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Title: Bonita Ann Palmer papers
Dates: 1981-2012
Collection Number: 2018-01
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 1 carton, 1 manuscript box (1.42 linear feet)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: The Bonita Ann Palmer papers includes newsletters, clippings, personnel records, correspondence, reports, ephemera, pamphlets,
and pastoral letters from Episcopal churches, in particular the Parsonage in the Castro, which was the first GLBT ministry
supported as an Episcopal Diocesan institution.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
[Identification of item]. Bonita Ann Palmer papers. Collection Number: 2018-01. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of Dr. Bonita Ann Palmer in 2017.
Biography/Administrative History
Dr. Bonita Ann Palmer, M.D., M. Div., MFT, is a life-long Episcopalian and has been active in the gay and lesbian ministry
since the early 1980s. Palmer has since then continued to advocate for LGBT rights and feminism in the Episcopal church. The
causes in which she advocated for include topics such as gay marriage, reparative therapy, women’s ordination, and anti-gay
violence. Palmer played active roles within the Episcopal Church in the United States (TEC): she was involved with the Parsonage,
the first GLBT ministry supported as an Episcopal Diocesan institution, as a longtime volunteer and committee leader, and
Integrity, a nonprofit organization that fought for the inclusion of the LGBT community.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents the efforts of Dr. Bonita Ann Palmer from the early 1980s to the early 2010s. Folders are arranged
by year in terms of content and have been kept in original order as they were received by the donor. Materials in this collection
include newsletters, clippings, personnel records, correspondence, reports, pastoral letters, ephemera, and pamphlets from
previous General Conventions of the Episcopal Church and other local church events. Most of the items in this collection contain
materials from the Parsonage in the Castro, which was the first GLBT ministry supported as an Episcopal Diocesan institution.
Reports from “The Acts of Convention” from the Episcopal Archives are also in this collection and include resolutions for
the blessing of same-sex relationships throughout the decades leading to its amendment. This collection also includes key
correspondence and essays from Bishop William Swing, who served as the Bishop for Episcopal Diocese of California from 1980-2006
and played an active role during his episcopate at the time of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. GSSO Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_007702
Christians