CASDLA_000037_T1_A_PRSV

Interview with Bernie Michels, part 1, 1992

 

1992-06-21

 

Interviewer: Nobiletti, Frank

(This sound file starts at around 11 seconds.) 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 L.A. 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."

Frank Nobiletti; Oral histories; Bernard "Bernie" Michels; Interviews; Jess Jessop; Morris Kight; Gay Liberation Front; GLF; Thom Carey; Jerry Peterson

 

 

Rights are owned by Lambda Archives of San Diego (LASD)

 

 

English

 

Audiotape

00:46:56 minutes

Yes

CASDLA_000037_T1_B_PRSV; CASDLA_000037_T2_A_PRSV; CASDLA_000037_T2_B_PRSV

This is a summary, not a transcript:
00:11 Audio begins in the middle of an interview with Michels.
01:05 Michels begins talking about the most significant parts of his life as asked by Frank Nobiletti. Nobiletti is the person who is interviewing Michels.
01:42 Michels talks about earning his PhD in 1987.
02:40 Talks about rebelling against the Catholic Church.
03:40 Talks about his time at the College of Great Falls[?]. Name of college isn't said clearly.
04:50 Nobiletti talks about how he feels about the Catholic Church.
05:10 Michels talks about going into the Army in 1953.
05:44 Michels talks about coming out as a gay man.
06:01 Michels talks about his experience with the gay community.
06:27 Michels gives his date of birth and more information on his origin and family.
07:52 Michels talks about how he ended up in San Diego through a series of different jobs.
12:21 Talks about going to San Diego State.
13:35 Talks about coming out as gay in Los Angeles.
13:48 Talks about a gay liberation organization event in Los Angeles.
15:01 Talks about picketing in front of a new Catholic Church in Los Angeles.
16:15 Talks about the different gay liberation meetings.
17:04 Talks about the overall experience in the organization.
18:12 Talks about Jess Jessop and his influence in Los Angeles.
18:38 Talks about other leaders and their influence in Gay Liberation Front (GLF).
19:40 Talks about Morris Kight
20:20 Talks about his gay activism and being gay while at San Diego State.
20:45 Talks about being accepted into University of Southern California.
21:52 Begins talking about what happened during his time at San Diego State.
23:59 Talks about meeting leaders in GLF while in San Diego.
24:38 Talks about a project he did while at San Diego State for the gay community.
25:22 Talks about how no one was out in the School of Social Work.
25:49 Goes more into detail about the project.
27:48 Talks about the fear and sadness he experienced while doing the project.
28:50 Talks about going back to Los Angeles.
29:10 Talks about meeting Thom Carey. They were together for a little over 10 years.
29:45 Talks about the apartment he had while in San Diego.
30:15 Talks more about his old partner Carey.
30:30 Talks about his regret of losing the relationship.
31:57 Talks about working with Mill Murphy [spelling?], who was a professor.
33:02 Talks about the start of the gay center.
33:30 Talks about the affect the program had on him.
33:58 Talks about going to Metropolitan Community Church (MSS) and other organizations.
34:45 Talks about working with the gay community service center in Los Angeles.
35:21 Talks about trying to start a gay center in San Diego.
36:01 Talks about the relationship Jessop had with MCC.
37:06 Talks about how Jess was discouraged about GAF.
38:35 Talks about Jerry Peterson.
38:43 Talks about how the assistant pastor at the MCC rejected the idea.
40:48 Talks about Peggy Heathers
41:05 Talks about Jerry Peterson's living in San Diego.
41:35 Frank tells Michels his options on the circulation of the interview.
42:44 Talks about Jerry Peterson's relationship.
44:01 Talks about Peggy Heathers.
46:47 Audio ends abruptly.

 

Audio

WAV

1.57 GB