 |
| outpost flyer, 1991 |
"Absolutely Queer" poster. This was a guerilla
campaign from the summer of 1991, by two AIDS activists, who were lovers, and
friends of mine. I urged them to donate a set of the posters to the Hormel
Center with the provision that their identities not be revealed.
 |
A. Jay "Adventures of Harry Chess" detail
(A. Jay Papers) |
Allen ("A. Jay") Shapiro drawings. I wasn't
previously familiar with his cartoon strip "The Adventures of Harry
Chess" and found it witty, provocative, and artistically excellent. Its
inclusion exemplifies a goal of the exhibit: to recontextualize provocative material
historically.
 |
Gay Bob in his original packaging...
Yes, it is a very well appointed closet!
(LGBTQIA Realia Collection) |
The Gay Bob doll entered the picture late in the game, when
in the course of my research I realized the Hormel Center didn't own one. I
lamented the lacunae to a lesbian friend who immediately ordered one and
donated it. "No self-respecting Gay & Lesbian Center should be without
one," she insisted. Exhibition designer Ann Carroll and I had fun one
afternoon posing Bob in various positions in and around the Eureka
Valley-Harvey Milk Memorial Branch.
 |
Jewelle Gomez (center), undated
(Jewelle Gomez Papers) |
"Lesbian Literary Love" was a labor of love partly
because so many of the women included have become friends: Michelle Tea, Ann
Bannon, Jewelle Gomez, Katherine Forrest, and Carol Seajay of Feminist
Bookstore News. Developing this section was a wonderful collaboration with
library school intern Mariah Sparks, whose dad processed the very first Hormel
Center collection, that of poet Lynn Lonidier.
 |
"Yellow Is For Hermaphrodites" scrapbook, 1995-2014
(David Cameron Strachan Intersex Collection) |
David Cameron Strachan's contribution to intersex activism
is important. In the process of proposing and planning a pioneering public
program in 2001, David helped me develop the library's collections and taught me
everything I know about intersex, starting with the fact that people with one
of the myriad of conditions under the rubric of "intersex" were
formerly referred to as hermaphrodites. We went on to collaborate on an article
about intersex resources for the valuable anthology
Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users: Essays onOutreach, Service, Collections and Access edited by Ellen Greenblatt.
 |
#20 Movie Star, 2000
(Chloe Atkins Photographs Collection) |
Chloe Atkins is a versatile photographer and a friend. Her
various series includes portraits of drag kings and Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence, as well as her well-known lesbian nightclub photos. For several
years Chloe hosted the very successful series "Queer Photo Salon" at
the LGBTQ Community Center and the SFPL. Her cross-dressing self portrait
"Movie Star #35" hangs in my living room. Not only did the Hormel
Center purchase a portfolio of her images, but Chloe generously donated her
entire archives.
 |
Gay and Lesbian Center Founders Committee, 1993
(San Francisco Public Library Records) |
The Hormel Center Founders photograph was taken
at a fabulous fundraising event at Jan Zivic's home in Sonoma. Bob Sass generously
donated his copy of the framed photograph, even though ironically he is not
included. Over the years Jan and I have become friends and I am delighted to
have reconnected with Bob. The commitment of the Hormel Center's founders endures
in many important and unimaginable ways.
The
Queerest.Library.Ever. #Hormelat20 exhibition continues through August 7, 2016.
--Jim Van Buskirk
