4 20 666 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/6f9e14b4d5bc78930f9b24b800096097.pdf 0da16c463ff9828c91e3894ed18ee81a PDF Text Text �� https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/104980bddf6a1174d47eba7b04bcaaf1.txt cce7e851f93ed2230b5fe0e8ccd2a945 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document [Page 1] LEGAL SEMINAR KATHY NELSON Executive Coordinator AIDS Legal Resources Project April 22, 1999 7:00 pm TULSA GAY COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER 38th and Peoria (The Pride Center) [Page 2] OKLAHOMA LESBIAN AND GAY LAWYERS ASSOCIATION P.O. Box 3352 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74101 (918) 583-7750 VIA U.S. Mail Tom Neal, Publisher/Editor Tulsa Family News POB 4140 Tulsa, OK 74159-0140 Re: Know Your Legal Rights Seminar Dear Tom: The Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights and the Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association would like to invite you and any other interested people to attend a seminar on legal issues affecting persons with HIV/AIDS. The seminar will be led by Kathy Nelson on Thursday, February 18, 1999, at 7:30 p.m. at the Tulsa Gay Community Services Center (formerly the Pride Center) at 38th and Peoria. Ms. Nelson will give an overview of some of the legal issues faced by persons with HIV/AIDS and the pro bono assistance provided by the AIDS Legal Resource Project. Ms. Nelson is the Executive Coordinator for the AIDS Legal Resource Project. She graduated from Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City University School of Law. She has had a private practice in the areas of oil and gas law, family law, estate planning and probate law. Ms. Nelson is also a board member of CarePoint, Inc., a non-profit consortium of AIDS resources and education which coordinates health care and support services for those with HIV/AIDS. The AIDS Legal Resource Project was created three years ago to empower people with HIV/AIDS with the knowledge and assistance needed to maintain control over their lives. The Project offers effective and free legal assistance to those who qualify by connecting them to one of the more than 150 private attorneys statewide. Attorneys on the Project's Panel offer help in several critical areas. If you have been denied social security benefits, an attorney can help collect the necessary documentation for the Administrative Hearing. In fact, having an attorney present at the Hearing increases the chance of being awarded benefits by more than 50%. The AIDS Legal Resource Project also gives advice regarding other state and federal entitlement programs. [Page 3] The Project also assists clients who have been unfairly denied health, life or disability insurance. Information is available on how to keep and extend insurance coverage after work is no longer possible. If you are fired from a job, denied housing or equal access to health care because of your HIV status, an attorney can file a Complaint with the appropriate authorities. If necessary, the representation will continue through the various stages of the process, including litigation and settlement negotiations. When HIV/AIDS is directly involved, adoption and other family law matters can be handled by an attorney with expertise in that area. Finally, the Project can help end harassment by creditors. To learn how you can make take more control over these and other related issues, attend the seminar at the Tulsa Gay Community Services Center. For more information, please call (918) 743-4297. Sincerely, KERRY R. LEWIS Enclosure [Page 4] OLGLA Post Office Box 3352 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74101 Tom Neal Publisher/Editor Tulsa Family News Post Office Box 4140 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74159-0140 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [1999] Kathy Nelson's Legal Seminar Subject The topic of the resource Legal Seminar by Kathy Nelson Announcement Description An account of the resource Three documents regarding the April 22, 1999 seminar by Kathy Nelson, Executive Coordinator, AIDS Legal Resource Project. Document 1: Seminar announcement with time, date and location. Document 2: A letter to Tom Neal from Kerry R. Lewis inviting Tom and others to a seminar on legal issues affecting persons with HIV/AIDS lead by Kathy Nelson. Document 3: The envelope containing the letter addressed to Tom Neal from Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association (OLGLA). Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 16, 1999 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kathy Nelson Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association (OLGLA) 1999 AIDS AIDS Legal Resource Project AIDS/HIV AIDS/HIV discrimination CarePoint CarePoint Inc. HIV/AIDs HIV/AIDS and the Law HIV/AIDS bias Kathy Nelson Know Your Legal Rights legal seminar Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association (OLGLA) OLGLA Tom Neal Tulsa Gay Community Services Center https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/a82b8a34cc810a331f399f40ac44f45a.JPG 674ec6ae64342c2a238c6cdc8316579c https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/a01feb707a89e3e1b3d5de4ca9f26a6f.JPG 5b12c6ac587aec1d6f3f419e1561300c https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/24af7af1724992908f37a362b98f1291.JPG dc00cdf7e7f0bd178b020ced975f281b https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/6ef16513237fc526d258bc53ade9bb5a.JPG 0c86885b867393df8b234bf9591bdccf https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/9952f18da9bd38045fdcde1efb1a8991.JPG f8ea566b04253113b28969b5d7eedd86 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/acbeb8739787fb4f64eec7c1c0a0cb1d.JPG 3e877f14e4d6cfcb36ae2250c349778e https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/dbb1f84bc249ec6b8f18a3d2fe65e894.JPG 0201dfc903713c937255f5b44cb76068 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/740fe8942edb8c2b695284f6aa206470.JPG 4d44f6e190a5dcad14586a4c57dae678 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/e3aa97eeea504762d6e8ea9fe06bde32.JPG 3f3360e07421a262cb83b8630aa289f7 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/013d22f2dac849e998ac5a5cee84e7c5.JPG 303e30b6023550c3c12c6537847e8813 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/2e9e8010347c78eb24ff1c31fcfa6174.JPG c032364141a7eed14b0bcafbc0a36f3e https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/9a734f48bcd5f0660c8c40fb0c2def15.JPG 0e89baa321d56536b1c212cad7e08d60 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/832109154af16d62c98b980551fc4dbf.JPG a5297cdbc2b6edc335eb359c3d04ec2d Photo Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2005] Pride Photos from Kelly Carter Subject The topic of the resource Pride Photos Description An account of the resource Photos from the 2005 Pride celebration contributed by Kelly Carter. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kelly Carter Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2005 2005 AIDS AIDS Memorial Quilt AIDS Quilt AIDS/HIV Bill Fuller Billy Fuller Billy Ray Fuller cater David Wayne Robinson HIV/AIDs june kelly Kelly Carter Morgan Zac Sweeny NAMES Project parade Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) PFLAG PFLAG Stillwater photo photos Pride Pride celebration pride Parade Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2006] Kelly Kirby Interview Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 6, 2006 Description An account of the resource Video recording and transcript of oral history interview with Laura Belmonte on May 6, 2006. Video and Transcript available at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center for on-site research. Born on November 25, 1953, he graduated from high school in 1971. Faced with a draft number of 25, Kelly joined the Air Force in 1972. While very closeted during his service, while based in California, he would make trips to Santa Barbara and a few other locations to some bars and on occasion attended the Metropolitan Community Church in Santa Barbara as he was dealing with his sexual orientation. After leaving the military in 1975, he returned to Kansas and got involved with a cult Christian Group, The Way. In 1977, he married and they had 4 children. In 1980, they moved to Oklahoma City, he soon started a CPA practice and by 1986 relocated to Tulsa. He joined Homosexuals Anonymous as part of dealing with his conflicts with sexuality, family and religion. In 1990, his wife and Kelly agreed to separate and eventually divorce. He became an HIV tester with Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights in 1991 and discusses his further involvement with the gay community and TOHR, serving on the board in the early 1990s and treasurer, president and later serving as TOHR’s accountant. He became active with the local PFLAG Chapter and with the support of Nancy McDonald, joined the national board of PFLAG in 1993. He reviews the difficult environment in the 1993-1994 time period when the Tulsa Human Rights Commission proposed some ordinance changes to address LGBTQ discrimination. Subject The topic of the resource Kelly Kirby Oral History Project Interview from May 6, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kelly Kirby, Laura Belmonte, Dennis Neill 2006 AIDS/HIV Air Force available at Center discrimination HIV HIV testing HIV/AIDs Homosexuals Anonymous interview Kelly Kirby Laura A. Belmonte Laura Belmonte Metropolitan Community Church Nancy McDonald OKEQ Oral History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) PFLAG PFLAG Tulsa Chapter The Way TOHR TOHR Board of Directors transcript Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Board of Directors Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights HIV Testing video Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2004] Ken Youngblood Interview Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 22, 2004 Description An account of the resource Video recording and transcript of oral history interview with Laura Belmonte on August 22, 2004. Video and Transcript available at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center for on-site research. Ken was born November 22, 1949, in Vinita, Oklahoma. From sixth grade through high school, he played the piano and organ at the local Baptist Church. He attended high school in Jay, Oklahoma, married in 1971, went to Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and obtained a degree in Music. He divorced in 1973 and came out soon after. Ken attended graduate school at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. In 1975, Ken moved to Tulsa and attended a hairstyling school and later opened a flower shop after working in the floral department of a local grocery. Ken discussed his early experiences in the gay scene in Tulsa and his first drag appearances, including participating in the Follies fundraiser for Oklahomans for Human Rights. In 1994, the well-known Tulsa artist Pat Gordon asked Ken to model in drag as part of a series of such works over the next few years. He discussed his awareness of AIDS and its impact in Tulsa and his volunteer work with the helpline maintained by Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights. In 1992, Ken and his long-time partner had a well- known “wedding” attended by some 300 gay and straight people. Subject The topic of the resource Ken Youngblood Oral History Project Interview from August 22, 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Youngblood, Laura Belmonte, Dennis Neill 2004 AIDS AIDS/HIV available at Center follies HIV/AIDs interview Ken Youngblood Laura A. Belmonte Laura Belmonte Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) NSU OKEQ Oral History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript OU Pat Gordon TOHR transcript Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) University of Oklahoma University of Oklahoma (OU) video https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/023559720fd72ce52b47697fd079f211.JPG 4dfd0f8858284e1c50788f51c9ec4b9f https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/b5fde90b2684c2ec8438e2718e52f8c4.mp4 122ef854ea8cc57b0d701b3a8e39f867 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/a6620e81230ea3ccbc140ceb3d612311.pdf 9a54b9df7d6c3a4103fec956642cb721 PDF Text Text Oklahomans for Equality Oral History Interview with Kent Harrell (AKA Anita Richards) Interview Conducted by Toby Jenkins Date: December 23, 2025 Transcribed and Edited By: Dennis Neill using Riverside Studio.ai Restrictions: Interviewee requested: N/A Oklahomans for Equality History Project 621 E. 4th Street Tulsa, OK. 74120 918.743.4297 historyproject@okeq.org 1 �Oklahomans for Equality Oral History Project Interview December 23, 2025 Interview of Kent Harrell (AKA Anita Richards) by Toby Jenkins Addendum - Kent Harrell Show Notes from Riverside Studio AI Topics include: Drag performance, LGBT community, family dynamics, AIDS awareness, personal identity, marriage equality, pageant culture, early life, career beginnings Summary This conversation explores the life and experiences of Kent Wilson Harrell Jr., focusing on his journey through early life, family dynamics, understanding his sexual orientation, and his career in drag performance. Kent shares insights into the challenges faced by the LGBT community, particularly during the AIDS crisis, and reflects on his personal relationships, including his marriage to Taylor. The discussion emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and offers advice for future generations. Takeaways Kent's family background includes a strong connection to the Air Force and NASA. Childhood experiences shaped Kent's understanding of gender identity. Acceptance of sexual orientation can be a challenging journey with family. Kent's drag career began in the late 1970s, inspired by performances he witnessed. The drag community has evolved significantly over the decades. Pageants in the LGBT community serve as both a platform for talent and a source of competition. 2 �The AIDS crisis had a profound impact on the LGBT community, leading to increased awareness and activism. Marriage equality has been a significant milestone for the LGBT community. Being true to oneself is essential for a fulfilling life Chapters 01:16 Introduction and Early Life 04:24 Family Dynamics and Schooling 07:23 Self-Discovery and Identity 10:21 Relationship Journey 13:21 Coming Out and Family Acceptance 20:13 Career Beginnings in Performance 25:15 Memorable Performances and Clubs 31:59 The Journey of a Performer 33:25 Pageant Culture in the LGBT Community 36:01 The Evolution of Pride Festivals 39:00 The Impact of AIDS on the Community 54:18 Love and Commitment in the LGBT Community ________________________________________________________________________Interview starts – Toby – please tell us your name. My name is Kent Wilson Harrell Jr. Toby - And for purposes of documentation, could you tell us your date of birth and how old you are at the time of this interview? 3 �March the 4th, 1960 and I am currently 65 years and about 9 months old I guess. Toby - Let's talk a little bit about how you got to us. The day of your appearance here in the world. So tell us where you were born, what city, and a little bit about your family. Well, my father worked for the federal government, and he worked for NASA. And he and my mother both were employees of Tinker Air Force Base. They worked for the Air Force. And my dad was constantly going for, what he did was quality assurance. Whenever the federal government would contract with an Air Force base to build a specific part for a plane or a rocket, or whatever and they needed a particular piece or something built, it was his responsibility to make sure that thing met government specifications. So he was constantly being moved to Air Force Base, Air Force Base, Air Force Base. So how I came into the world, he had been in Duluth, Minnesota for about six months, about four or five months, and my mother went to see him one weekend. And at this time, my dad was 43 years old and my mother was 39. They had a 17-year-old daughter and a seven year old daughter. So about a week or two weeks after that fact, they were out in an amusement park and my mother was a roller coaster fanatic and rode a roller coaster and got violently ill and went to the doctor the next day and the doctor said, you need to go to an obstetrician. And she went to the obstetrician. The obstetrician said, Mrs. Harold, you're pregnant. And she called my dad in Minnesota and said, guess what? We're going to have a new addition to my family. He said, no way. You're kidding. Anyway, long story short. That's how I came into the world from a weekend visit from Minnesota anyway. Toby - and they were living in Oklahoma City at the time. So you were born in Oklahoma City. Did you go to school in Oklahoma City? 4 �No, we lived in Oklahoma City until, well, for a long time, about two years, my dad was transferred to Vermont and New York State and then came back to our house in Oklahoma City after that and he came back to Tinker and then was transferred to North America Rockwell in December of 1964. So I was about four years and seven months old or so. So we moved to Tulsa and the first place we moved to was over on the west side. And we lived in an addition that's still in existence called Mountain Manor off of Southwest 33rd. The early days were Crystal City, shopping center and all that area around. Toby - and you went to school over in West Tulsa. Well, I started out, the situation was, in so much as both were working at North American Rockwell, my mother got a job there too. She was a statistician. And what they would do, they would drive from that area town towards North American Rockwell, and there was a little nursery school over on North Sheridan. And that's where they put me in daycare centers, we call them now. And so when I turned five, I had to go to kindergarten, of course, and the closest kindergarten to that daycare was Burbank Elementary, which is now the Bell Junior High School annex. And that's where I started my academia was at Burbank Elementary. Toby - Now, did you graduate from a Tulsa High School? No, as time went on, we ended up going from first to Tulsa, then they moved to Broken Arrow, and then from Broken Arrow to Rogers County and the Rogers County area. And we started out in Claremore and then moved to Oologah. So from seventh grade till my senior year, I went to high school and junior high in Oologah. And the reason I did that, my middle sister, because of my dad's position, had been moved from pillar to post, state to state, school to school. And when we finally settled in Oologah, I said, I'm not moving. I said, I'm not going to be transferred to any other schools. I'm going to stay here and graduate at this school. And if you don't like it, you're going to have to get me a transfer. And so that's what we did. And I spent from seventh to senior year in a very wonderful environment, a great, great school, and had a very normal academic situation in high school. 5 �Toby - and what high school. Oologah class of 197(?) Toby - For our viewing audience, I'm going to share a photo. How old are you in this photo? You're just a child. Six. Six years old. in this photo... Toby - You're dressed in a dress, looks like makeup. Tell us a little bit about, can you remember that event? My mother said once many, many years after the fact, she said, you know, when you were clumping down the hallway in my high heel shoes, I never expected you to turn it into a 45 year career. But I guess the situation was, I'm not going to say that I was, you know, you hear the stereotypical stories of a passive father, aggressive mother and all that kind of world. Not necessarily so with me, but my mother was a very gregarious individual. She was a wonderful personality and was a very colorful dresser. And she loved oranges and reds and greens and all vibrant colors. Well, men at that time were reduced to gray suits, blue suits, know, black suits. And here was this burden paradise in my household that was constantly looking so fabulous. And I thought that's what I, that's exactly how I'd like to be. so as stereotypical, I've heard this story from many, many gay individuals. I was attracted to, it was a crazy thing. I had my Tonka toys, had my GI Joes, I had my fire trucks, the whole rigmarole. But I also loved, my mom's high heels and all the bright colors and all the things and coming from that era no one ever specifically said to me you have to have a baseball or a basketball or a football or whatever. Whatever I wanted I got. It didn't matter to my dad whether I wanted a football which I had or a Barbie doll. Nobody ever cared. Which was so unusual from that time period. But you don't know it's unusual because it's your life, you know. Toby - So at six years old when you've got on makeup and a dress and high heels they thought it was 6 �They thought it was hysterical. My sister, at the time was 13, thought it was deplorable and that I was something to be hidden away as far as she was concerned. But no one ever took it seriously. They just thought it was funny. Toby - Now, how do you identify? What is your sexual orientation? How do you identify? You mean like of course I'm gay but I've always said male people have asked me it took me many, many years to make people in my family understand just because I was an entertainer a drag entertainer that I didn't necessarily want to be transgender full-time seven days a week Toby - Well thank you for sharing for that. Now you have a relationship. Tell us a little bit about your relationship. Taylor, my dear husband, Taylor and I met online when he was 19 years old. I didn't know how old he was. We got in contact on Facebook, and he got in contact with me instead of vice versa. I was just intrigued by this individual. I took a look at this face that I like, no face I'd ever seen before in my entire life. And something about him just was interesting. And I got to talking with him, asking who he was, where he was from. He told me he was from Minneapolis. I had no idea he was 19 years old. So when I found that out, I said, at that point in time, Facebook was talking to people or reporting that there were police departments around the United States that were using young men to entrap older gentlemen. you know, not knowing this person as I didn't, I didn't know whether that might have been the case also. So I found, once I found out specifically how old that he was, I said, I'm, I can't talk to you anymore. I'm sorry. And he said, but why? I said, well, you're just, you're too young. So I didn't speak to him for about close to a year and I did keep looking at his pictures and he kept looking at mine which I didn't realize till finally one day he messaged me and he said well, I'm 20 He said aren't I old enough for you to talk to now? Yes, I guess so and the situation was Taylor was Taylor felt he was transgender and from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and he was undergoing hormone therapy at that time. And he was engaged to be married to a gentleman that he was living with. But the gentleman that he was engaged to had a 7 �hard and fast rule. He said, if you want to take these hormones, that's your business and I can't stop you. But you will never, as long as you live under my roof, dress in female attire. And Taylor explained this to me and I said, you know, nobody has a right to tell you what you can and cannot be. If this is who you think you are, then you have every right on the face of the earth to be that. And I said, I'm going to give you an opportunity. I said, if you want to come to Tulsa and live with me, I said, I will make sure that you get the best medical attention. I will make sure in one way the other that you get the best best psychotherapy that you're going to have to have to do this. And I said, I will make sure that you get under the best medical care that you can have that we can find for you. If this is the person, you know, the avenue that you intend to be and who you feel you really are. So he said, he finally agreed to it. And he, and I said, well, then here's the, well, I said, I'm not rich. I have no money. I can't afford to send you here on a plane. But I said, I will try to get you here the best way I can. So bless his heart. He rode 17 and a half hours by bus to get here to Tulsa and as I told him We did get him under therapy Then he went through about and a half year worth of hormone therapy but somewhere along the way he didn't realize that it's a very hard and complicated thing to be a woman to there are certain things that you have to do in your day-to-day life that he really just didn't want to do so finally an individual who is very close to us who was trans sat him down and said Taylor you're about as female as the wall you're sitting against and I think you need to wean yourself off this medication and sit down and figure out who you really are and live your life, which is what he did. Toby - Thank you so much for sharing that. I want to talk to you a little bit about, this is your senior picture. Graduated from Oologah. Just curious, Kent, when was it that you realized that you were gay? I can tell you specifically. Toby - And tell us a little bit about maybe your interaction with your family. Because you and Taylor are legally married. And you're old enough to remember when same-sex marriage was not legal in Oklahoma. But tell us 8 �when you accepted your sexual orientation and maybe a little bit abouthow your family handled that identity. When I first realized that my attraction was more to the male gender, my mother and dad allowed me to go to a movie. I was 12 years old. There was a film that came out that year in 1972 called 40 Carrots. And it was about a lady who, a 40-year-old lady who on her birthday took a trip to Europe. And so on the prior was starring Liv Ullmann was the gal. And so in the process of this movie, she's driving along through Italy and her car stalls and she's on a bridge. And as she's out in the middle of nowhere, she doesn't know what she's going to do. And she walks over to the edge of this bridge and she looks down in this water. And there in this water is swimming this beautiful young man in a tiny yellow Speedo bikini. The yellow, the man in the bikini was Edward Albert Jr. And when he came up out of that water in this glistening, glistening photo, know, film, he came up out of that water. I was like, ha ha ha ha ha. And I knew right then that there was something a little different for me than most people. Or so I thought. I didn't know if I was the only individual like that or not. But that was the very first kind of initiation. Toby - You know, like all kids growing up in the 70s, you thought you were the only one on the face of the earth. You didn't talk about it. You know, I remember my mother and dad in a warehouse market and I was a movie magazine fanatic. And I was looking at some movie magazines and I was thumbing through and I looked down on the floor and there was a centerfold from that first, the very first edition of Playgirl magazine. And I unfolded that centerfold, went, holy cow. I folded it back up and put it in my pocket and it home. I stole it. Toby - You stole it.. I stole that sin and needless to say that was my little secret thing but there again I didn't you know I didn't discuss it with anybody really and to tell you the honest truth my parents were not they they you know as time went by of course you have revealed eventually you know they've put 9 �two and two together were they happy about it no no they weren't happy and there was a point in time where I finally said you know, you can't deal with this and I don't want to deal with you either. I, for my own purpose reasons, I moved to Tulsa. My sister said, you know, leave home, come to Tulsa. I was 19 and I moved to Tulsa. got a job. I went over and I moved into a place called Harvard Terrace Apartments around 21st and Harvard. I lived my own life and I didn't speak to my folks for over a year. It was a ridiculous thing to do because I was a very sheltered individual. I didn't know how to pay bills. I didn't know where you paid the water bill, the gas bill, blah, blah. Eventually lost the apartment, ended up homeless and still wouldn't go home. Still wouldn't go home. Lived in my car and then one day out of the blue I happened to see my parents. I was basically starving now. I had been doing drag all along. I had been doing drag here in Tulsa. I started in 1979 and but things weren't going great and being hungry as I was, I saw my mother dad drive down the street one day in their car and I thought, I'm going to go home, I'm tired, I'm starving, I'm going to go home and went home for two or three years, about three years and tried to live the life that I thought that's who they wanted me to be and then realized you just can't do it. You have to be who you are. You can't let somebody subjugate you into being somebody that you're not. And finally at the age of about 23 or 24, I came back to Tulsa. Toby - during that time had they resolved it that they come to accept that you were Well, a way, my mother once asked me, she said, you know, she said, I don't understand. She said, can't you just, you know, it's fine. That's your attraction is to men, but do you have to participate in that? Can't you just go over to the, you know, just stop it? And I said, mother, it's who you are. I said, you can't go off and you just, can't turn it off like a light switch at the wall. You can't just stop being who you are. It's who I am. I was born this way. You have to accept that. they did do it in time. But the real catalyst of the whole thing was when I was 26, I met an individual by the name of Larry Guz, who was my first long-term relationship. And he said, Kent, you've 10 �got to stop this. You've got to confront this. You've got to make them understand. If they can't love you for what you are, then they have to love you for who you are. And if they can't do that, they don't need you anyway. Toby – I want our audience to see a picture of your beautiful mom and dad. And they finally, my dad came to Larry and I and he finally said, if this is who you are, this is who you are and we accept you 150%. So that kind of, took a long, time, but they finally did. Toby - So, you're very. well known in Tulsa as Anita Richards. So I want us to kind to talk, begin to talk about your career as a performer. You said, you told us earlier that in 1979, and you would have been 19 years old, you already had started doing performance. Did you? How did you? How did come about that? I had never even heard of a drag queen. I didn't know there was any avenue that a guy could dress in female attire in public. I had no idea. From the time I was eight years old, was out in my mother's and dad's garage with a record player lip syncing to Funny Girl. I learned the lyrics to Don't Rain On My Parade before I could practically walk. I knew automatically and of course my parents thought I was nuts. You're hearing this kid who's out doing these big jaw long jams. So I knew that was something I wanted to do but I didn't know there was an avenue for it until one night there was a very fabulous nightclub here in Tulsa across the street from what is now TCC called Caruso's. And it had been there since the 1950s. It was a very sophisticated nightclub in the 50s called the Queen of Hearts. But by the time I came along, it had become a gay bar and was called Caruso's and it had a huge showroom that held about 250 people. And one night a young boy that I was dating said, let's go to Caruso's. He said, I'm going to sneak you in. He said, a friend of mine is performing on stage and needs a shirt from me. I'm gonna sneak you in and you sit in the back and I'm gonna go to the dressing room and give him the shirt and I'll come back and we'll watch 11 �his number and then we'll leave and get out of here before we get caught. So this boy, the gentleman performing his name was Samoy Alexander and he went by the name of Tracy Chateau, I'll never forget him. And he came out on stage, he was doing a song called The Deputy of Love and my friend brought him this western shirt covered with silver fringe and I saw Tracy come out and perform and I was like... Oh my Lord, can't, I want to do this, I want to do this. And the next individual that came out, I'll never forget it, was Trudy Tyler, who was, at that time, it was so funny, I was 19, Trudy was 21 and was already in Miss Gay Oklahoma of America. And when she came out on stage, it was a complete vision, I was just, it raptured. And I thought, this is something I'm going to do one of these days. So I... went back to work at Target and one Christmas we got some glittering ladies clothes and I saved up some money and bought a dress and the next thing you know I went to What Is Now the Eagle. This was 1979 mind you. I went to What Is Now the Eagle at that time it was Tracy's New Edition was what it was called and they had show nights, amateur nights on Monday and there was an intimate Queen there and I went in and brought a record and performed. My initial name was Anita Trick. And how that came by, I was standing there, the show director at that time, Tracy's was another very well-known Queen here in town, by the name of Miko Kassadine. to Miko Kassadine, she said, what's your name honey? And I said, My name's Kent. She said, no, what's your show name? And I said, I don't have one. She said, you have two entertainers ahead of you. You better find one, get one quickly so I can introduce you. And I'm standing there thinking, now, know, no one had checked IDs in those days. And here I am, this kid, I'm standing here thinking, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? And a guy walked by me, he said, my God, I need a drink. And I turned around and I looked at me, and I said, my name's I Need a Trick. Well, she said, what? I said, my name's, I need a drink well she immediately thought I said Anita like Anita Bryant and she did introduce me on stage as Anita Trick and that was the first performance I ever did and so every time the Eagle holds much nostalgia for me you know but that anyway that started it out. Toby - You were talking about the performance in those days, this would have been in 1979. You get a record, you had to give them a… 12 �Yeah, you know cassette, no cassettes no CDs. The well-known Queens here in Tulsa they had these large leather cases and you put your record albums in the leather cases and they had a long strap you put the strap on the side of your shoulder carried it in with your luggage and the funny thing about 45 some odd years later Chris Cole and I were working at the Bamboo and someone came up with the grand idea that they wanted to do an old-fashioned drag show and they asked they said let's do this with albums, no cassettes, no CDs, let all the performers bring record albums. And so we had a little cast put together and the young people all agreed to it. They all said, we'll go out, we'll go research and go to the record stores and we'll find record albums and so forth. Which they did. And another gentleman who was one of the people that came to Bamboo brought a portable turntable sound system, which we used. But the funny thing about it was, in the days when those shows were done, Chris and I never were responsible for putting the show together. We were never responsible for the lineup of the entertainers and so forth. And you know that night we had 15 entertainers. Every single entertainer was doing three songs a piece. Every single song was on a specific album, so we're dealing with 45 record albums and having to label them and put them and I looked at Chris and I said it didn't use it was not this hard when we were kids. She said we were responsible for this movie. Well, didn't know any different. No, no, no, that's all we did. Toby – You talked about Caruso's, talked about Queen of Hearts, E-Ball, Tracy's. Tell us some of the other clubs where you performed. Oh, was some of them were clubs, some of them were dives. There was one downtown called Friends Lounge. I don't know if you remember, if you probably don't remember that. There was one... Well, the main club in those days, the very first bar that I was supposed to go to attend, we had a huge club here in Tulsa called the Old Plantation. You remember Old Plantation? And the very night I was supposed Where was it? I can't remember. It was 51st and Sheridan. The night I was supposed to go to the Plantation, one of the patrons set it on fire and burned it to the ground. So I didn't get to attend that club, but so the next largest club that everyone wanted to 13 �entertain at besides Caruso’s downtown was Zippers at 32nd and S. Yale. And that's predominantly where I started really, really entertaining was in Zippers. John Willis who owned Zippers was a very good friend of mine. It was a gay bar. It was a big disco. It held probably a hundred and maybe a hundred and fifty people. And I performed there for quite a while until they brought in a door lady and her name was Patty Murray Handley. And we all know Patty very dearly. And it was her first job. And I walked in with my suitcase one day for a performance and she said, I need to see your ID. And I of course automatically knew I'm 20 years old. I said, well, I left it out in the car. She said, no, I need to see the ID. She said, you can't perform in here. I said, I've been performing here for over a year. She said, well, you're not going to perform in here tonight because I'm not letting you in the door. You can come back four months from now when you're 21 years old. And I had to tell everybody and I turned around and walked out. Fast forward 40 plus years, I walk into a doctor's office of Dr. Jeff Beal and I had not seen this young lady since that probably about that time. And I walk in for my doctor's appointment and she's sitting at the admissions desk. And she took one look at my name and she remembered my face. And after she checked me in, I was sitting there in the waiting room and she said, could you come over here? Could you come over here? She said do you remember me and I said well I don't think so and she explained who she was and she said I have to tell you I want to apologize she said I have thought about this for over whatever it was 35 years I have felt guilty ever since that night that I didn't allow you to come into that club and perform like you had been I was just scared if I did I'd lose my job and she said do you ever forgive me I said I wouldn't remember this if you hadn't even mentioned it but of course I did anyway. She was following the law and I told her, I you know, I don't blame you. But you should follow the law. I don't blame her one bit. Toby - Well she was following the law. We here at Oklahomans for Equality believe that... What other clubs stand out in your mind? 14 �Really those are probably the most, there was a very place, I hate to use the term seedy, that's not a very good description, but there was a place downtown called, on 11th, called The Mining Company. And I performed there a few times, but predominantly Zippers, predominantly Tracy's. Toby -Now, during this time, you were a performer. Did you ever travel to other states? Not until later. I was the first individual from the city of Tulsa to ever perform at Angles. This would have been right because I was in Oklahoma City. As I say, I performed here in Tulsa from 1979 to about 1982 and that was when I decided to move back to Tulsa, move back to with my parents, which they were living 100 miles south from here, little town called Weleetka, Oklahoma. I stayed there two years and came back and once I came back in 84, I think it was 83 or 84, I started performing again and have continued on as a regular basis ever since that time. But in 1986, Angles in Oklahoma City had opened their very first talent show you might say. It was called Drag Off or Drag Race or something like that. Anyway, I won it. And by winning it, you had to come back, was the process of elimination. And by winning it and becoming the champion, I won a two weekend a month spot on the Sunday showcase at Angles. And so ended up being the first person from the city of Tulsa ever to work there on regular basis. As Ginger Lamar referred to me, I was the queen of the Turner Turnpike. She's the only queen in town that's got tire tracks up her back. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Toby - So I know that you have won some titles and you participated in pageants. Tell us a little bit about the pageant culture within the LGBT community. You know today it's mainstream. There's you know top-tier shows that people sit every night and watch. But I always like them. But it was not necessarily in Oklahoma, but really it was. Miss Oklahoma, the America pageant system, course, is the oldest Miss gay America is the oldest pageant system in the United States. And it was it was formed in 1972 by the late Norman Jones, Norma Christie, and has continued on. And it wasn't until about 1977 that she released the royalty rights to permit, I guess you'd say preliminary pageants to get contestants for her Miss America pageant. You had to go through and still to this day have to go through a system. You win a preliminary title. Then if you go from 15 �there that sponsors you into a state title, which of course is like say you Miss Gay Tulsa of America, then you're sponsored into Miss gay Oklahoma of America. If you win Miss gay Oklahoma of America, you immediately are responsible to represent your state at Miss America, wherever it's held, Dallas or wherever. And that's still the same. It's been since 1972 and it's still the same way. Of course, as you say, now they're much more mainstream. I really personally, for me, my personal goal was predominantly entertainment. I wasn't I was not that much interested I did miss Tulsa USA in 1987 I think I did Miss Tulsa of America probably about 1988. But I wasn't necessarily interested in entertaining in pageants because in my estimation, a title was for a year. You spent a lot of money. Sometimes you won, sometimes you didn't. And I saw very negative aspects of the pageant system that I thought I just don't need to be a part of this. There's good aspects and bad aspects of everything and I saw both. And I thought my goal is to entertain in the public. That's what I want to do. I was happy to bring a little happiness into life and into other people's lives. But it wasn't until I was 57 years old a friend of mine opened a pageant system called American National Star, an independent offshoot. I told Taylor, I said, know, I wonder if I can do this. And he said, well, why don't you start a little late? And I said, well, long as you're breathing, that's my goal. As long as you're breathing, you have a chance and you can still move and God gives you decent health, go for it. So I entered American National Star Classic and won that and of course people said some of the judges said you know what is your goal here I said to prove that no matter how old you are if there's a goal that you want to accomplish you can go for it as long as your health holds out you feel like you're physically able to do it you do it well lo and behold I won that pageant and then went on to their state title and won that too. And then, so by me doing that, I was asked by my dear friend, Brandon Patrick, aka Chanel Sterling, to at 58 years old to enter the Miss Gay Tulsa pageant. She said, have you ever been Miss Gay Tulsa? And it was a rumor from a thousand years that I was at one time a Miss Gay Tulsa, which I never had even entered the pageant except once. So I had done that. I entered Miss Gay Tulsa of America. It was majestic and came up first runner up. And then was responsible to go to Miss Oklahoma and one first 16 �run up out of 13 other kids at 59 years old and the reigning Miss Gay America walked up to me that evening and said, you are who I want to be when I grow up. And I thought that was so precious. And I am proud to say I have the highest standing score of any individual in personal interview of any Miss Oklahoma of America pageant that's ever been. And the current Miss America that year. She said, now when you go to nationals, she said, I want you to do something for me. And I said, what's that? She said, I want you to be just exactly who you are right now. Because she said, if you are, she said, they'll fall in love with you just like I have. I thought that was so sweet. Sad to say, God and nature had other plans. Because after the four day Miss Oklahoma pageant, I came down with arthritic neuropathy. And was unable to practically walk for about the next month. And so I wasn't able to attend Miss America Pageant, but things work out for the best, guess. I don't know. Anyway. Toby - Did you ever perform at Pride? Only for about 25 years. Toby - First Pride Festival. I don't know, I couldn't honestly tell you the first one I performed at, the first one that I went to was in 1993 when we were out at Mohawk Park when it was considered a... was sort of, were all sort of, people were separated. Remember, I didn't see a lot of unity out there because there were different groups sitting all around. I was glad when it finally got more unified and moved downtown. But the first Pride I ever performed at I think was about 1996. Toby - So that's the first pride you ever went to. I don't know, 1993 was the first one. Toby - Now you eventually became... Queen of Tulsa Pride. I think so. One of my proudest moments. 17 �Toby - You're still considered the… So you talked about your love of drag was you wanted to entertain I can remember you being a regular cast member at Twisted Theater at Renegades. And you were a part of the Twisted Theater with Tabitha and I can remember you were a hit as Rose on the go. You were part of the Golden Girls cast and played Rose. You remember performing at Pride Day? Yeah, that's what is the what's the park? Toby - Well today it's called Veterans Park, but at the time it was Centennial Park. That was without a doubt. we all, all of us who participated in the Twisted Theater performances consider those our happiest days. We all still talk about it. Toby - Record crowds. And Tabitha Taylor, who is now Brielle Cassell, gave me the opportunity to perform roles that I would never in my entire life had a chance to do otherwise and it was the most unique experience. we all, she stretched all of us to the full capacity that she thought we were capable of performing. And I mean, I got to do things like Betty Davis or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, as you say, Rose in the Golden Girls, and Sissy in the Sorted Lives, and all those, we performed. Toby - I remember some beach movie. Frankie Avalon, was Frankie Avalon and the footage of Beach Blanket Bingo was one of those we did. And then Little Shop of Horrors. Basically, for those who might not understand what we're talking about, Twisted Theater was where basically they chose a film. Did a little shopping, cut out all the unnecessary subplot, kept the main storyline, and added music to accentuate the story and to move it along. The most famous one, I believe, that was ever done was The Exorcist. what the director would do, he would take out the subplot, look at the film, use music to accentuate the different part, and sometimes there would be music that didn't even have anything to do or wasn't any part of the particular film, but it still was relevant to the story itself. And that's kind of what Twisted Theater 18 �was. was like, for instance, probably one of the most famous ones was we did the Wizard of Oz. But when Dorothy came and knocked on the wizard's door, instead of the, she and the scarecrow and the cowardly lion got to Oz, instead of meeting the wizard, when she opened the door, she was confronted by by Dr. Frankenfurter from Rocky Horror Picture Show. And that particular instance, Dr. Frankenfurter happened to be me. So that's kind of what it was anyway. And it was a wonderful opportunity to perform. I don't know if we'll ever see those days again. But there have been people who have tried to copy that format. And some of them have been very successful. Probably the single most successful use of that format is is Chanel Sterling, who is without a doubt one of the single most all around talented individuals drag or otherwise I have ever known or ever met in my entire life. And a treasured treasured friend. Toby - Let's talk a little bit about your 65. So you've talked about the 1970s all the way to the present. Tell me about the first time you heard about AIDS. I was sitting in a club. I had just come back to Tulsa, as I said, in 1983, I think, 83, 84. And I was sitting in a club and a former boyfriend of mine came in and sat down. He had just come back from New York and we got acquainted and we began to visit. And I said, how was New York, Dean? And it was Dean Martin. He said, oh, kid, he said, it's horrifying. I said, horrifying? What are you talking about? He said, there's something going on there. They call it gay cancer. I said, gay cancer? What do you mean? He said, it's a disease. He said, it's killing people just right and left. He said, you'll see someone out at a bar on a Monday and they'll be gone by Thursday. And he said, it's it's unexplainable. And I never heard of it. I didn't know what it was. didn't know. I didn't understand that it was how it was transmitted and so forth. The first person in Tulsa that ever passed away that was the first person that anyone knew about that came in contact with HIV and passed away from the disease was a young man by the name of Paul Pack, who was a bartender at a club downtown called Tim's Playroom owned by... was Tim Turner, Tim Turner. And his lover was a very well-known female 19 �impersonator here in Tulsa, she was Shawna Michaels. And all we knew was that Paul got very sick and he was the first person that anyone had ever heard of that had, was Kaposi Sarcoma. And we all knew that he had... away, well automatically that kind of put a face to the situation here in Tulsa specifically. And we didn't, any of us, know, you know, what it was, how we basically came in contact with it. And we knew how it was transmitted, of course, but we didn't know the ins or outs of the disease. everyone automatically started getting tested. And I remember the very first test that I ever took was in 1986. I was 26 years old. I was terrified, absolutely terrified. And the health department. Toby – That’s where you took that test? And once they found out what you were in there, they treated you like what you were there for… they treated you like basically you were a vermin, you know, and you're just non-human. And as time went by, after, by 1987, I was with, as I said, my other half, Larry, who was a patient of Dr. Jeff Beal. And Jeff was the first medical physician that I'd ever come in contact who knew what was going on. And he basically held meetings and tried to explain to people the severity of what was happening and how there needed to be funding for research and so forth. And was very much on the forefront of that. And we realized then the enormity of the situation we were in. And the very first time, I will tell you. I didn't think I was going to get emotional about this. The first time I ever was confronted with it completely. I was at a pride celebration on the campus of the University of California in Irvine. And they had brought the AIDS quilt to the campus and they put it in the Student Union and it was in different levels of the Student Union. So they divided it up so that you could go and see it. And I was a member of the court system in California, in Orange County at that time and I was there with one of their booths. And I left during a break and I went to the Student Union and walked through and I can tell you that I don't normally get emotional in public. I'm not that kind of an individual. But when I was confronted with those faces and with the, all the, just the whole enormity of the quilt itself, I just fell into pieces. The next thing I knew, they were picking me up off the floor and handing me a box of Kleenex. And I kept saying, I'm so sorry. I said, no. Toby - Do you remember what year that was? 20 �19, let's see, I moved to California in November of 1988. So this would have been about 1990. And it was just, you know, it just hit you directly in the face. But I... After I came back to Tulsa in 92, I lost a number of friends, personal friends that passed away with AIDS. And like we were talking about on the phone last night, one of the individuals was 33 years old. And he had come in contact with it through the first sexual partner that he had ever physically been with and had been dealing with the disease from the time he was 20 until he was 33. And he was a patient of Dr. Beal’s. And I remember him saying to me, he said, I don't understand it. said, you know, you, I haven't lived any different life than you have. You and I, we've had the same experiences. Why am I in this situation that you're not? And I truthfully didn't. I said, Michael, I don't know. I don't know. But I said, all I know is I want to help you as much as I possibly can. And I watched that poor young thing, young man, 33 years old, pass away, the most horrific death I've ever seen in my life. And you just, and I struggled with the guilt. You do, you can't help it. Because you think, how did this get me? And all I can say is that I think I have been put here for a purpose. Obviously there must be some reason or another or otherwise it would have been I would have been in the same situation and the only thing that I could do in help with him there was a doctor here in town the name of Ralph Richter who was participating in a study through a company called VaxGen and a doctor had developed what he said was a vaccination for the AIDS virus. And they were doing a blind test study through this doctor's office and I participated in it. And they basically, they gave you shots of the synthetic antibodies, basically what they were. You didn't know whether you were getting the placebo or whether you were getting the vaccination itself. There was a series of 10 shots that she took once a month, 10 months. Midway through, I began to start getting ferocious colds and illnesses and coming up with all kinds of strange bruises and so forth. I finally asked one of the medical people in his office, said, how does my body know that what you're and you couldn't tell have an AIDS test because if you did you automatically came up positive. Anyway I asked the nurse, I said how does my body know that I'm not getting the actual antibodies? I said how does my body know that it's 21 �synthetic? And she really couldn't answer so I quit participating. And about four months later right before the study was over with they explained to me they said you know we were just getting ready to close we wish that you would come back and continue this and I went ahead and did it. I went ahead and finished the test honey and lo and behold After it was all over they sent me notification that I hadn't been given the vaccination Now what was sad about that? One of the reasons that I quit was I didn't know at the time that this shot these inoculations were $900 apiece and I asked the Representatives of the company that were in the doctor's office. I said what makes you think that any young gay individual walking down the street is going to have $900 or basically $9,000 on 10 shots to be able to afford this. They can't do it. I said, how many insurance companies are going to sponsor this? Well, they had no, you know, they had no response to that really. Anyway, lo and behold, of the gentleman who invented the vaccination to try to get the American Medical Association to approve it. He was a doctor of course who dealt with aged patients. He took the blood samples, drew blood from his most terminally ill patient and transfused the blood into him, so the contaminated blood into his own body. And he never came up with the disease. And he tried to present that as a case to the AMA that for sure that this vaccination actually did work and they still refused to approve it. So it was all that trouble for nothing basically. Toby - I can remember you helping us raise money to buy this building. You would perform at some of the big events that we would have. I can remember you and Chris Cole performing at the old Brady Mansion on Denver. That was such a unique experience to come down those stairs and see all those people at the foot of it made you feel quite like a celebrity. Toby - What about, let's, you and Taylor were able to be legally married. I want to share your picture. And y'all got married in drag. He was still, he was the guest speaker that year 2014, November 2014 at the transgender day of remembrance. We had been together by this time three years. And as you all know, we had gone through our first initial commitment ceremony here, but I knew that he was scheduled to go up to Oklahoma City tonspeak at that organizational meeting. And he was 22 �involved at that time with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which that organization. And he was very good friends of the individual who officiated our ceremony, who had gone through a minister, what's the correct term? Toby - A minister ordination. And that gentleman, the clinic, called me one day and he said, I have to tell you something. And he said, I think you should know. I said, what's that? He said, Taylor is preparing to surprise you with something. And I said, what's he going to surprise me with? He said he's bought a ring and he intends to propose marriage to you after he gets done with his speech at the organization meeting. And he said, I want to know, are you going to say yes because we've got to buy license. We've got to get everything together beforehand. We just can't throw away, have a ceremony. We need to do all this legally and I want to get it all prepared. I was quite frankly aghast. I didn't know what to say. Because the idea of being legally married had never really entered my mind. But I got to thinking personally about the situation and I thought this is this way I know that he is taken care of. I said, I know he's going to be taken care of, that there's nobody in my family that can come in and take anything away from him. That if it's all legally shared together. So I thought this is probably the best thing we can do for each other. And so he didn't know I knew anything about what was going to happen. So after he got done making his speech, he said, now I want to bring my other half up to, we were all outside with the candlelight ceremony. then I came up and he got down on his hands and knees, or she, she I should say, she got down on her hands and knees at that time and proposed. And I said, of course, yes. Well, we went into the building we were all attending this meeting. And Robin Dorner was the president of the gala, she'd already gone and bought the wedding cake and the whole nine yards had the license and everything there. The funny situation about it was we were standing on a platform about as high as this table when we to officiate the ceremony and go through the nuptials and when Clint said, 23 �do you, take this individual to be your lawfully wedded spouse to have and to hold until you part? When he had gotten aware of the situation it hit point blank in his face and he fainted. I was standing there. I watched his eyes roll, her eyes as I said she was a drag. I watched her eyes roll completely back on her head, turned snow white and started to fall. And I just grabbed her by the hand and jerked her back. He came back and I asked him, I said, what happened. He said, because I realized that this was for real, for real. This was this was going to be the lasting thing. There was no turning back, you know, the enormity of the situation. He looked me square in the face and he said, I'm glad we did it My father bless his heart. I loved him so dearly. He, when Taylor decided to become transgender or thought she was transgender. I didn't think I was going get emotional. My mother had left a pair of earrings on the table. And he had lived at this table all the time. My mother had been gone about a year. Excuse me, I can't believe this. This is crazy. She'd been gone about a year. And I didn't know what he thought about Taylor all of a sudden assuming a female identity, which he hadn't been when he came here. Because as everyone does when you're transgender you have to spend a year living in you know in your chosen attire what she was doing at the time and My dad walked over and he took the earrings off this table and he put them in Taylor's open hand And he said Mrs. Harold would be proud of you for having the courage to be who you feel that you really are. And he said, nobody can take that away from you. And that to me was just unbelievable. As time went on, Taylor decided that wasn't who he actually truthfully thought he was. Who he thought he was wasn't who he was anyway. But it was a situation that my dad did that. And I will tell you that when my father passed away, it affected Taylor almost more than it did me because he was, for the first time, had been totally accepted 100 % in that world. I had a very, very, very unique set of parents. Toby - This has been wonderful. Is there anything else you would like to say before we close out this interview? A message you might give to generations who come after you and watch this video. 24 �Be who you are. Don't let anybody, don't let anybody try to hold you down and try to make you who you aren't. You only have one chance at life and the thing you have to do with that one chance is to make the most of it as you possibly can and that's being true to yourself. That's the main goal in life is to always be true to yourself. Toby - One more time for the camera, your full legal name. Kent Wilson Harrell. Jr. 25 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2025] Kent Harrell Interview Description An account of the resource Video recording and transcription of Toby Jenkin’s December 23, 2025, interview. The interview explores his life and experiences focusing on his journey through early life, family dynamics, understanding his sexual orientation, and his career in drag performance. Kent shares insights into the challenges faced by the LGBT community, particularly during the AIDS crisis, and reflects on his personal relationships, including his marriage to Taylor. The discussion emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and offers advice for future generations. Subject The topic of the resource Kent Harrell Oral History Project Interview Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kent Harrell, Toby Jenkins, Dennis Neill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 23, 2025 2025 AIDS AIDS/HIV Dennis Neill HIV HIV/AIDs interview Kent Harrell OKEQ Oral History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript Toby Jenkins transcript video https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/0621abae670b12030928928a1ac6c48e.pdf 8b5551e9e03a4803a44853d96fcc142a PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [1999] Know Your Legal Rights Subject The topic of the resource 1999 Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Law Association Know Your Legal Rights Letter Description An account of the resource A letter from Kerry R. Lewis with Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Law Association and Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) to Tom Neal, publisher and editor of Tulsa Family News, inviting him to a seminar on estate planning held at the Pride Center on February 18, 1999, 1 page. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kerry R. Lewis Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 18, 1999 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Law Association, Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) 1999 Camille Quinn estate planning Kerry Lewis Kerry R. Lewis Know Your Legal Rights legal protection Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Law Association Oklahoma Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association Pride Center TOHR Tom Neal Tulsa Family News Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/94d27390b4ef6f944a8fee6f763e7267.jpg ab80fb6be6333553b3b7c030d7d61991 Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0.3.50 Compression Type/rate of compression for moving image file (i.e. MPEG-4) MP4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2019] Conversion Therapy - KTUL Channel 8, 11-18-2019 Subject The topic of the resource Jose Vega, Deputy Director of Oklahomans for Equality and Stephen Black, First Stone Ministries Interview regarding conversion therapy. Description An account of the resource Jose Vega recounts his experience being forced to go through conversion therapy as a teenager. Stephen Black discusses the reasons why he supports conversion therapy. MP4 video available to researchers for on-site viewing only due to copyright. Location:OkEq History Project/Ddatadrive/History-General (in Omeka)/KTUL 2019-11-18 Conversion Therapy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource KTUL Channel 8, Tulsa Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available KTUL Channel 8, Tulsa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 18, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Oklahomans for Equality, First Stone Ministries Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource KTUL Channel 8, Tulsa Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP$ Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://history.okeq.org/items/show/307 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://history.okeq.org/collections/show/18 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource news Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tulsa---Oklahoma Oklahoma---Tulsa The United States of America (50 states) Channel 8 conversion therapy First Stone Ministries Jose Vega KTUL Oklahomans for Equality Stephen Black https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/3eb9b3d9bed0aa19944ec6b9ffdeed7b.pdf efd0b605911d272b176e1eac1ce9b66a PDF Text Text �� https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/9736405acc63924b56d877f95beed32e.pdf d48e324d8c1f063fc37c3100e91105fb PDF Text Text �� https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/3853b8aad4cf42f04b93a515112e37ca.pdf 7da17af901ae11112ca4a9fc7741724e PDF Text Text �� https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/3d853df569c3cd8e8df1db209ce94f6d.pdf fe8ae0bd8f8b91b78934686036d6aea8 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [1996] Lambda Legal Subject The topic of the resource Activism Description An account of the resource Documents from Lambda Legal Defense Education Fund, Inc. Includes press releases, marriage project overview, and marriage project resource list. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lambda Legal Defense Education Fund, Inc. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Marriage Equality Advocacy Activism Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2006] Lamont Lindstrom Interview Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 15, 2006 Description An account of the resource Video recording and transcript of oral history interview with Laura Belmonte on April 15, 2006. Video and Transcript available at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center for on-site research. Lamont was born in Oakland, California on May 11th, 1953. At Berkeley, he completed a BA, MA and PhD in anthropology. Prior to spending a year in Australia on a National Science Foundation fellowship, Lamont married. They later relocated to Memphis for a teaching position and then joined the faculty at the University of Tulsa in 1982. In 1984 and 1985, he worked in Hawaii, returned to Tulsa and his wife and Lamont had 3 daughters. By 1994, he became more focused on his interest in same-sex relations. He has been in a long-term interracial relationship and discusses some of the challenges of segregation within the gay community. In 1996 he became involved with Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights, including serving on the board in the 2000s. Subject The topic of the resource Lamont Lindstrom Oral History Project interview from April 15, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lamont Lindstorm, Laura Belmonte, Dennis Neill 2006 available at Center interview Lamont Lindstrom Laura A. Belmonte Laura Belmonte OKEQ Oral History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript segregation TOHR TOHR Board of Directors transcript Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Board of Directors video Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2026] Laura Arrowsmith Interview Subject The topic of the resource Laura Arrowsmith Oral History Interview from April 23, 2026 Description An account of the resource In this compelling interview, Dr. Laura Arrowsmith shares her personal journey of living as a transgender woman, her medical transition, and her advocacy work in Oklahoma. Her story highlights resilience, medical insights, and the importance of authenticity. This interview with Dr. Laura Arrowsmith explores her journey as a transgender advocate, medical professional, and community leader. She shares insights on medical treatments, advocacy efforts, challenges faced due to political attacks, and her vision for future support for transgender individuals. Available for onsite research with advance permission. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 23, 2026 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Laura Arrowsmith, Toby Jenkins, Dennis Neill 2026 activism advocacy Dennis Neill Dennis R. Neill discrimination education healthcare interview Laura Arrowsmith OKEQ History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript Toby Jenkins transcript Transgender video Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2019] Laura Belmonte Interview Subject The topic of the resource Laura Belmonte OSU Diverse Sexuality and Gender in Oklahoma Oral History Project Interview from February 13, 2019 Description An account of the resource Laura was interviewed on February 13, 2019, by Oklahoma State University as part of its Diverse Sexuality and Gender Oral History Project. A copy of the OSU transcript is on file at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center for on-site research. Born in New York, Laura attended the University of Georgia and finished a graduate program in American History at the University of Virginia. In 1996 she joined the faculty 7 at Oklahoma State University as an assistant professor of history and became head of the history department at OSU. For six years starting in 2003, she served on the board and then as president of Oklahomans for Equality and its predecessor, Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights. Later, she joined the national board of The Equality Network and founded The Equality Network. In 2019, she became dean of the Liberal Arts and Human Sciences College at Virginia Tech. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Laura Belmonte, Angus Henderson, Micki White, Dennis Neill Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 13, 2019 2019 Angus Henderson available at Center Diverse Sexuality and Gender in Oklahoma Oral History Project Equality Network interview Laura A. Belmonte Laura Belmonte Micki White OkEq Oklahoma Oral History Research Program Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (OSU) Oklahoma State University Archives Oklahomans for Equality Oklahomans for Equality (OKEQ) oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript OSU OSU Archives OSU Diverse Sexuality and Gender in Oklahoma Oral History Project TOHR transcript Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights (TOHR) https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/0d426be7c4cbee728bc6662809a1c1e6.pdf 6b7bcb0c286cb5c7ddf8bc5b88622c10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vernon Jones Obituary Description An account of the resource Transcript: Vernon Leon Jones, 88, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, left this earthly plane to be with his late partner Phil Wiley, on February 5th, 2024. He was born in Oklahoma, on May 3rd, 1935. As a gay man, born and raised here, Vernon’s chosen family is vast. He is survived by Hayward Jones, Nekesha Jones, JaKobe Jones, Sue Davis, Fred Hilliard, Arlowe Clementine, Mason Thomas, Rey Thomas, and so many other individuals that claimed Vernon as their friend, family, and elder. Vernon was an active learner, even in his later years. He was always working to understand the world around him and was eternally hopeful for a better world. He was a strong advocate for marginalized peoples and was particularly committed to Queer and Black Liberation. Vernon was a clear Taurus. He was intelligent, dependable, logical, honest, and generous. Vernon spent most of his life focused on making his community better. He was a holder of receipts. A maker of spreadsheets. A true community historian and archivist. Vernon was dedicated to making people safer, both in his career in emergency management and his activist work in the fight against AIDS. He was not a stranger to controversy and was unrelenting in speaking his truth and the truth of the people he loved. In the years before his death, Vernon worked hard to ensure that the legacy of LGBTQ activism in Tulsa was properly recorded and preserved for current and future generations. His substantial archive is now housed in Oklahoma State University’s Archives. This collection will be witnessed by researchers and community members for years to come. Vernon was a connector. He worked hard to bring people together and was always willing to give someone support that needed it. Even in his death, he is connecting individuals over their shared love and respect for him and his life. Vernon fought hard for his community and the legacy of his late partner Phil Wiley. Anyone who knew Vernon was graced with stories of Phil’s life and legacy as well as their love for one another. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you remember Vernon by learning something new, taking a stand on social issues that are important to you, and keeping his life and legacy alive through storytelling. Vernon’s memorial service will take place March 1st at 11 AM at Butler-Stumpff & Dyer Funeral Home (<a href="https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=bfe3dfa29743f8d2JmltdHM9MTcwODY0NjQwMCZpZ3VpZD0xYTQ3OGQzZC1hYmNmLTYxMWUtMDhjNC05ZjI0YWFiYTYwNDUmaW5zaWQ9NTc0Nw&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=1a478d3d-abcf-611e-08c4-9f24aaba6045&u=a1L21hcHM_Jm1lcGk9MTIzfn5Vbmtub3dufkFkZHJlc3NfTGluayZ0eT0xOCZxPUJ1dGxlci1TdHVtcGZmJTIwJTI2JTIwRHllciUyMEZ1bmVyYWwlMjBIb21lJTIwJTI2JTIwQ3JlbWF0b3J5JnNzPXlwaWQuWU43MDl4MTIzMDIxMzUmcHBvaXM9MzYuMTU2OTEzNzU3MzI0MjJfLTk1Ljk2MTc5OTYyMTU4MjAzX0J1dGxlci1TdHVtcGZmJTIwJTI2JTIwRHllciUyMEZ1bmVyYWwlMjBIb21lJTIwJTI2JTIwQ3JlbWF0b3J5X1lONzA5eDEyMzAyMTM1fiZjcD0zNi4xNTY5MTR-LTk1Ljk2MTgmdj0yJnNWPTEmRk9STT1NUFNSUEw&ntb=1">2103 E 3rd St, Tulsa, OK 74104</a>). PDF Text Text 1/8/26, 1:44 PM Vernon Leon Jones - Butler-Stumpff & Dyer Funeral Home & Crematory  Vernon Leon Jones May 03, 1935 - February 05, 2024 Share:    Obituary Event & Services Charities & Donations Gallery Videos https://www.butler-stumpff.com/obituaries/vernon-leon-jones/ 1/4 �1/8/26, 1:44 PM Vernon Leon Jones - Butler-Stumpff & Dyer Funeral Home & Crematory Guestbook Send Flowers Obituary Vernon Leon Jones, 88, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, left this earthly plane to be with his late partner Phil Wiley, on February 5th, 2024. He was born in Oklahoma, on May 3rd, 1935. As a gay man, born and raised here, Vernon’s chosen family is vast. He is survived by Hayward Jones, Nekesha Jones, JaKobe Jones, Sue Davis, Fred Hilliard, Arlowe Clementine, Mason Thomas, Rey Thomas, and so many other individuals that claimed Vernon as their friend, family, and elder. Vernon was an active learner, even in his later years. He was always working to understand the world around him and was eternally hopeful for a better world. He was a strong advocate for marginalized peoples and was particularly committed to Queer and Black Liberation. Vernon was a clear Taurus. He was intelligent, dependable, logical, honest, and generous. Vernon spent most of his life focused on making his community better. He was a holder of receipts. A maker of spreadsheets. A true community historian and archivist. Vernon was dedicated to making people safer, both in his career in emergency management and his activist work in the fight against AIDS. He was not a stranger to controversy and was unrelenting in speaking his truth and the truth of the people he loved. In the years before his death, Vernon worked hard to ensure that the legacy of LGBTQ activism in Tulsa was properly recorded and preserved for current and future generations. His substantial archive is now housed in Oklahoma State University’s Archives. This collection will be witnessed by researchers and community members for years to come. Vernon was a connector. He worked hard to bring people together and was always willing to give someone support that needed it. Even in his death, he is connecting individuals over their shared love and respect for him and his life. Vernon fought hard for his community and the legacy of his late partner Phil Wiley. Anyone who knew Vernon was graced with stories of Phil’s life and legacy as well as their love for one another. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you remember Vernon by learning something new, taking a stand on social issues that are important to you, and keeping his life and legacy alive through storytelling. https://www.butler-stumpff.com/obituaries/vernon-leon-jones/ 2/4 �1/8/26, 1:44 PM Vernon Leon Jones - Butler-Stumpff & Dyer Funeral Home & Crematory Vernon’s memorial service will take place March 1st at 11 AM at Butler-Stumpff & Dyer Funeral Home (2103 E 3rd St, Tulsa, OK 74104). ABOUT US “We will always be kind and we will never take advantage of you or your family at your saddest time” is our promise to you. General Price List BUTLER-STUMPFF & DYER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORY  2103 E 3rd St Tulsa, OK 74104  (918) 587-7000  info@butler-stumpff.com  Available 24/7 https://www.butler-stumpff.com/obituaries/vernon-leon-jones/ 3/4 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2007] Vernon Jones Interview Description An account of the resource Video recording and transcription of Laura Belmonte’s interview of Vernon Jones conducted on February 28, 2007. Video and Transcript available at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center for on-site research. Vernon was born on May 3, 1935, near Tulsa and passed on February 5, 2024 in Tulsa. He enlisted in the Air Force and served for four years in the military in cryptographic operations, including two years stationed in Japan. After thirteen years of marriage and two daughters, Vernon came out to his wife and family. He and his partner, Phil Wiley, were co-founders of the Tulsa Gay Alliance in 1971, and they volunteered with the Tulsa Suicide Prevention Hotline. He worked in emergency management. In the mid-1970’s. He served on a task force within the Tulsa Human Rights Commission to research consideration of ordinance changes to address LGBT discrimination. Vernon left his archives to Oklahoma State University. A copy of his October 10, 2021, interview as a part of OSU’s Diverse Gender and Sexuality of Oklahoma Oral History Project is included in Vernon’s oral history folder at OkEq. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 28, 2007 Subject The topic of the resource Vernon Jones Oral History Project Interview from February 28, 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Laura Belmonte, Vernon Jones, Lindsey Killebrew, Matthew D. Williams, Dennis Neill 2007 available at Center Butler-Stumpff & Dyer Funeral Home Butler-Stumpff and Dyer Butler-Stumpff and Dyer Funeral Home Dennis Neill interview Laura A. Belmonte Laura Belmonte Lindsey Killebrew Matthew D. Williams Matthew Williams Obituaries Obituary OKEQ Oral History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript transcript Vernon Jones Vernon Leon Jones video https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/4d5c6b38d16a7cf7d1c5fce47fa47c7f.png 67014014ccc0f346b395920693225a77 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/c43b4ea6c7197a8c3778ab35b5884028.pdf 35444056fd114f43bcb96a407676d282 PDF Text Text � https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/1b7f825e5050da4a0552a2542cc758ae.pdf 3e1b3159cc64f1d4bd3dfbe65e976b5a PDF Text Text �� https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/88c653df2bc15a563dfa631e5e6a0222.pdf 83415ef89794e5b39eaca55f55288cef PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2000] Col. Cammermeyer Documents Subject The topic of the resource Pride Parade 2000 Description An account of the resource Documents relating to Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer serving as co-grand Marshal of 2000's Pride Parade. Includes letter from her agent, biography, and signed contract. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lecture Literary management Inc. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 9, 2000 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Pride 2000 Diversity Celebration 2000 Pride Parade 2000 Col. Grace Cammermeyer https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/50c75d314ecd3bfe576df8fa1e4a818c.mp4 1cd0a806c5b45b06b12b8f2d5493d4a0 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/f1f040d517ee58dfd79531909e7a503c.pdf c50d91cd143acf3b75830c770059e040 PDF Text Text oklahomans for equality Oklahomans for Equality Oral History Interview with Leslie Penrose Interview Conducted by Laura Belmonte Date: March 31, 2006 Transcribed By: Matthew Warren Transcript Edited by Dennis Neill - December 27, 2025 Restrictions: Interviewee requested - NIA. Oklahomans for Equality History Project 621 E. 4th Street Tulsa, OK. 74120 918.743.4297 historyproiect@okeg.org �LGBT History Project 03/31/2006 Interview of Leslie Penrose by Laura Belmonte Laura: It is Friday, March 31 2006 and we are at the Community of Hope Church with Leslie Penrose for today's interview. Leslie, let's just start with some basic biographical information. When were you born, what was your family and education like and those sorts of things? Leslie: I was born in Amarillo, Texas in 1951 into an oil field family. And I grew up all over the Midwest and lived in almost every state west of the Mississippi. I went to 18 different schools between kindergarten and col lege. Roots are something I long for and moving is something I do well. Although, in my adult life I have lived in Tulsa since 1979 and really do feel like I'm establishing roots here and 2 �that this is home. Although my husband and I have moved to like 5 different houses so we still practice the moving thing. Laura: Did you have any brothers and sisters? Leslie: I did. I had two younger brothers and a younger sister so I was the oldest of four: and they're all still living. My dad is dead but my mother is still living. Laura: And where did you go to college? Leslie: T.U. for my undergrad degree in Religion. I got my Masters of Divinity at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa. Laura: And you mentioned you are married, how long have you been? Leslie: 35 years. I got married 6 months out of high school. He was in the Marine Corps and I moved to California to take up residence on the Camp Pendleton Marine Core base the day after we got married. Laura: Wow. And do you have children? Leslie: I do. I have two. My daughter, Keli, was born there in California after we had been married about two years. And the other one was born on the East coast. We moved back here after Steve's discharge, for him to go to school at OU. From there we moved Richmond, Virginia for Steve's first job, and my son, Kyle, was born there. Laura: Well let's move on to the issues of the gay community and gay people and such. When was the first time you recall hearing anything about the gay community in Tulsa? Leslie: I'm not sure about hearing about the gay community in Tulsa, but I do know when my own sense of awareness of gay issues happened. In the late 70s I was a banker, and not particularly happy with that. I took a trip to Central America to try and figure things out and find out what I wanted to be when I "grew up." The leader of the group I went with was a gay man. 3 �It was a very transforming trip for me and my relationship with him was very transforming. I experienced him in a very pastoral, religious way. I asked him one day why he wasn't a pastor because he just had such a gift for it. He said, "Well I would be except that the church won't let me. I'm gay." It was not anything that I ever consciously 'knew.' I mean, I must have been aware of it on some level but it had never been part of my consciousness that that was where the church was. And it just blew my socks off. I have continued to maintain a relationship with him across the years. But it was actually that experience and my experience in Central America that drove me to seminaryseeking something beyond the shallow experience of 'church' that I had had growing up. Once I was in seminary, that issue and other issues of justice just kept pushing me to the edge, and I'd quit seminary and start it again, thinking, 'I can't do this church thing because it's way too oppressive.' But there was also something within me that came out of that trip to Central America that said, "My experience there says there's a different way of being church, a way that has integrity and is life giving." I wanted to be a part of THAT way of being church. Laura: Talk to me a little bit about your experiences at Phillips. Why did you decide to go there? Leslie: Well I decided to go there because it was the only seminary available to me. I was a young mother with young kids. I needed a local place. They were just opening their campus in Tulsa when I inquired in 1985, and asked if I wanted to be a part of that very first class that met here in Tulsa. I did. Laura: And you found this a kind of conflicted experience? were they saying about issues of social justice and homosexuality that you had to wrestle with? Leslie: You know I don't know if it was what they were saying as much as it was what the gospel was saying. I think actually the school was pretty mainline and kind of scared to enter into the really tough issues. I had, for most of my What 4 �life, been involved in social issues like nucleai disarmament, immigration, and civil rights for African Americans; but as I began to read the gospel and put things together it became clear to me that something was wrong with saying there are some folks that don't fit into the "salvation plan" or however you want to talk about it. The more I challenged that in my own thinking, the more I needed to involve other people in the dialogue. I was the President of the Student Council at Phillips at that time, and actually challenged them to, for the first time, put gay and lesbian issues on the agenda. I asked the Council to attend a board meeting and requested that Phillips might name itself a safe place for gay and lesbian students. It was not at that time - it was more 'don't ask, don't tell.' Folks were pretty threatened by that first dialogue, but it opened the door and they are now a very affirming place for gay and lesbian students. At about the same time, while I was in seminary, I was a part-time youth pastor at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church. I got a call one day from a friend of mine at St. Johns Hospital. She was a nurse, and she said that there was a young man there and he was dying of AIDS. "He hasn't had any visitors here for over a month. Would you mind co.ming?" I knew nothing about AIDS, but I knew someone shouldn't die with no visitors for a month. So I went, and it was a baptism by fire. When I finally got in to see him (after having to put on full protective clothing and gloves, I asked if I could talk with him and he said "Sure. Who are you?" I told him I was a minister, and he responded, "Oh, you don't even need to bother. I already know everything you have to say. My church has already told me I'm going to hell." It just broke my heart, and I said "I don't believe that." He let me stay a few minutes so we could talk, and when I left I asked if I could come back the next day. He said "yes." I was there everyday for about a week until that young man died. During that time I got to meet a couple of his friends who came by because they had heard he was going to die. They said they had been afraid to visit. And from there I was just 'connected.' It was like all of a sudden, a 5 �gate opened and there were a number of people who needed to deal with their spiritual issues relating to HIV and AIDS. Within a few weeks, I had connected with Dr. Jeff Beal and Ted Campbell... and all of a sudden I was like "the chaplain" for Dr. Seal's office. One day Ted Campbell called me and asked me to do some work with his HIV therapy group. "They have some spiritual issues to deal with", he said. So I went. I was there for about an hour, and it was actually a pretty hostile group at first. Not too willing to talk. They had a few nice questions to ask me, but there wasn't a conversation. And then, right before it was time to go, one of the young men, Jim B, looked at me and said, "I have a question for you. So tell me why it is that God would create somebody and then condemn them to hell. Tell me what kind of God does that." The only response I had was "a God who needs to die." Because that was true for me, the God that they were carrying around with them needed to die. So they invited me back and I went back to that group for several months and worked on theological and spiritual issues with them and about their own belovedness in God's eyes. Laura: How did you become aware of the difficulties that LGBT people faced at Phillips? Leslie: I just became aware that there were a couple of lesbian students there that were not out and were not willing to be out and only shared their story with me because I began to break the silence about the issue and ask those kinds of questions. By just becoming known as a 'safe person', several students shared their stories with me. Laura: Did you, yourself, have people assume you were a lesbian? Leslie: Absolutely, all the time. In fact, when I first started The Community of Hope I intentionally took off my wedding ring. I didn't want the straight community relying on the fact that I was straight to make me safe in their religious settings. Because the people I was working with were not safe in religious settings unless they pretended to be straight, I was unwilling for it to be that obvious that I was straight. Wrestling is a good thing for people ... 6 �Laura: You weren't willing to flaunt your heterosexuality? Leslie: Yeah ... I just wasn't willing for someone else to use it. It just made me furious that that's what made me safe. Laura: So what year did you finish seminary and how did your career trajectory go after that? Leslie: I was ordained in 1989 and I was still on staff at Memorial Drive UMC. In 1990 a young gay couple, both of whom were living with AIDS, started coming to that church. And then another couple came, and another, and so on. The church was fairly receptive to the first two: the tokenism thing was okay with them. But when it became 4 and 6 and 8 and a whole pew of young gay men, most of them with AIDS, the church got more threatened. Then in 1992 while I was in Central America leading a mission trip, the church leaders had these secret meetings and when I got back they told me I needed to leave. They were no longer comfortable with my ministry. Well, in the United Methodist Church that's not how it works. The church doesn't decide when you leave, only the bishop can decide that. So the bishop told them, "You don't decide when she leaves. I do. And she will stay until June when it is the normal time for pastors to leave." So between August of '92 and June of '93, I was in this horribly painful situation of serving this church where a significant number of the people did not want me there, but another significant number did. The church began to split and the pastor, Dr George Warren, got threatened. He wrote letters to two of the LGBT members who had already joined - Mark Vickers and Brad Mulholland informing them that they couldn't do things like go into the kitchen because they had AIDS; and they couldn't teach Sunday school; or read Scripture from the chancel area. I was appalled and they were deeply hurt - again. And so I went to the bishop and said, "I understand that I'm going to be moved in June and that's fine, that's the system. But PLEASE put someone in Tulsa who can be a safe place for these people. We've opened the door now and the care 7 �and acceptance that was promised needs to be provided." After some conversation, the Bishop said, "You need to start that congregation." Well, politically at that time, the United Methodist Church would not support my starting a new congregation that was open and affirming. So the Bishop and I put our heads together. He had just been in Central America studying Liberation Theology; and he knew I often went to Central America. We had both experienced the alternative 'churches' being formed there called Base Communities. It was a model, primarily in the Catholic tradition, where people who feel abandoned by the hierarchy in society and the church, formed small, local communities of justice and spirituality where the people are the church. Occasionally a priest may come and offer the sacraments, but the church is the people. The people are doing the work of nurturing spirituality; the people are doing social justice in their communities. The result is that the people began reading the bible in different ways, and questioning traditional theology. A Base Community made sense for Tulsa. And at the United Methodist Annual Conference in June of 1993 the Bishop of Oklahoma commissioned me to begin a Base Community here in Tulsa ... whatever that might mean. Laura: What was this bishop's name? Leslie: Dan Solomon - a very courageous man. He found $12,000 dollars for me to have a part-time salary for a year, and that's how it started: no place to meet, no office, no funds for advertising or supplies. Nothing except a group of people who were willing. I started by going to several different churches to ask for meeting space. Finally, Centenary United Methodist Church on North Denver, agreed to allow us to meet in the evenings in their basement. So on June 21, 1993 we had the very first gathering of Community of Hope. There were about 50 people at that first gathering - half gay and half straight. No children yet, but we had hopes. There had been a group of 12 or 13 people who had been meeting in my living room for two or three months trying 8 �to figure out what we wanted this church to look like. One important piece was that we were diverse in our membership_gay and straight, racially and age diverse. We chose to use a Rainbow candle as our Christ candle in worship - Christ candles are always white. Not ours - not our candle and not our Christ. Another important piece was that we wanted every aspect of our congregational life to bear witness to our valuesespecially to our belief that every single person is a child of God who deserves love and respect. So we decided that for every dollar we spent on ourselves we would also spend a dollar beyond our walls in some way that supported the marginalized. We've done that now for 13 years, supporting a number of social justice activities and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally. We met there at Centenary for about two months until one evening one of their morning members saw one of our member couples kissing in the parking lot. Within a few weeks, they asked us to leave. Next we rented a little life insurance building on the corner of Yale and Pine, and were there for about two and a half years. We outgrew it, and then we rented a warehouse on 2nd and Utica which we completely gutted and remodeled. It was a wonderful space for us, and we had a deeply rich and vibrant time. In early 1998, the City declared we couldn't stay because our zoning wasn't right for being a church. We suspected there was another agenda, but rather than spend time and energy fighting their ruling, we began to look for another building. We were 5 years old and looking for our 4t h home. Laura: It's a good thing you had the experience ... Leslie: That's right, all of my life - move, move, move. We decided to try and buy a building where we didn't have to worry about being kicked out again. We tried to buy three different church buildings but once they discovered who we were, they refused to sell to us. So finally-you 9 �know if there is anything I regret in my ministry I think this is what it is-we bought the building in the closet. We had one of our members buy it and transfer it to us. It was a deeply painful thing and it was fear that drove us to it: fear that we weren't going to have any place to call home. But I almost wish we hadn't done it, because I think it ended up hurting us in subtle but significant ways. I didn't realize that until a year or so later when I looked back at some of the conflict we'd been experiencing. We had never had conflict in our congregational life, but now some people were acting in strangely dysfunctional ways. I believe, looking back, that it was at least in part, because we had gone back into the closet in order to buy that building. Laura: Let's back up for a moment: I would assume some of this got public attention of some sort. When was the first time you remember gaining attention in the media for your outreach in the GLBT community? Leslie: Actually the Tulsa World did a story in probably 1995 and it was very positive about who we were and the outreach we were doing. That was probably the first time we got attention. I got hate mail regularly right from the beginning, and ugly messages on our answering machine. Some people in the neighborhood where we bought the building, filed complaints about us with the police, that we were "disturbing the peace." But we didn't really get much other publicity until in 1999 when I was brought up on ecclesiastical charges by the United Methodist Church. Then there was lots of it, nationally. Laura: When you were interacting with these leasing agents and realtors, had you been cognizant of laws on housing discrimination not including sexual orientation? Leslie: I think I probably had, but it was that na"ive 'it's not impacting me' kind of awareness. Besides, this was a church and it never entered my mind that you would turn down a whole church! It still just blows me away. Laura: The reason I ask is because we probably looked at 20 different spaces when we rented and that was just 2 years ago. �Leslie: And how painful it is! I mean I'm a straight woman, I had never dealt with any of this before and I had no idea of how painful it could be. Laura: Did you have any sort of dialogue within the church about the dissention that the decision to buy, sort of 'undercover,' was causing? Leslie: No, we never had a dialogue about it. I preached about it and I think that in and of itself - giving it voice - did some of the healing we needed. We named what was going on and that helped to heal the wounds: we admitted that we really messed up and we pledged together that we would not do that again. Laura: In relation to your having this sort of ministry, churches don't exist as little islands, when was the first time you recall encountering something from a different religious bent here in Tulsa? Leslie: In 1990, when I was presented for ordination in the United Methodist Church, I was charged by a colleague with heresy. The specific charge was that I didn't believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ as a literal event. But what was behind that charge was the work I was doing with the LGBT community and how threatened people were by that. Terry Ewing who at that time was an associate minister at Will Rogers United Methodist Church was the person who actually filed the charges, saying that I shouldn't be ordained because I didn't honor the ministerial covenant. It was a deeply painful thing to stand alone on the floor of the Annual Conference at Boston Avenue Church, before the 600-plus ministers in Oklahoma, and have them debate whether or not I was appropriate for ministry. But it ended up being a pretty wonderful thing because it did two things: 1) It made me decide how important this particular ministry was to me, and what I really believed about the Gospel. I decided right then and there that if I couldn't do the ministry that I felt called to do, then being ordained was meaningless. I think that decision on the floor of the conference is what got me through later challenges in my ministry that were much more difficult. 11 �So I ended up being grateful for that initial little baptism by fire. The second thing that incident did was to openly challenge the Oklahoma Conference of ministers to deal with what it was going to mean to have diversity in its midst. The vote that day ended up something like 590 to 17. But the really affirming thing happened later that night, at the public ordination ceremony held at Boston Avenue Church with a full sanctuary. When Bishop Solomon ordains someone, he always invites family and others who are there in support of the person being ordained, to stand as he places his hand on their head and ordains them. That night, when he put his hand on my head, almost the entire room stood. The vast majority didn't know or care about me personally, but they cared about diversity. Standing for me was their way of saying 'we are not going to be a church who says no to diversity.' It was a very powerful moment. Laura: Was this coexistent or did it precede debates on LGBT clergy in the church? Leslie: Oh it was right in the middle of it. The Methodist Church has been debating that for years and years and years. Laura: This obviously was going in a different direction. Leslie: Yes, this wasn't about gay clergy but about what restrictions we place on who we minister to. Laura: How about from non-Methodist clergy in Tulsa? Leslie: Totally mixed. It's kind of always been true for me in Tulsa clergy circles that when I walk into a room, the room kind of divides by where they are on this issue and other kinds of liberal issues. There are a lot of times I become sort of a metaphor for liberal religion or social justice issues in many settings. I've just gotten used to that. Laura: Now who would you construe as having been allies in this? Were there others making similar sorts of overtures to the LGBT community as you were? Or were you the trend setter? 12 �Leslie: I think in 1993 there were not many allies in Oklahoma. Community Hope was the first open and affirming, mainline congregation (other than MCC) in Tulsa. There were certainly clergy friends that I had who were sympathetic but they were not out there pushing the envelope. Laura: After 1993, what happened? Leslie: In 1996 the United Methodist Church passed a law saying that Methodist clergy cannot do same-sex blessings and those unions cannot happen in United Methodist churches. Community of Hope had been doing them all along. We would publish them in our newsletter, and put invitations and pictures out publicly. There was no secrecy. When the law passed, we had a congregational meeting and decided that come what may, we were not going to quit. We started an intentional process of asking ourselves, what is our theology of marriage, and how do we justify what we do? That resulted in writing a document that we adopted as our official position, including the commitment that that we would not stop. At about that same time, Bishop Solomon, who had blessed the start up of Community of Hope, moved to another call, and Oklahoma was assigned a new bishop: Bruce Blake. Bishop Blake said immediately and clearly that I must stop performing gay unions. I responded that I can't do that. A kind of 'dance' started then with the Oklahoma Conference. COH continued hosting holy unions and I continued officiating at those services. The conference leadership began asking for print copies or videos of services, and we'd send them. They'd respond, "you can keep doing this part but you can't wear your stole ( official clergy wear) .... Then ... 'you can stand with the couple but you can't bless the rings'.... Then, 'you can't say I announce you as wife and wife' or whatever.... We tried dancing with them for awhile because we really wanted it to work-if they were going to move a little and let us do unions, then we could move a little as well and do them differently. So I quit wearing my stole .... Then I 13 �moved to bless the rings before the ceremony and not during it... etc etc. After months of this dance, with more and more restrictions, it just finally became clear that the process had no integrity. It felt like people were being asked to cut off one of their arms or legs. 'Don't kill yourself,' they were saying, 'just cut off a piece of yourself." I went back to the conference leadership and said 'I just can't do this, and we went back to doing full unions.' For awhile there was nothing but silence from conference leadership. Shortly after that, the strangest thing happened. In 1998 there was a holy union in California that a whole group of clergy did collectively instead of as individual clergy. And they asked clergy across the nation to join them by signing on as 'officiates in abstentia'. So I signed on. Some lay person in Eufaula decided that was unacceptable to him, and he filed official church charges against me for having done a holy union in abstentia in January. Channel 11 here in Tulsa did a report on those charges and as part of their story, they got in touch with a couple for whom I had performed a holy union. The couple proudly and innocently, shared a video of their ceremony with the reporter and that night it was on the news. Within days Bishop Blake filed more charges - not just for signing on in abstenia, but for conducting union ceremonies. The national media picked it up .... and it just got to be this ridiculous mess. Bishop Blake dug in his heels and told me that I had three choices: 1) I could stop doing any unions immediately, or 2) I could go to church trial, or 3) I could give up my ordination and leave the United Methodist denomination. It didn't make any sense to me go to trial: I'm was openly guilty and I didn't plan to quit doing the ceremonies. So why would I want to spend time and energy going through that. More importantly, why would I want to drag Community of Hope through a national spectacle. They were already wounded and weary from months and months of threats and intimidation and harrassment. 14 �Knowing w hat might come, I had done my homework about my options, I immediately began to work with the United Church of Christ to t ra nsfer my ordination. The UMC charges had come on February 4, 1999; I transferred my ordi nation orders on March 4 th 1999. That process required that I return my certificate of ord ination to Bishop Blake, which I did. He actua lly sent it back to me with my dismissal scrawled across it in black marker. Laura: And how did all of t his effect the congregation? Leslie: We lost a hu ge number of people. In mid 1998 we were averaging 90-100 in worship. By March of 1999 attendance had dwindled to about 35. One more time the church had said "you're welcome here" but then stabbed them in the back. It broke my heart. I had been in the Methodist chu rch for 15 years as ordained clergy. I had a lot of relationships th ere ... t here was a lot to let go of... . a lot to grieve. La ura: How did you make the overture to the Un ited Church of Christ and how did the change affect the church? Leslie: It was really interesting. The story I told you about going to Central America and the trip leader who was gay - well, as things were heating up in 1998, he wrote to me and said he had joined the United Church of Christ. "That is where you belong," he said. So I went to talk to Russ Bennett, who was pastor of the on ly UCC church in Tulsa. Russ's imm ediate res ponse was 'Of course you belong here!" That week he drove me to Kingfisher to talk with the UCC Committee on Ministry; and he nurtured me through the process of transferring. Laura: You've experienced a lot more first hand homophobia than a lot of gay people I know! So what sort of outreach and progra mmin g was the church doing? 15 �Leslie: Well, COH held its first worship service in June of 1993. In July, we started feeding the homeless once a month. We'd prepare the food together and then take - ---,,,,= it to the Day Center and serve it. We also started volunteering with the GED program in the jails in July. In August, we took 10 of our "companions" (we don't really use 'member' language) on a mission trip to Nicaragua to build a house in a critically poor community. Those are all things we continue to do, plus we sponsor an apartment for DVIS, had a RAIN team for years, we host 3 different AA/NA meetings in our building; and we volunteer with several other social service and non-profit agencies in Tulsa. But it was our ministry with and to those living and dying with HIV/AIDS that both shaped and defined us. From the beginning we've always been at least 25% HIV infected . The core symbol of Community of Hope was a "brokenmade-whole chalice". It was gifted to us during our formation by Ted Campbell who was an HIV therapist. He had found it in a small pottery shop when he visited what used to be East Germany not too long after the wall came down. It's a chalice that incorporates cracked and broken pieces, and yet, still holds the sacramental wine we use in Holy Communion. It is a vessel that has been wounded, but it's woundedness isn't hidden or a thing of shame; but rather a beautiful and blessed part of the whole. Just like each of us - including, and perhaps ESPECIALLY, those who are living with their dying . That chalice ... and the broken-made-wholeness it represents is integral to who we are. That's why it's so important that we - the community - engage in as many ways of serving others as we can. When we become the vessel of healing and hope to others, we find it brings healing and hope to us. And, we also found that people living with HIV often felt like 'victims' or objects of care. Serving others in mission projects switched those roles - the wounded became the healer and that was incredibly empowering. 16 �Laura: You've mentioned Jeff Beal, When was the first time you really encountered the AIDS epidemic? Was it before your ministry? Leslie: I'm sure I'd heard about it but it wasn't a part of my daily life: and I don't think I knew anything about it or the bigotry around it. Not until that nurse called and I met the young man who was dying alone. Laura: What were some of the things you remember about how the community was reacting? Leslie: There was incredible fear - both IN the gay community and OF the gay community. No one knew how you got it and people were afraid to touch anything that someone with HIV had touched. Families didn't know how to react. It was such a big part of my ministry to go into a hospital room or some other setting, and hold hands, hug, give foot rubs - just TOUCH the person who was being treated as an 'untouchable.' When Community of Hope started, we actually developed a whole series of Rituals of Touch that were about affirming the lives and bodies of people who were living with AIDS. And I often found myself modeling for families who loved their son/brother etc. but were afraid and had no idea how to respond. I would hug the person or give them a back rub and talk with the famjly about the myths surrounding the transmission of HIV. It was also incredibly hard to find nursing homes that would take people with AIDS. Home health care was almost impossible for PWA;s (person's with AIDS). Even funeral homes refused to serve people who had died of AIDS. For a long time, Butler Stumpff was the only home in town that would receive their bodies and serve their families... Lots of the funerals were done at Community of Hope because there was no where else to go. In those early years, I often did 2-3 funerals a week. Laura: So you change denominations and go through this searing experience. Did you get national attention and how would you describe that experience? Leslie: Oh a flash in the pan. Jimmy Creach was another Methodist brought up on charges about the same tim~, 17 �and it was in a couple national papers and theological journals. It felt so insignificant compared to what was happening here in my backyard, that I didn't really pay attention to it. Laura: Talk a little more about the local fires. Leslie: The press was willing to reprint whatever people said and that got pretty nasty. I remember one of the news channels came to do a report here at the church, and we were clearing "Methodist" stuff out of the church. Just kind of joking, I said "What in the world are we going to do with 80 United Methodist hymnals." And, of course, that's the quote they chose to put on the air! I got lots of ugly messages: "how can you call yourself a minister and say that you know the bible?" People put hours of work into trying to convince me that I was wrong. But we also got an equal amount of mail that was supportive. I got one card that said, "I will hold my head a little higher because of you. Thank You." That felt pretty amazing. Laura: Tell me about how the church has changed since all of this happened. Any particularly notable events or members over the years? Leslie: Well one relationship I want to note is Phillips Seminary. COH has several professors and students that are a part of our congregation and Phillips has been such a supportive and wonderful institution for us. Dr. Brandon Scott has written a book called "Re-imagine our World" and the last chapter is about Community of Hope, and in particular his relationship with one young gay man who died of AIDS. I'm really grateful that a straight white male in a powerful position is willing and able to look and say "I was really changed by this young man who people said didn't count and didn't matter." It's been so good and life-giving to spend the last five years pouring my energy into creative, healing ministry and not fighting. Those first 7 or 8 years were spent fighting the institution, or at least defending ourselves from it. And now we are truly dancing with our denominational partner in a mutually supportive way. It is 18 �so nice to be able to use our energy for creative things and not fighting institutions. Laura: How has all of this affected your husband and children? Leslie: It affected my children profoundly. They don't go to church and have never been able to find a faith community they trust. They just have no tolerance for hypocracy and are having a hard time figuring out what religious life means to them. My husband was probably more wounded by the stuff with the United Methodist Church than I was, because he felt so powerless. He couldn't do anything about it. All he could do was stand by my side and watch them hurt me ... and he has enough white male in him (exMarine) that he wants to be the knight in shining armor. I've been able to let go of my anger at them, but he just can't. To this day, every time he hears the whole UMC spiel about Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors, he just boils. I'm not angry anymore, and I'm able to name the gifts I received from my time with the Methodists. I had some wonderful years as a Methodist and COH never would have happened without them. But it's been hard for Steve. Laura: There's been a vocal and organized LGBT community for quite awhile in Tulsa, but that hasn't translated to big political names despite the city's size. Why do you suspect that is the case? Leslie: First of all I've seen lots of incredible changes. In 1993 when Community of Hope opened there was nothing for the gay community besides bars. Even like the pride store was inside a bar! The group at TOHR didn't have a home: there were just bars. I'm really grateful that it has become so much more mainstream in Tulsa. As for why, I think it's the same reason Tulsa hasn't progressed more with issues of racism and poverty. I think middle and upper class privilege affects us in ways that keep us from really dealing with issues of marginalization in the longterm way that we need to. We engage in the struggle for a little while, but if change doesn't happen quickly, we have other things to do-we have busy lives and enough privilege that we can move on. 19 �Laura: How has the gay community and the community at large supported you over the years? Can you give me some examples of that? Leslie: Well Nancy McDonald has always been very supportive, financially and in all other ways. People like Marcus Rice, who works at Williams, and Dennis Neill are there to be supportive and let you know that they are behind you. Laura: Is there anything else you'd like to add? If not, I appreciate your time. Leslie: Well I appreciate yours. And I appreciate the gift of the journey. Transcribed by Matthew Warren E~ited by Leslie Penrose, Dec 2026 20 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oral Histories Project > Interviews Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Box 7, Folder 7 - Dr. Leisa Meyer Program Box 7, Folder 8 - Interviewees Materials, Original Series 2003-2007 Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2006] Leslie Penrose Interview Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 31, 2006 Description An account of the resource Video recording and transcript of oral history interview with Laura Belmonte on March 31, 2006. Born in Amarillo, Texas in 1951, Leslie graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in Religion and then a Masters of Divinity at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa. She discusses her marriage, children and work in the LGBTQ+ community as a faith leader and early outreach to those impacted by HIV/AIDS. With the Methodist Bishop’s support, in 1993 she founded the Community of Hope when church leaders at her mainstream church became uncomfortable with her AIDS outreach. Facing continued pressure from the denomination, in 1999 she transferred her ordination to United Church of Christ to continue her ministry to the LGBTQ+ community and support for those living with HIV/AIDS. Subject The topic of the resource Leslie Penrose Oral History Project Interview from March 31, 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Leslie Penrose, Laura Belmonte, Matthew Warren, Dennis Neill 2006 AIDS AIDS/HIV Community of Hope HIV HIV/AIDs interview Laura A. Belmonte Laura Belmonte Leslie Penrose OKEQ Oral History Project oral history oral history interview Oral History Project oral history transcript Phillips Theological Seminary transcript TU United Church of Christ University of Tulsa video https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/af4cc51745944714e799fdf80fa9868f.pdf 34effae04407e588dcba3bfb9df30eda PDF Text Text The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow Talk About Tulsa => Other Tulsa Discussion => Topic started by: Ronnie Lowe on August 29, 2011, 11:04:26 pm Title: Tulsa Gay Alliance-1973 Post by: Ronnie Lowe on August 29, 2011, 11:04:26 pm Tulsa Gay Alliance 1973 It was 1973 and developments of great consequence were everywhere to be found. The Vietnam War was ending, the Watergate Scandal broke, the American Indian Movement seized a trading post and a church at historic Wounded Knee in South Dakota and minorities throughout the United States were encouraged by the progress of American Blacks. Here in Tulsa, a small but determined group of gay people organized to secure our right to be equal to our heterosexual counterparts. But in 1973 the tide had not yet turned for gay people. The medical profession had still to declare us fit. Hoover’s FBI routinely kept files on all “known” homosexuals. It was Boys in the Band times and while the coasts were closeted the atmosphere in Tulsa was doubly onerous. For most gay people there was the palpable fear of being beaten, fired from our jobs and driven out of our neighborhoods. Sometimes petty enemies, jealous neighbors or toxic co-workers who learned of our circumstance would blackmail us. Even discussion of homosexuality was considered inappropriate. The Tulsa Police Department would regularly bust gay bars simply because they catered to gay people. The TPD would back a paddy wagon up to the front of a bar, take the patrons down to the station, book and release them and the next day the Tulsa World and the Tulsa Tribune would print their names and more often than not they would be fired from their jobs. If we were dancing to Motown downtown at the Taj Mahal Bar and the lights flickered the men on the dance floor would separate because that was a signal that the police had arrived. It was illegal for men to dance together. It was illegal for men to dress in women’s clothing. It was illegal for two people of the same sex that loved each other, that wanted to have consensual sexual relations, to do so. Meanwhile homosexuality was as common then as it is today. Roughly ten percent of every demographic in Tulsa was homosexual -- living in denial or living in secret. It was in this oppressive Soviet-like atmosphere that I became a founding member of Tulsa Gay Alliance. I was 19 years old. Formation of Tulsa Gay Alliance That summer, I had read about and written to a new gay group at Oklahoma University in Norman and a man there named Denis put me in touch with a religious man, as I recall a seminarian, here in Tulsa who was forming a gay liberation group. So there we were in the late summer of 1973: A group of gay men and my feminist friend Jan, spread around the living room of this seminarian’s apartment at London Square, inventing our first gay political group. To my surprise my eighth grade English teacher, Gary Durst, was there with his friend. The energy was incredible as we addressed issues like -- what to call ourselves. Were we homosexuals, gays or the more radical moniker -- queers? We would avoid a rigid hierarchy and take turns leading meetings, we could reserve a room at the Tulsa Library, we would post notice and let everyone know that gay people would be gathering openly. We would tell the world who we were. Tulsa Gay Alliance was taking shape as we brainstormed. We accepted ourselves and that was the seminal spark. Tulsa Central Library Meetings There weren’t a large number of us at those first public meetings. As I recall there were only a handful, maybe seven or eight folks. I recall a Germanic dark-haired lesbian named Tay, the seminarian, a former Tulsa policeman, an older man who managed a gay bar and his friend, me and my straight friend Susan with her baby Jasmine in tow. There were just two or three more young men involved. I suppose we were trying to present ourselves as a public service when we scheduled our first guest speaker: A man from the Tulsa Health Department who lectured us on Sexually Transmitted Disease. I recall a drag show fundraiser at a gay bar named The Eighth Day at the intersection of 11th Street and Lewis. Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross and Judy Garland showed up. And I remember going to Southroads Mall with my friend Jan to canvas political candidates appearing there and asking them about their stance on gay rights. Tulsa Junior College �Tulsa Junior College Meanwhile, I was planning to attend Oklahoma University and wanted to complete some credits here at the new downtown Tulsa Junior College. Registration day arrived and I remember being pulled out of line by a security guard at TJC who told me I would be allowed to attend only if I promised not to organize a gay group at Tulsa Junior College. Apparently news of the free speech movement had not yet reached Tulsa. And just as now, many folks in power in Tulsa were gay and their hypocrisy was staggering. Generation Rap I’m not sure how many meetings occurred or how large Tulsa Gay Alliance became or what finally happened. I transferred to Oklahoma University early in that group’s life. At OU I joined the gay group and participated in consciousness raising presentations for heterosexual students. Not long after I arrived in Norman, Tulsa Gay Alliance arranged a show on a Tulsa TV show named Generation Rap. I volunteered for the show and traveled back to Tulsa with another gay man named Richard. A lesbian from the OU group also joined us. The show went very well. The psychologist twins who hosted Generation Rap asked me when I became gay and I immediately responded that I had been gay from the beginning. I never experienced a so-called conversion and that seemed to confuse the twins who asked me to repeat myself. Now I would respond that nature made me. I am a part of nature’s grand plan. Tulsa buffs will want to note that following the show the lone cameraman, Mazeppa Pompazoidi, stepped out from behind the camera and told me, “Man, that was good.” My dear mother had her sympathetic friends the Van Dusen’s over to our house to watch Generation Rap with her. I know that my public coming out was not easy for her. But as always my mother held her head high and supported me. Finally Today, gay politics is not central to my life. Our progress has allowed me to take that stance. But as hokey and flawed as our little gay group was, it was an important step for Tulsa. It was a genuine highpoint in the history of Gay People in Tulsa. We were the group that was not afraid to say our name. Way back in 1973 we did not hesitate to say we are Gay and we are proud. I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has memory of Tulsa Gay Alliance. Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Collection] Oklahoma LGBT+ History Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Digital Media: Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow Talk About Tulsa => Other Tulsa Discussion => Topic started by: Ronnie Lowe on August 29, 2011, 11:04:26 pm Title: Tulsa Gay Alliance-1973 Post by: Ronnie Lowe on August 29, 2011, 11:04:26 pm Tulsa Gay Alliance 1973 It was 1973 and developments of great consequence were everywhere to be found. The Vietnam War was ending, the Watergate Scandal broke, the American Indian Movement seized a trading post and a church at historic Wounded Knee in South Dakota and minorities throughout the United States were encouraged by the progress of American Blacks. Here in Tulsa, a small but determined group of gay people organized to secure our right to be equal to our heterosexual counterparts. But in 1973 the tide had not yet turned for gay people. The medical profession had still to declare us fit. Hoover’s FBI routinely kept files on all “known” homosexuals. It was Boys in the Band times and while the coasts were closeted the atmosphere in Tulsa was doubly onerous. For most gay people there was the palpable fear of being beaten, fired from our jobs and driven out of our neighborhoods. Sometimes petty enemies, jealous neighbors or toxic co-workers who learned of our circumstance would blackmail us. Even discussion of homosexuality was considered inappropriate. The Tulsa Police Department would regularly bust gay bars simply because they catered to gay people. The TPD would back a paddy wagon up to the front of a bar, take the patrons down to the station, book and release them and the next day the Tulsa World and the Tulsa Tribune would print their names and more often than not they would be fired from their jobs. If we were dancing to Motown downtown at the Taj Mahal Bar and the lights flickered the men on the dance floor would separate because that was a signal that the police had arrived. It was illegal for men to dance together. It was illegal for men to dress in women’s clothing. It was illegal for two people of the same sex that loved each other, that wanted to have consensual sexual relations, to do so. Meanwhile homosexuality was as common then as it is today. Roughly ten percent of every demographic in Tulsa was homosexual -- living in denial or living in secret. It was in this oppressive Soviet-like atmosphere that I became a founding member of Tulsa Gay Alliance. I was 19 years old. Formation of Tulsa Gay Alliance That summer, I had read about and written to a new gay group at Oklahoma University in Norman and a man there named Denis put me in touch with a religious man, as I recall a seminarian, here in Tulsa who was forming a gay liberation group. So there we were in the late summer of 1973: A group of gay men and my feminist friend Jan, spread around the living room of this seminarian’s apartment at London Square, inventing our first gay political group. To my surprise my eighth grade English teacher, Gary Durst, was there with his friend. The energy was incredible as we addressed issues like -- what to call ourselves. Were we homosexuals, gays or the more radical moniker -- queers? We would avoid a rigid hierarchy and take turns leading meetings, we could reserve a room at the Tulsa Library, we would post notice and let everyone know that gay people would be gathering openly. We would tell the world who we were. Tulsa Gay Alliance was taking shape as we brainstormed. We accepted ourselves and that was the seminal spark. Tulsa Central Library Meetings There weren’t a large number of us at those first public meetings. As I recall there were only a handful, maybe seven or eight folks. I recall a Germanic dark-haired lesbian named Tay, the seminarian, a former Tulsa policeman, an older man who managed a gay bar and his friend, me and my straight friend Susan with her baby Jasmine in tow. There were just two or three more young men involved. I suppose we were trying to present ourselves as a public service when we scheduled our first guest speaker: A man from the Tulsa Health Department who lectured us on Sexually Transmitted Disease. I recall a drag show fundraiser at a gay bar named The Eighth Day at the intersection of 11th Street and Lewis. Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross and Judy Garland showed up. And I remember going to Southroads Mall with my friend Jan to canvas political candidates appearing there and asking them about their stance on gay rights. Tulsa Junior College Tulsa Junior College Meanwhile, I was planning to attend Oklahoma University and wanted to complete some credits here at the new downtown Tulsa Junior College. Registration day arrived and I remember being pulled out of line by a security guard at TJC who told me I would be allowed to attend only if I promised not to organize a gay group at Tulsa Junior College. Apparently news of the free speech movement had not yet reached Tulsa. And just as now, many folks in power in Tulsa were gay and their hypocrisy was staggering. Generation Rap I’m not sure how many meetings occurred or how large Tulsa Gay Alliance became or what finally happened. I transferred to Oklahoma University early in that group’s life. At OU I joined the gay group and participated in consciousness raising presentations for heterosexual students. Not long after I arrived in Norman, Tulsa Gay Alliance arranged a show on a Tulsa TV show named Generation Rap. I volunteered for the show and traveled back to Tulsa with another gay man named Richard. A lesbian from the OU group also joined us. The show went very well. The psychologist twins who hosted Generation Rap asked me when I became gay and I immediately responded that I had been gay from the beginning. I never experienced a so-called conversion and that seemed to confuse the twins who asked me to repeat myself. Now I would respond that nature made me. I am a part of nature’s grand plan. Tulsa buffs will want to note that following the show the lone cameraman, Mazeppa Pompazoidi, stepped out from behind the camera and told me, “Man, that was good.” My dear mother had her sympathetic friends the Van Dusen’s over to our house to watch Generation Rap with her. I know that my public coming out was not easy for her. But as always my mother held her head high and supported me. Finally Today, gay politics is not central to my life. Our progress has allowed me to take that stance. But as hokey and flawed as our little gay group was, it was an important step for Tulsa. It was a genuine highpoint in the history of Gay People in Tulsa. We were the group that was not afraid to say our name. Way back in 1973 we did not hesitate to say we are Gay and we are proud. I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has memory of Tulsa Gay Alliance. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2011] Tulsa Gay Alliance Formation in 1973 Description An account of the resource A posting on the TulsaNow's Tulsa Forum's site. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lowe, Ronnie Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived TulsaNow - The Tulsa Forum Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Lowe, Ronnie Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 08/29/2011 Posting Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lowe, Ronnie Ronnie Lowe The Tulsa Forum Tulsa Gay Alliance TulsaNow https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/2193e3569351ea3010b2f1db940345a8.pdf 61990c5d66826db5bcea65c3e248a9e2 PDF Text Text Oklahomans for Equality History Project The Oklahomans for Equality History Project remembers former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who died on Wednesday, May 20, after a political career that included ﬁghts for gay rights and tribal citizenship for the descendants of former tribal slaves. Frank was the ﬁrst member of the U.S. House of Representatives to publicly acknowledge that he was gay. “His public declaration of his sexual orientation in 1987 — spurred by a fear of being outed, by the death of a closeted colleague and by his own determination to show that homosexuality was nothing to be ashamed of — helped normalize being openly gay in public life,” The New York Times wrote in his obituary. His advocacy for gay rights and freedmen descendants brought Frank to Tulsa at different times. He arrived at Tulsa International Airport on the morning of Saturday, June 12, 1999, just in time to kick off an event-ﬁlled Pride weekend. He was the grand marshal of Tulsa’s ﬁrst ever Pride parade, which closed the streets from Brookside to Veterans Park (now Dream Keepers Park) at 21st Street and Boulder Avenue that morning. And that evening he was the keynote speaker at “An Evening with Barney Frank,” a gala hosted by Tulsa Oklahomans for Equality and the Cimarron Alliance at the Greenwood Cultural Center. He ﬂew out early Sunday morning – after a very early prayer breakfast – to attend to unexpected House business and was quite apologetic for his early departure, former TOHR President Greg Gatewood remembers. Frank told the Tulsa World for a June 13, 1999, story that “U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe – the Oklahoma Republican who recently tried to block �the nomination of a gay ambassador to Luxembourg – helped inspire him to join Tulsa's parade. "‘In a major urban area where there has been a well-organized gay and lesbian movement for years, they don't need my help so much,’" Frank said. "But here, where the political climate isn't so good – where the U.S. senator has basically said that gay and lesbian people don't have the right to be American citizens – I want to help out all that I can." Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights, which later became Oklahomans for Equality, had sponsored an annual Pride picnic for 18 years, and marches on sidewalks were included in 1997 and ’98, but the 1999 event was the ﬁrst parade that involved street closings and police escorts. Frank returned to Tulsa in 2017 to lend his support and speak at an event at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park in celebration of an Aug. 30 ruling by a federal judge that the descendants of former slaves of the Cherokee Nation are entitled to Cherokee citizenship. Frank had worked in Congress to force the Cherokee Nation to acknowledge freedmen descendants as tribal citizens, having asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in September 2011 to cut off housing funding to the Cherokee Nation if it did not restore tribal citizenship to Black Cherokees. Frank told the Bay State Banner, a Boston newspaper, that month that he became involved with the issue because “from my earliest days in politics, I’ve considered race one of the single most important problems. I think fighting racism is important.” �The Oklahomans for Equality History Project encourages you to learn more about OkEq’s history by visiting our online archives at history.okeq.org. � https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/2eee107f234bb2bbb6ce8b020512c514.png 0a5d39392b559d5868396cb18589c819 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oklahoma LGBT+ History > In Memoriam Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Digital Media: Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2026] Barney Frank Remembrance Subject The topic of the resource Barney Frank Remembrance Article Description An account of the resource Two pages of an article written by Mary Bishop-Baldwin about Barney Frank, who passed away on May 20th, 2026. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mary Bishop-Baldwin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 20, 2026 1999 Pride 2026 Barney Frank biography House of Representatives in memoriam Pride 1999 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/39bbca53890a1550ec9f467e7be274c8.jpg da860761e202deae76dd3a2043fea08b https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/917a3a3976fe27fd719af98ef1ce5633.PNG a39328f9a4aa4a5f405d73a4b061ae79 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/2ff2897d9270f84878e1ba6836c894e6.PNG 8c8451e74bf7b44839d39627752a405f https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/c3e39eca11e7f0eecf1e0bf0be2e12e6.PNG f4b62d79e44ba322c5878cadc7344130 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/36fe306466b859ac1185fe4e952782b7.PNG d810deb587efd3d5bd882dbad39cff57 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/e6ea42a24bc4a8ca3c360d77f0798737.PNG 4b3e6d85701a3e2396745ca255b55271 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/bec7aa530c8707a91c790a2baea8fe29.PNG e386159a451e20660398e024411326bf https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/352abe276a3e7af110e3d3d6101edfb6.png 0f047f22d69bb944dd84e9e5115f47d5 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/17928ba6dc659c03451ac55b4850599e.docx ebf2abe0007d5daf2d797ba9f0e6fe73 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2025] Pulse Memorial Images Subject The topic of the resource Pulse Memorial Images from Orlando, Florida, and Tulsa, Oklahoma Description An account of the resource 8 images related to memorials for the Pulse nightclub shooting that occurred on June 12, 2016. The first is from the official memorial site in Orlando, Florida taken during the summer of 2025 by Mary Bishop-Baldwin, and 6 of them are from various locations in Tulsa, including the Equality Center, that displayed rainbow lights in solidarity on the day of the attack. The last image features the names of the 49 victims. This entry also includes an article written by Mary Bishop-Baldwin for the 10th anniversary. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 12, 2016; 2025 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mary Bishop-Baldwin https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/4adebf0d44994d369d09f3575feec61d.jpg ad72637811113670aa330f4ea33f8595 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/64c74821b30c649886ad68d44b69d1dd.docx d71e856583f6992983ed003cff45e0a6 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/7c2883bf7ed6d734cf5f7159d6a5724f.jpg 0667fe995ad8830d0ee5454a0496092b Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Article Text Any textual data included in the document The Oklahomans for Equality History Project remembers with pride the U.S. Supreme Court opinions handed down on June 26 in various years that made monumental strides in the quest for equality for LGBTQ people. We think June 26 should be National Equality Day! • On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court struck down state sodomy laws across the nation in Lawrence v. Texas. • On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court killed the Defense of Marriage Act in U.S. v. Windsor AND overturned Prop 8 in California. • On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land in Obergefell v. Hodges. • On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that all states must provide married same-sex couples the same "constellation of benefits" and recognition afforded to heterosexual couples. The OkEq History Project’s archives remind us of how Tulsa acknowledged all those cases and rulings. June 26, 2003 The Spring 2003 edition of the TOHR Torch, the publication of Oklahomans for Equality’s forerunner, Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights, noted that Oklahoma was one of only four states that still specifically criminalized same-sex sodomy at that time. The others were Texas, Kansas and Missouri. The Arkansas Supreme Court had overturned that state’s same-sex sodomy law the previous year. The U.S. Supreme Court was expected to issue a ruling in Lawrence v. Texas in June, and an article in the Spring 2003 Torch announced that Lee Taft, Lambda Legal regional director in Dallas, was to discuss the case at Fellowship Congregational United Church of Christ in Tulsa on April 14. Lambda Legal had represented the two defendants in a criminal sodomy case and led the case through appeals. “Battling for years in the Texas courts, we sought to overturn the criminal convictions (which made the two men registerable ‘sex offenders’ in several states) and to have Texas’s law declared unconstitutional,” Lambda says on its website. “When the highest court in Texas eventually refused to even hear our arguments, we convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. In a stunning victory, the highest court in the land found the “Homosexual Conduct” law unconstitutional and established, for the first time, that lesbians and gay men share the same fundamental liberty right to private sexual intimacy with another adult that heterosexuals have.” The ruling overturned the June 30, 1986, precedent of Bowers v. Hardwick, in which the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that states had the right to criminalize sodomy on the grounds of public morality. The TOHR Torch noted that “sodomy laws (were) used to justify discrimination against lesbians and gay men … in every day life; they’re invoked in denying employment to gay people, in refusing custody or visitation for gay parents, and even in intimidating gay people out of exercising their free speech rights.” The Lawrence ruling set the stage for later advances in the struggle for equal rights under the law, with each case building on those that had come before. The Summer 2003 TOHR Torch included an article from the History Project outlining the history of sodomy laws, with a focus on Oklahoma, where in 1890 the pre-statehood territory’s Legislature had codified its sodomy law with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. The relevant statute, Title 21, Section 21-886, refers to the crime as “the detestable and abominable crime against nature.” State courts made consensual heterosexual sodomy legal in 1986 but retained the right to prosecute consensual homosexual conduct. That Summer 2003 article noted that “Oklahoma’s law has become legal justification for firing gay and lesbian teachers, administrators and school personnel, nursing home workers and others. These Oklahomans and other gays and lesbians are therefore required to choose between their livelihoods and their ability to be open about who they are. As a result, gays and lesbians in Oklahoma are deterred from seeking political and social change.” With repercussions like those, it’s no wonder so many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Oklahomans continued to live in the closet. The Lawrence ruling made it possible for many to come out of the shadows and was a major building block for the legal victories that came later. June 26, 2013 Ten years later, two huge advances in the quest for marriage equality came out of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2013. The July 3, 2013, OkEq eNews reported that on the evening of Wednesday, June 26, 2013, more than 400 celebrants gathered at a Decision Day Rally at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center to celebrate that morning’s Supreme Court rulings on both the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, making same-sex marriage legal in California again. The group heard from attorney and OkEq board member Mike Redman and the plaintiffs in the Oklahoma marriage equality lawsuit, Mary Bishop & Sharon Baldwin and Sue Barton & Gay Phillips. “There was a champagne toast and a fabulous wedding cake from Merritt's Bakery,” the article says. The eNews article shares photos from the Decision Day Rally. Oklahomans for Equality Board of Directors President Angela Sivadon, center, and her now-wife, Mary Robinson, serve wedding cake to the crowd at the Decision Day rally in 2013. The overturning of DOMA meant that the United States government would recognize any marriage – including same-sex marriages – recognized by any state. It did not, however, force states to recognize same-sex marriages. That fight was left for other cases, but, like Lawrence v. Texas, United States v. Windsor was a fundamental building block for those that followed. In California, the nation’s largest state, marriages of same-sex couples had been legal since June 17, 2008, after a May 15 ruling by that state’s Supreme Court. But a group of people, known as the proponents of Prop 8, gathered enough signatures to put Proposition 8, a proposed state constitutional amendment, on the ballot. Prop 8 was to define marriage as between only a man and a woman and to stop the same-sex marriages. When they went to the polls on Nov. 4, 2008, more than 13 million Californians voted 52% to 48% in favor of the state question. No more same-sex marriages were allowed – at least for the time being – but about 18,000 had already been solemnized. The resulting amendment was challenged in court in Hollingsworth v. Perry, and on June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the proponents, who defended the constitutional amendment after the state of California refused to do so, did not have standing – or the legal right – to defend the case. Therefore, the Aug. 4, 2010, ruling of U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker that Prop 8 violated the U.S. Constitution was upheld. Same-sex marriages began again in California on June 28, 2013. June 26, 2015 Marriage equality was achieved for all the land on June 26, 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that marriage is a fundamental right that is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to everyone, including same-sex couples. Oklahoma had achieved marriage equality through the courts a year earlier, but all the states that still did not have marriage equality were required at that time to authorize and recognize marriages of same-sex couples. Oklahomans for Equality proclaimed in its June 30, 2015, eNews that “at long last, there is no such thing as ‘gay marriage’ – now it's just MARRIAGE!” The eNews article shares photos from the Marriage Equality Celebration Rally that OkEq held at the Equality Center that evening. Attendees at the Marriage Equality Celebration Rally on June 26, 2015 – the day the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land in the Obergefell case – give attorneys Don Holladay and Joe Thai, front left, a standing ovation. Holladay and Thai, along with attorneys James Warner III and Jeffrey Fisher, represented the plaintiffs in the Oklahoma marriage equality lawsuit, which they had won the year before. June 26, 2017 The U.S. Supreme Court followed up exactly two years later with a ruling that clarified for states that didn’t yet get it what it had meant by marriage equality in 2015. Its ruling in Pavan v. Smith would establish that all states must provide married same-sex couples with the same benefits and recognition they afford to heterosexual couples. The plaintiffs were two legally married Arkansas same-sex couples, the Jacobses and the Pavans, who had conceived children through anonymous sperm donation. The state refused to list the wives of the birth mothers as co-parents on the children’s birth certificates, citing a state law. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law was “inconsistent” with its Obergefell ruling. “When an opposite-sex couple conceives a child by way of anonymous sperm donation – just as the petitioners did here – state law requires the placement of the birth mother’s husband on the child’s birth certificate. … And that is so even though (as the State concedes) the husband “is definitively not the biological father” in those circumstances. … Arkansas may not, consistent with Obergefell, deny married same-sex couples that recognition,” the Supreme Court wrote in its decision. The Oklahomans for Equality History Project encourages you to learn more about OkEq’s history and the history of our rights by visiting our online archives at history.okeq.org. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource June 26 Supreme Court rulings Subject The topic of the resource LGBTQ civil rights cases Description An account of the resource This article looks at the very consequential U.S. Supreme Court decisions handed down on June 26 in various years that furthered LGBTQ rights. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mary Bishop-Baldwin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Oklahomans for Equality History Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 26, 2026 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright (c) 2026 Oklahomans for Equality Angela Sivadon birth certificates co-parents Defense of Marriage Act DOMA don holladay Gay Phillips Joe Thai Lawrence v. Texas marriage equality mary bishop Mary Robinson Obergefell Pavan v. Smith Prop 8 sharon baldwin sodomy Sue Barton Windsor https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/e199189b04dd3b5382a5936a1bdfbad8.docx 6fb218697ba809f168f56931cbcff9cc https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/f0fd9c3e465c454796f5af97da81bc9b.jpg 6bffe8058f921370e79a9c1e586050f6 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/6b2ffab42157492b2e5d4f9ef280df60.jpg ebdb024fc0a0d148084f44c553fed0b1 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/48dd0df2b9e9c3b568347f8452509afc.jpg df29616c229b8cb3e85bf66c579a3a90 https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/914a0a5d5cb38506eefbb720a230fed1.jpg a9fcdcfe015ffac99079c771fa20ee6b https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/4170ace04ce0c6368b93cdb132bce6bc.jpg 3299b853d201053ee0c086c6dc2a562f Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Oklahomans for Equality History Project For many years in June, which is LGBTQ Pride month, Tulsa’s downtown streets and parks were awash in a rainbow of colors with a sea of the beautiful diversity of humanity assembled for Tulsa Pride. But it wasn’t always that way. Think about a time when Pride didn’t exist – a time when many of you weren’t yet born but when a large number of our LGBTQ community WERE here, trying to live in a world that didn’t acknowledge their humanity. LGBTQ people existed, but pride did not. Being gay or trans meant living in the closet for fear of losing one’s family, job, religious affiliation and home and being ostracized – and even jailed or institutionalized – for living openly. Beyond those outward realities, LGBTQ people often were self-loathing, longing to change their sexual orientation or gender identity so they could fit in with society and live in accordance with what society said their God demanded. But throughout history, some gay and trans people have stood up to challenge the status quo and say, “We’re OK just as we are.” Accepting ourselves was the beginning of Pride. Oklahomans for Equality’s forerunner organization, Oklahomans for Human Rights, was organized in Tulsa as a chapter of an Oklahoma City-based organization in 1980, and a handful of Tulsa’s gay men and lesbians came together in 1982 to organize and produce Tulsa’s first Gay Pride Week. In its May 26, 1982, newsletter, available in the OkEq History Project archives, OHR called it “Tulsa’s first major commemoration of the beginning of gay liberation,” the Stonewall riots of 1969. Events included a picnic and festival at Chandler Park; softball games at Manion Park; beer busts at local bars Tulsa County Mining Co., Tracy’s New Edition, Tim’s Playroom and Zippers; a screening of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Brook Theater; Gay Day at Discoveryland; Gayskate at the Rinky Dink Skating Rink in Sand Springs; and a benefit drag show. The next year’s Pride Week Picnic, held at Mohawk Park, drew about 300 people, according to OHR’s July 1983 newsletter. Records in Oklahomans for Equality’s archives show that the 1983 Gay Pride Week Committee’s total income was $1,910.66, while expenses totaled $1,473.83, bringing the organization a $436.83 profit. Those early Tulsa Pride events didn’t involve parades and were relatively low-key events in out-of-the-way locations. In contrast, it costs anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 to put on today’s Pride events. OHR became TOHR in 1985, when local activists formed the nonprofit Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights and separated from the Oklahoma City organization. The annual picnics continued, and it seemed that perhaps greater visibility and even acceptance had come to Tulsa Pride in 1994 when then-Mayor Susan Savage proclaimed the week of June 19 through June 25 that year “as Gay & Lesbian Pride Week in our city.” Tulsa’s first Pride march came in 1997. Without closing the roads, marchers traveled one-half mile on Edison Street from Gilcrease Museum Road to Owen Park, where a picnic was held. Participants also listened to music, and community organizations and businesses offered information and merchandise at booths. The second Pride march, in 1998, saw about 150 people march from 15th and Main streets to Veterans Park (now Dream Keepers Park) at 21st Street and Boulder Avenue. The 1999 event was the first parade that involved street closings and police escorts. Tulsa’s first Pride parade went from 38th Street and Peoria Avenue in the Brookside District to 31st Street, then west to Riverside Drive, and then north to Veterans Park. With the political and social environments of the times, it took Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights quite some doing to acquire a permit for the parade. The Tulsa City Council delayed a vote on the permit twice before finally approving it. In the meantime, one councilor, Sam Roop, had proposed and then dropped a resolution stating that the City Council did not endorse the June 12 parade. The Tulsa World reported that Roop had been concerned that approval of the parade permit “might be construed as an endorsement of the ‘gay pride agenda.’” In the end, he joined the other councilors in unanimously approving the permit – but not the “lifestyle.” Tulsa World archives record that Councilor Darla Hall said that "the gay community is not before this council tonight so that we can stand in judgment of their lifestyle. They will appear before God for that, just as we all will answer to God for our lifestyles. I only pray they are as prepared for that day as they are for the parade.” But with the parades came increased visibility. The keynote speaker at a gala hosted by Tulsa Oklahomans for Equality and the Cimarron Alliance, as well as the grand marshal of the first Pride parade, was U.S. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who brought with him increased media coverage of Tulsa Pride. Big names were also included in the next year’s Pride, which showcased as gala speakers and co-grand marshals Olympic diver Greg Louganis and Col. Grethe Cammermeyer, who had successfully challenged her dismissal from the Army for being a lesbian and who later worked for the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. That same year, 2000, the Rev. Dr. Mel White, founder of Soul Force and author of “Stranger at the Gate,” spoke at the Tulsa Pride Week Interfaith Service. Activities related to Pride were growing in number, too, with film festivals, book discussions, high school gay-straight alliance showcases, Council Oak Men’s Chorale performances, PFLAG parents panel discussions, art shows and a NAMES Project AIDS memorial quilt display included along with a parade and festival during Pride Weeks by the early years of the 21st century. By 2001, the parade route had shifted to Cherry Street, with step-off at 15th Street and Utica Avenue and the conclusion again at Veterans Park. Archives show that the annual parade continued along that route until 2009, when it ran through the Arts District and ended at the Diversity Festival’s new location at Centennial Park (now Veterans Park), at Sixth Street and Peoria Avenue. During those years, paradegoers mixed with athletes and the crowd watching Tulsa Tough bicycle races in the Arts District. TOHR changed its name to Oklahomans for Equality in 2006 in advance of the opening of the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center – OkEq’s permanent home – in February 2007, and in 2011, the festival was moved to Fourth Street – Pride Street – and Kenosha Avenue in front of the Equality Center. In 2014, the parade route shifted to start at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, 13th Street and Boston Avenue, still ending at the Equality Center. The annual Rainbow Run’s inaugural year, with a 5K race and a 1K fun run, was 2014. The timing of Tulsa’s Pride parade and festival changed in 2024 to October to avoid the extreme heat of Oklahoma’s summers and to coincide with LGBTQ History Month and National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11. The Equality Gala and other events still take place in June. Inclusion and acceptance have grown along with Pride, with some push and pull, advancements and backlash, along the way. This year’s events this fall are expected to draw nearly 70 parade entries, with a crowd size along the parade route estimated at 10,000 and attendees at the Pride festival projected at 26,000. The Oklahomans for Equality History Project encourages you to learn more about OkEq’s history by visiting our online archives at history.okeq.org. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Article Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource History of Tulsa Pride Subject The topic of the resource Tulsa Pride history Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mary Bishop-Baldwin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 23, 2026 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright (c) 2026 Oklahomans for Equality Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text https://www.history.okeq.org/files/original/a07d3eaa348eb6e4dd37b75bfde96f62.pdf 25dfc1a3af2c68004bca1aa7f2ea1200 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [Series] Oklahoma LGBT+ History > In Memoriam Description An account of the resource Physical Media: Digital Media: Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Dustin James Parker, 25, of McAlester, died on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, in McAlester. A memorial service will be held on Monday, January 6, at 10 a.m. at McAlester Expo Center. Dustin was born on February 25, 1994, in Ada, to Rusty and Danielle (LeFlore) Parker. After graduating high school he attended Eastern State College in Wilburton, where he earned an associate degree in criminal justice. It is also where he met his future wife, Regina Bargas. Dustin was an instrumental part and manager of the new Rover Taxi service in McAlester. He loved his work and loved being able to provide for his family. Dustin loved to read and enjoyed dancing and singing and was a wonderful father to their four children. He was also a founding member of Oklahomans for Equality, McAlester Chapter. Dustin is survived by his wife, Regina; four children, Alex Hilburn, Natalie Hilburn, Damon Parker and Jacelyn Parker, all of the home; his parents, Rusty and Danielle Parker, of Krebs; a brother, Jonah Parker, of Krebs; paternal grandparents, Michael and Jenny Lou Parker; his parents-in-law, Eugene and Rosetta Bargas, of McAlester, and a brother-in-law, Kevin Bargas, of McAlester. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Arthur Sr. and Linda LeFlore. Published on January 3, 2020 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource [2020] Dustin Parker, February 25, 1994-January 1, 2020 Subject The topic of the resource Obituaries of Important figures associated with Oklahomans for Equality Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McAlester News Capital Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available McAlester News Capital Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 3, 2020 Description An account of the resource Dustin Parker was murdered in McAlester, Oklahoma on January 1, 2020. The first 2020 murder of a trans person in the United States. He was the Co-founder of Oklahomans for Equality - McAlester Chapter Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Online text PDF Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Obituary Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context https://history.okeq.org/items/show/396 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant McAlester---Oklahoma Ada---Oklahoma Oklahoma---McAlester Oklahoma---Ada United States of America (50 states) Dustin Parker McAlester Oklahomans for Equality - McAlester Chapter Regina Bargas Trans Murder