Description
(Sound file begins at around 11 seconds. Sound levels are uneven, and the sound becomes inaudible from around 04:03 to around 04:40, when it is still very hard and spotty to hear until restarted at around 05:15.) The interview is described by The California Audiovisual Preservation Project as follows: "Bernie Michels is one of The Center's founders. With Jess Jessop, he called the very first meetings of the Planning Committee in 1972, and later became Executive Director of the committee. About 1967, Bernie slowly began exploring his sexual orientation, coming out fully when he started attending early meetings of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in Los Angeles. Participating in the GLF was both exhilarating and scary especially when demonstrating against the Los Angeles Police and marching in the first Pride parade in 1970. Bernie moved to San Diego in 1971 to attend San Diego State University, where he was the first openly LGBT student in the School of Social Work. He also presented the city's first LGBT studies course in 1974 at SDSU: "Myths and Realities Concerning Gay People."
