull together for the first time integrated feminist/radical perspectives on library history. The authors call for more responsible treatment of such subjects as the "outing" of historical figures, and conversely, a more open approach to research on "gender outlaws" in the workplace.

This book includes:

"An Accidental Institution: How and Why a Gay and Lesbian Archives?"  by Jim Kepner

Jim Kepner: Two Pioneers Remember

Tributes by Barbara Gittings & Randolfe Wicker, GayToday

Excerpt:

Jim's library impressed us, but so did his dedication to activism, which we shared, and his passion for chronicling our movement...

Jim Kepner

From nambla.de

Kepner recognized that boy-lovers play an important role in gay history, which he outlined at NAMBLA's General Membership Conference in 1986. He said, "Too many in our movement, victims themselves of prejudice and discrimination, pass those hatreds and fears to drag queens, pedophiles, bisexuals, leather men and women, transsexuals, and many other minorities within our community. We talk nicely about diversity, but practicing it is more difficult..."

Quote:

"Many of the men who picked me up so lovingly, would today be stigmatized as pedophiles. They were all kind and respectful and were very important to me. I've seen that same considered manner in most pedophiles I've known, though I don't share their love for children. ... Most, not all, men I've known who were as boys befriended by boy-lovers were grateful to them. Women who act seductively with boys (I often experienced that) are generally ignored -- probably just as well...

On Lesbian and Gay Archives

According to one source, there are over 110 lesbian/gay archives and collections in the U.S. and other countries (*). Some of these collections are held by universities, but most belong to grass roots community groups and organizations. How they began and how they keep going is a history in itself. The Los Angeles International Gay and Lesbian Archives, one of the largest in the world, began in Jim Kepner's California apartment in 1942, The Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York began in the early 70's in Joan Nestle's apartment. Throughout the years, women and men with the foresight to see the meaning and importance of our history collected documents and artifacts with great passion, dedication and little if any, outside funding...

The Women of One

By Jim Kepner

Excerpt:

Too many writers have claimed that, before the Daughters of Bilitis started (San Francisco 1955) the homophile movement, as it was then known, was almost entirely white-male, and the rare women participants were expected to make coffee or keep minutes. Of course a few male chauvinists in the Mattachine Society did suggest such duties, "now that we have some girls here," but some Mattachine women, from early 1953 on, played pivotal roles (the most outstanding being Marilyn "Boopsie" Reiger, who took a leading concervative role in the pivotal 1953 Conventions, as well as the woman who headed the Oakland chapter, and attorney Pearl Hart, a founder and long-time leader of Chicago Mattachine.)

From 1954 to 1960, women took leading roles in ONE Incorporated and ONE Magazine. [The terms girls or gals and boys were used about as often by women then as by men, and were not considered derogatory, though we already avoided such terms when referring to Blacks...]

ONE Institution International Gay and Lesbian Archives (Los Angeles)

The pioneer Gay activist Jim Kepner is also involved in the merged Institute. Kepner was an officer and librarian in ONE from the 1950s to the 1970s. He served as a writer and editor of ONE publications, taught the first classes in homophile history, and was also a co-founder of the ONE Institute of Homophile Studies in 1956. Later, he withdrew from ONE to expand on his personal library of homophile books, which he had begun collecting in 1942. That library in 1972 became the foundation of the fast-growing International Gay and Lesbian Archives, where Kepner served as curator.

Kepner is one of the senior activists and thinkers in the American Gay/Lesbian movement. With the merger at USC he says, "This exciting move creatively reunites two major parts of my life."

Pioneer Gay Journalist and Historian (Obituary)

Excerpt:

Kepner often wrote about the fast-breaking news of Gay Liberation for several Gay magazines in the late 1960's and early '70s, including investing his savings to launch his own Gay publication 'Pursuit'. He was more than a reporter, however, he was a chronicler of the times, and an insightful voice of the burgeoning Gay and Lesbian community. Jim Kepner was a prime activist, centrally involved in establishing L.A.'s Gay pride organization, Christopher Street West following the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York. CSW has staged L.A.'s Lesbian and Gay pride parades every year since. In 1972 he was a co-founder of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center at Wilshire Blvd. and Union Street, and years later was a co-founder of the community's Celebration Theatre. In 1979 Kepner helped organize Southern California participation in the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, a task he repeated for the 1987 second March on Washington...

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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