Guide to the Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators Records,
1985-1995
Processed by Barbara Blinick; machine-readable finding aid created by Gabriela A. Montoya
Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California
P.O. Box 424280
San Francisco, California 94142
Phone: (415) 777-5455, #2
Email: glhsnc@aol.com
URL: http://www.glhs.org/collectn/glhsmss.htm
© 1999
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators Records, 1985-1995
Accession number: 94-18
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
San Francisco, California
Contact Information:
- Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California
- P.O. Box 424280
- San Francisco, California 94142
- Phone: (415) 777-5455, #2
- Email: glhsnc@aol.com
- URL: http://www.glhs.org/collectn/glhsmss.htm
- Processed by:
- Barbara Blinick
- Date Completed:
- July 1998
- Encoded by:
- Gabriela A. Montoya
© 1999 The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators Records,
Date (inclusive): 1985-1995
Accession number: 94-18
Creator:
Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators
Extent: 4 inches
Repository: The
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
San Francisco, California.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Acquisition
The Records (# 94-18) were donated to GLHS by two individuals in 1994 and 1997.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
Audio-Visual Materials
Photographs.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators Records, 94-18, The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender
Historical Society.
Historical Note
The Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators was an organization created to support gay, lesbian and bisexual educators
and gay, lesbian and bisexual youth and their families in Bay Area schools. It was co-founded in San Francisco by Rob Birle,
a student teacher in Antioch, CA, and another person, in 1984. The goals of the group ranged from trying to be a social support
network for gay, lesbian and bisexual teachers to advocating for political change. Initially the group met only in San Francisco,
but by the mid to late 1980s chapters began to develop in the South Bay, Contra Costa County and the East Bay. A small chapter
struggled in Sonoma for a few years and then folded. To facilitate coordination and communications between chapters, a regional
steering committee was created sometime in 1987, with representatives from each chapter. A newsletter was published, beginning
in the mid 1980s, which initially included news just from San Francisco, and expanded to include regional news as the chapters
grew. Eventually each chapter took on the work of producing their own newsletter.
Over the years the individual chapters took on a variety of projects. One of the most successful projects was the BANGLE scholarship,
initiated by the Contra Costa Chapter. This $500 scholarship, now called the Bobby Griffith Memorial Scholarship, served both
to raise consciousness as well as to provide positive publicity for BANGLE. The San Francisco chapter soon followed in the
steps of Contra Costa and started a scholarship in 1990. In 1992, the San Francisco Chapter joined with the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company (PG&E) to offer what are now multiple $1,000 scholarships. These scholarships include the Rob Birle Memorial
Scholarship and the George Kronenberger Memorial Scholarship, named after the PG&E employee who initiated the collaboration
between BANGLE and PG&E. The East Bay Chapter developed an essay contest that it holds on a yearly basis, with a $500 first
prize. Other successful projects included the Adopt-A-Book Project, where books were bought and donated to schools in San
Francisco and Contra Costa; the Anti-Slur Campaign, to try and encourage schools to enforce their rules against the use of
homophobic slurs at school; and marching and outreach activities related to the yearly lesbian, gay, bisexual pride parades.
One of the most successful moments of political activism was when BANGLE agitated for the development of Support Services
for Gay and Lesbian Youth, a program designed to aid gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth, their families
and educators in the San Francisco Unified School District. This district-wide program was instituted in 1990, continues to
this day in 1998.
BANGLE was absorbed into the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 1997, a national organization of gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and straight educators' organizations.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of correspondence, minutes from meetings (primarily regional steering committee meetings) some financial
records, and sparse news clippings. It also includes documents about various BANGLE projects including youth advocacy, a lesbian
and gay parenting forum, Project Empowerment (a weekend workshop designed to empower lesbian, gay and bisexual educators)
and the S.F. BANGLE scholarship (for 1994 only). Finally, materials from the Gay and Lesbian United Educators of the United
Educators of San Francisco (the local teacher's union) are also included, a group with strong ties to BANGLE and strongly
overlapping membership.
Many of the records are incomplete and it is important to remember that the chapters, although linked through the regional
steering committee, often functioned quite independently.
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs are in the Photo Room.
Related Collections
The Network News (BANGLE Newsletter) National Gay and Lesbian Caucus Newsletter
Container List
Box Box 1
Correspondence, 1987 - 1993
Financial Records (sparse) 1987 - 1994
Minutes- S.F. Chapter, 1991 - 1992
Minutes- South Bay Chapter, 1988
Minutes- Regional Steering Committee, 1987 - 1990
News Clippings, 1985 - 1989
Outreach/Support for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth, 1992
Project Empowerment, 1991
Project Empowerment, 1991
Union Legal Rights Booklet
Correspondence, 1987 - 1993
Financial Records (sparse) 1987 - 1994
Minutes- S.F. Chapter, 1991 - 1992
Minutes- South Bay Chapter, 1988
Minutes- Regional Steering Committee, 1987 - 1990
News Clippings, 1985 - 1989
Outreach/Support for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth, 1992
Project Empowerment, 1991
Scholarship (1992 - 1994)
Union Legal Rights Booklet
