CASDLA_000036_B_PRSV

Interview with Jeri Dilno, part 2, 1990

 

1990-02-04

 

Interviewer: Nobiletti, Frank

(The sound begins at about 16 seconds.) This is the second part of an interview described by The California Audiovisual Preservation Project as follows: "This is an interview with Jeri Dilno, particularly regarding her experiences in the military, and activism in the 1950s and 1970s. Jeri Dilno has been involved in the LGBT community since the 1950s. She joined the Air Force in 1958 and received an undesirable discharge in 1961 under suspicion of homosexuality (later changed to honorable after she fought the charge). She returned to San Diego in the 1970s and was heavily involved in many LGBT organizations and causes, both social and political. These include the San Diego LGBT Center, the LGBT Pride board, the San Diego Democratic Club, the LGBT State Democratic Caucus, and a campaign against the Briggs initiative."

Frank Nobiletti; Jeri Dilno; Oral histories; The Ladder (publication); San Diego LGBT Community Center; Interviews; Lesbians; Gay rights; Human Rights; LGBTQ rights; Women's rights; Jess Jessop; Gay men; Gay bars; Anti-gay; LGBTQ rights opposition

 

 

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

 

 

English

 

Audiotape

00:38:50 minutes

Yes

CASDLA_000036_A_PRSV

This is a summary rather than a transcript:
00:16 Audio picks up from where it cut off in part one.
00:42 Phone rings.
00:54 Dilno talks about how someone said a woman should not be the director of the center.
01:34 Talks about the use of the word "lesbian."
02:14 Talks about the center adding the name "lesbian" to it.
03:15 Talks about the men who had sensitivity about women's issues.
04:21 Talks about Jessop's role during this time.
06:40 Talks about how someone was angry that the center hired a woman and talks about the sexism in the gay community.
07:43 Talks about the social culture in the gay and lesbian community at the time.
12:01 Talks about the social-sexual aspect of lesbian women during this time.
15:03 Talks about finding a community within the gay and lesbian community.
15:40 Talks about the different groups within the gay and lesbian community.
17:46 Talks about the lesbian community and breakups.
19:58 Talks about why certain things that happened in the lesbian community did not happen in the gay men community.
21:22 Talks about how men had more options and the differences in breaking up when it came to gay male relationships.
22:30 Talks about the differences in emotion when it comes to men and women.
23:12 Talks about having more butch and femme roles occurring in the community.
24:41 Talks about lesbian couples clarifying roles in the relationship in the past years.
25:50 Dilno talks about the theoretical interpretation of men and women in the gay and lesbian community.
26:46 Talks about how the "butch" lesbians and the drag queens were very important in the movement because they were not afraid to be who they were.
29:10 Talks about a film that protested the military policy on homosexuality.
29:48 Talks about people demanding their rights.
30:11 Talks about gay men and lesbians who began to claim their rights.
30:51 Talks about in 1975 how there were people willing to open the Gay Center and people who were not afraid to come out as gay and lesbian.
31:40 Talks about the verbal and non-verbal attacks on the Gay Center when she was director.
32:15 Talks about the gay bars being in the worst part of town and didn't have the word "gay" on them.
33:24 Talks about not being aware of the Gay Ball that took place in San Francisco.
33:50 Talks about different events that she found out after the fact.
34:20 Talks about a publication called The Ladder in San Francisco that talks about lesbians.
34:55 Tells a story about people she knew who were involved with mailing The Ladder out to people.
35:48 Talks about The Advocate, which is a newspaper geared towards gays and lesbians that began publishing in the 1960s.
36:55 Talks about the impact that The Ladder had on her.
38:07 Talks about her first girlfriend with whom she was together for three years, trying to isolate her.

 

Audio

WAV

1.30 GB