Irwin E. Keller papers

Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS

GLBT Historical Society

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, California 94103

(415) 777-5455

reference@glbthistory.org

http://www.glbthistory.org/

2023

Descriptive Summary

Title: Irwin E. Keller papers

Dates: 1987-1991

Collection Number: 2013-04

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 1 manuscript box

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

San Francisco, California 94103

Abstract: This collection contains materials related to the legal career and political activism of Irwin E. Keller (b. 1960), an attorney, former executive director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the Bay Area and member of the Kinsey Sicks. The bulk of the collection consists of pleadings, correspondence and drafts from, and press about, People v. Frankie Don Huie, Jr. This was a landmark 1989 case in which the National Gay Rights Advocates fought to discredit the “homosexual panic” defense.

Language of Material: English

Access

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Irwin E. Keller papers. Collection Number: 2013-04. GLBT Historical Society

Acquisition Information

Gift of Irwin E. Keller.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection contains materials related to the legal career and political activism of Irwin E. Keller (b. 1960), an attorney, former executive director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the Bay Area and member of the Kinsey Sicks. The bulk of the collection consists of pleadings, correspondence and drafts from, and press about, People v. Frankie Don Huie, Jr. This was a landmark 1989 case in which the National Gay Rights Advocates fought to discredit the “homosexual panic” defense. Keller’s firm, Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, were cooperating counsel. There are also memos regarding the inclusion of gays and lesbians in affirmative action programs in the legal profession; a small amount of correspondence and protest materials written by Keller; ephemera, newsletters and news clippings from Queer Nation and ACT UP; materials from Men Who Care about Women’s Lives, a group that claimed to be the first all-male pro-choice organization in the United States; and news clippings about various queer protests regarding the media, the military and the law. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000374; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_002861; http://2Fpurl.obolibrary.org/obo/LifO_0000064; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_004300; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000521

Indexing Terms

Gay men

Homophobia

Law

AIDS (disease)

Music