M.J. Talbot papers
Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS
GLBT Historical Society
2023
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 777-5455
reference@glbthistory.org
http://www.glbthistory.org/
Title: M.J. Talbot papers
Dates: 1982-2001
Collection Number: 1999-26
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 2 linear feet (1 carton, 2 boxes)
Online items available
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: This collection contains papers from activist Michael James (M.J.) Talbot, one of the founders of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance
(GAPA) and its AIDS service organization, GAPA Community HIV Project (GPHC). The collection includes GAPA and GPHC correspondence,
flyers, meeting minutes, publications, and VHS recordings of events and performances; materials related to gay Asians and
other gay Asian groups; miscellaneous gay brochures, ephemera, newsletters and periodicals; personal correspondence and e-mails;
materials related to Talbot's professional work; personalia, including some of Talbot’s artwork; audiotapes containing interviews
with and programs about members of the Asian Pacific Islander community; artifacts; and t-shirts. publications.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Copyright to material by creator has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or
permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist.
[Identification of item]. M.J. Talbot papers. Collection Number: 1999-26. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of M.J. Talbot, 1999 and February 2023.
Biography/Administrative History
M. J. (Michael James) Talbot is a Eurasian gay man who was a citizen of Hong Kong B.C.C. but was raised in part in California.
He graduated from Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco in 1968 before attending University of San Francisco for 3 years.
Talbot lived in San Francisco from the summer of 1967 until 2001 when he moved with his partner Michael Lyon to Hilo, Hawaii.
He was a member of one of the first Bay Area gay Asian groups, the Association of Lesbian and Gay Asians (ALGA) during its
latter stages. He was the co founder with Rich Johnson of Pacific Friends, a mixed race social club active in the Bay Area
during the 1980s and thru the present. Talbot was a founding member of Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA). He served as the
GAPA historian during its first four years. Later he became a member of GAPA Men’s Chorus and the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus.
Talbot was involved in forming several AIDS related organizations, including GAPA’s AIDS service spinoff, GAPA Community HIV
Project (GCHP - later renamed the Living Well Project), the Asian Pacific AIDS Coaliton (APAC). He served, along with Bang
Nguyen and the late Doug Yaranon, as one of the first gay Asians on the board of the Asian AIDS Project.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains papers from activist Michael James (M.J.) Talbot, one of the founders of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance
(GAPA) and its AIDS service organization, GAPA Community HIV Project (GPHC). The collection includes GAPA and GPHC correspondence,
flyers, meeting minutes, publications, and VHS recordings of events and performances; materials related to gay Asians and
other gay Asian groups; miscellaneous gay brochures, ephemera, newsletters and periodicals; personal correspondence and e-mails;
materials related to Talbot's professional work; personalia, including some of Talbot’s artwork; audiotapes containing interviews
with and programs about members of the Asian Pacific Islander community; artifacts; and t-shirts. Also included are letters
related to the death of Talbot's roommate, Jerry Ho, who died of AIDS in 1989. Talbot advocated on his behalf, and the letters
offer insight into the ways the Asians treated PWA's in their community.
GSSO Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000521; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_007658; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000374
AIDS (disease)
Asian Americans
Gay men
LGBTQ
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)