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Robinson (James (Robbie)) My Story, One Gay's Fight: From Hate to Acceptance
GLC 197
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Table of contents
Title:
My Story, One Gay's Fight: From Hate to Acceptance by James (Robbie) Robinson
Date: [2017]
Identifier/Call Number: GLC 197
Creator:
Robinson, James (Robbie), 1935-
Physical Description:
1 folder
(167 pages)
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: James (Robbie) Robinson was a barber for 45 years at The Viking in San Francisco and, starting in 1957, he was a bartender
in homosexual bars. He witnessed police harassment, raids on homosexual establishments, and was one of the seven people who
formed the Tavern Guild, an LGBT community organization. His memoir traces his beginnings in Blacksburg, Virginia in the 1930s
and 1940s, through his adult life in San Francisco, California from the 1950s into the 2000s.
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], James (Robbie) Robinson
My Story, One Gay's Fight: From Hate to Acceptance (GLC 197), LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by James (Robbie) Robinson, December 12, 2017.
James (Robbie) Robinson was born in Blacksburg, Virginia in 1935. He joined the Air Force in 1954, and, after his military
service, was a barber for 45 years at The Viking in San Francisco. Starting in 1957 he was a bartender in gay bars. He was
one of the seven people who established the Tavern Guild, an LGBT community organization.
Robinson's memoir begins with his youth in Virginia, continues through his years of military service, and then concentrates
on his move to San Francisco and the life he makes there. It covers police harassment and raids on homosexual establishments,
and Robinson's participation in LGBT community building and politics through work with the Tavern Guild and other organizations.
Of particular note are the references to his friend Jose Sarria, the well-known Black Cat entertainer and political activist.
The memoir also includes Robinson's reactions to the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone, and the effect that
event had on politics in San Francisco. It also describes life after 1978 in the city with a focus on AIDS/HIV, gay marriage,
and later political figures such as Mark Leno and Scott Weiner.
The memoir is arranged into 8 chapters: Chapter 1. The Beginning; Chapter 2. Leaving Home; Chapter 3. Finding A Home; Chapter
4. Work and Politics; Chapter 5. The Politics; Chapter 6. Disaster; Chapter 7. After the Disaster; and, Chapter 8. The Mature
and Final Years.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay bars--California--San Francisco.
Gay organizations, centers, etc.--California--San Francisco.
Gay rights movement--California--San Francisco.
Robinson, James (Robbie), 1935- .
Robinson, James (Robbie), 1935- .--Archives
Tavern Guild of San Francisco
Sarria, Jose