Before the Stonewall rts marked the begng of the morn gay rights movement, and even the time followg, members of the LGBTQ+ muny existed wh a “hidn subculture” the Bay Area, acrdg to Robert Plantz, former print of the GSU om 1969 through 1970.
Contents:
- STORIES FROM THE CAMPUS CLOSET / UC BERKELEY'S 1950S GAY, LBIAN ALUMNI TELL HISTORY
- LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR STUDI
- LBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENR STUDI (LGBT)
STORIES FROM THE CAMPUS CLOSET / UC BERKELEY'S 1950S GAY, LBIAN ALUMNI TELL HISTORY
Gay and lbian stunts at the Universy of California at Berkeley may have been forced... * uc berkeley gay life *
Wt also drew on historil pollg on legalizatn of gay marriage and marijuana e to monstrate how both public policy issu took 30 to 40 years to reach 60% of voter support. Mildred (Jefey) Dickemann took part an oral history scribg gay and lbian life at Universy of California at Berkeley the 1950s.
Chronicle photo by Kendra Luck2000-09-06 04:00:00 PDT BERKELEY -- Gay and lbian stunts at the Universy of California at Berkeley may have been forced to rema the closet 50 years ago, but that didn't stop them om venturg out to gay bars San Francis wh their straight iends. "It was a kd of show for them, a cursy, " relled Mildred Dickemann of the people who acpanied her to Focch's, the Black Cat and Mona's North for the closeted gay llege stunts, gog to the bars was much more than a passg para. Many of Kelly's iends did not know Kelly was gay and even though he was havg trysts wh men, Kelly did not thk of himself as homosexual.
"You always thought that you were gog to get married, " said, Dickemann and five other gay alumni told their stori for an oral history project lled Gay Bears. The llectn, the Universy Archiv at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library, is the first documentatn of gay life on mp. He is also adjunct curator for the Bancroft Library's Sexual Orientatn and Social Conflict Collectn, which exam gay and opposg reactns to such issu as same-sex marriag and domtic- partner benefs.
LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR STUDI
Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr Studi Mor Program, Unrgraduate * uc berkeley gay life *
Benemann me up wh the ia for the Gay Bears llectn after searchg the archiv a ago for any rerd of gay and lbian history but fdg nothg.
It was not unlike his experience when he first entered UC Berkeley as a 19-year-old sophomore 1969. "When I me here, I knew that I was gay, but I never met another person who I knew was gay, " relled Benemann. "I had never read a book that had a gay character and never saw a gay person on TV or a movie.
I never read anythg about homosexualy that didn't treat as a pathology. "Although Benemann wanted to explore his feelgs, he found no real gay muny on mp. The early gay groups, such as the Gay Liberatn Front, which had grown out of the anti-war movement, did not foc on mp life and seemed too radil to Benemann.
LBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENR STUDI (LGBT)
Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr Studi Cours * uc berkeley gay life *
It was at UC Berkeley's first gay dance, 1971, that Benemann fally was ready to e out of the for those who me before Benemann, there were no such opportuni. People were signg loyalty oaths clarg that they were not munist, and others were losg jobs, scholarships and their fai when was revealed that they were gay.
She was troduced to gay life when she was her early 20s, when a gay man livg the Internatnal Hoe took her to Focch's.
"Later, Dickemann began attendg dner parti at private hom that she pared to "salons" where gay people uld drs and act the way they wanted as long as they remaed discreet.