Nobiletti, Frank

Jessop, Robert

1990-02-09

Oral History

Oral histories
Stonewall Rebellion
Stonewall protests
Stonewall riots
LGBTQ politics
The Advocate -- newspaper
Metropolitan Community Church (MCC)
San Diego LGBT Community Center
Gay Liberation Front (GLF)
San Diego Democratic Club
San Diego Democrats for Equality
Gay Alliance for Equal Rights

This is a summary, not a transcript: 0:14 Audio starts 0:55 They are a fairly young movement that emerged from the turmoil in the 1960s and they are still figuring out the politics of it 2:30 Interviewer asks Jess about in the late 1970s when there was an emergence of strong leadership from people and if that is a mature stage in the movement. Interviewer mentions someone named Albest? 3:18 Jess responds that he is not sure "mature" is the right word, but they shifted the view from a "dirty hippie" to something else. 5:25 Life Magazine featured nine pages in 1971 that recaptured years of the Gay and Lesbian Movement 6:22 Five years post the Stonewall Rebellion they saw more and more people who wanted to participate in the movement despite the fact that they might be embarrassed about it 7:25 In order to get through to the elected officials, they realized banners and placards do not work 8:25 They realized they needed to be appointed commissions and be administrative assistants, positions that showed that they were regular individuals who just happened to be gay. 9:12 David Goodstein was a wealthy businessperson who came out of the closet. He bought The Advocate and made it more sophisticated and well-known The Advocate is a Gay and Lesbian magazine 10:40 Jess talks about the "movers and shakers at that time" 11:35 David Goodstein thought all the previous advocates were a total embarrassment and that they would never get anywhere with what they were doing 12:30 Jess eventually adopted a much gentler approach in 1976 or so, when he cut off his ponytail 13:15 After defeating Prop 6, which did not allow teachers to be gay, there was a testimonial dinner for David Farrell to say thank you 15:50 Jess talks about when he gave his speech at the dinner 17:10 Interviewer asks more about David Farrell 17:15 David Farrell was a long time pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church San Diego. 17:25 They talk about David Ferrell becoming the pastor 19:20 Interviewer asks, "when you were head of The Center, was he (Farrell) an active force in the community?" and Jess responds no. The Center was The Gay Center 20:15 Jess says he was never a member of the MCC and when he was on the Gay Liberation Front, he was antagonistic to the church MCC= Metropolitan Community Church 21:35 Jess says the MCC was the most pervasive gay organization and they have made a tremendous impact on the movement 22:32 Interviewer asks about Bob Liend and Jess's impression of him Unsure of spelling of last name 22:45 Jess explains that Bob was a local attorney who showed up to the occasional Gay Liberation Front meeting 23:10 Bob thought that the GLF had too radical of an approach GLF= Gay Liberation Front 24:00 Jess explains that Bob and a few others founded the San Diego Democratic Club 24:40 Interviewer asks about Nicole changing up the Community Center and what happened after 25:20 Jess explains again that The Community Center's rent got too expensive and they had to move 26:40 Interviewer asks about The Gay Coalition and United Gay Week 27:00 Jess talks about The Gay Alliance for Equal Rights 28:40 Interviewer asks when the Community Center moved but Jess had no idea 30:40 Interviewer asks for more comments or thoughts about the time between Stonewall and the first parade 33:00 Jess states that there were no magical movements in time that radically changed things, and that it was a gradual movement 33:47 Audio ends

00:33:56

sound recording

en_US

© Lambda Archives of San Diego (LASD)

CASDLA_000029_T2_PRSV

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11929/sdsu:33697