CASDLA_000029_T1_A_PRSV

Interview with Robert "Jess" Jessop, part 1, 1990

 

1990-01-26

 

Interviewer: Nobiletti, Frank

(Sounds begins at about 14 seconds.) This is the first part of an oral-history interview with Jessop done on January 26, February 2, and February 9, 1990. From The California Audiovisual Preservation Project summary: "Jessop was an early activist in the San Diego LGBT community. He cofounded the San Diego LGBT Center and the Lesbian and Gay Historical Society of San Diego, fought to obtain city permits for the first Pride parade in 1974, organized the first openly LGBT political support in the city, and was a names historian for the Names Project Tour when the AIDS Quilt came to San Diego in 1988. This is his last interview before his death of AIDS in 1990."

Jess Jessop; Robert Jessop; Oral histories; Frank Nobiletti; San Diego LGBT Community Center; Gary Rees; Brigit Wilson; Jim Woodward; Gay rights; Gay men; Gays in the military; FBI; Federal Bureau of Investigation; The Advocate (newspaper); The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay (book); Lesbian/Woman (book); Coming out; Richard M. Nixon

 

 

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

 

 

English

 

Audiotape

00:46:48 minutes

Yes

CASDLA_000029_T1_B_PRSV; CASDLA_000029_T2_PRSV

This is a summary, not a transcript:
00:14 Audio begins
00:28 Jess is talking about a drink/lunch with somebody and asking them for help or if they know anybody who can help them
00:50 Jess is talking about raising money for gay and lesbian concerns even though narrator is shy about asking for help
1:45 Interviewer asks about different types of help for the community
2:00 Jess lists types of help out there like hotlines and programs for those in the gay community
2:10 Talks about how often the hotline at the Gay Community Center is utilized, for those who have thoughts of suicide or just needs someone to talk to.
3:20 They also had a bulletin board to help find apartments, roommates and jobs for those who lost their home/job due to being gay
4:13 One of the men worked part-time for the county's employment service and knew right away when jobs had openings, so he would alert them to put it on their bulletin board
5:03 They also had a military counseling program for those who are gay in the military and may be having problems
6:05 Gary Rees, a naval reserve officer, set the military counseling program up and ran it by himself. Later on Brigitt Wilson and Jim Woodward joined the team.
7:05 Rees, Wilson and Woodward created a military counseling guide and became renowned, and was the second most popular handbook in the nation.
8:00 They had endless requests for speakers for the speaker's bureau, more than they could handle.
8:20 They also had a lending library but they had to close it down because they lost half their inventory from people not returning books
9:00 Interviewer asks more about Speaker's Bureau, and asks what kind of speaker requests did they get
9:20 Jess answers the question and also says that for the speaker events, he liked to bring a female to share her point of view since he cannot speak for women.
12:55 They live in a heterosexual world and that theme is constantly pounded into their heads
14:30 Interviewer asks how many people worked in the Gay Community Center
14:40 Jess says it is impossible to guess how many people total worked at the Gay Community Center
16:24 Interviewer asks if they had a membership list
16:33 Jess says they did not have a membership list
17:00 Audio becomes too quiet too hear
17:48 Audio becomes audible again
17:50 Jess states that the FBI has listed all gay groups as groups to watch
19:20 Jess states that they did extensive surveillance of the gay liberation groups
20:00 They had nothing to hide and weren't afraid of being "found out" because they weren't doing anything wrong
21:20 Nixon's Administration was known for its surveillance of domestic groups, they had a long hate list in which the gay liberation group was on it
22:30 Interviewer asks what kind of books and movies were the gay community reading that influenced them
23:00 Jess says that back then, there were not any talk shows about gay or lesbians, and there was nothing in the mass media that was relevant to their life. This is why it was so important to create the community center to reach to the gay community
24:25 Jess said they were reading the San Diego Union and The Tribune just like everyone else.
25:25 The only national gay news that was available was called The Advocate
26:25 A few books started coming out with lesbian and gay themes
26:35 There was a book that was called The Lord is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay which got a lot of attention
26:55 A book called Lesbian/Woman was written, and it was the first book of that magnitude to receive praise in non-gay news
28:30 The Gay Information Center tried its hardest to supply media that pertained to the Gay and Lesbian community
28:44 The day that the Gay Center was born was the day that the Gay Information Center died, which was September 1973.
30:50 Interviewer asks who rented the building to them for the Gay Community Center
31:18 The rent for the building was raised every year which caused hardship
32:00 Landlord threatened to take him to court if he did not pay fair market value for that property
32:00 The rent was doubled so they moved locations
32:35 Jess says that most people he has talked to who are out of the closet are glad that they came out of the closet and that it is much better than staying hidden
34:00 There are so many degrees of coming out of the closet
34:25 On the campus they suggested getting the gay and lesbian faculty together but protests were made that it would send a wrong message
35:34 The coming out process should be motivated by love
36:15 Coming out for negative reasons like scaring or shocking someone will have bad repercussions for that person
37:10 Heterosexuals put a lot of money and time and resources into procreation while homosexuals can use those same resources for creativity.
39:36 Interviewer comments that he is lucky his family is there for him even though he is gay
39:45 Interviewer switches topics to Jessop's personal life
40:05 Jess was born July 19, 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland
40:20 Interviewer asks about his lover who has passed away
40:40 Jess talks about how he has never had a long-term lover in the past
44:30 Jess talks about a guy that frequented bars
45:53 Someone of interest said that the center was Jess's lover and that he couldn't compete with that

 

Audio

WAV

1.56 GB