Lee (Christopher) Papers, 1993-2003

Summary

Title:

Christopher Lee papers

Dates:

1993-2003

Creators:

Lee, Christopher

Abstract:

Extent:

1 linear foot (1 carton)

Language:

Preferred citation:

Christopher Lee papers. GLBT Historical Society

Background

Scope and content:

This collection includes materials primarily related to Christopher Lee’s documentary film project, “Asian Lesbian and Bisexual Movement 1994-1995”. The 16 VHS tapes contain footage from a variety of events organized by and/or featuring contingents of API lesbian and bisexual groups. Additionally, the tapes feature dozens of interviews conducted by Lee, many of which were taken in relation to one of the featured events. The interviewees include prominent members of the API lesbian/bisexual social and activist scene in the Bay Area as well as API lesbians/bisexuals living throughout the country and internationally. The tapes are accompanied by a detailed outline that includes the events, dates, locations, persons, organizations, and/or topics featured in each of the 16 tapes. The ephemera files primarily correlate to the events and groups depicted in the tapes, namely Stonewall 25, the First Asian and Pacific Lesbians and Bisexual Women Midwest Retreat, Pride Ustav ‘95, the Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Network (APLBN), and Trikone. These files contain flyers, brochures, event programs, correspondence, newsletters/periodicals, periodicals, and some meeting minutes/agendas. Additionally, there is a “weekend scrapbook” for the Asian and Pacific Lesbians and Bisexual Women Midwest Retreat that features photocopied photographs and notes from the event. The APLBN file also contains planning documents related to the 1993 West Coast Retreat. Programs, articles, and ephemera for the SF Transgender Film Festival do not appear to be related to the documentary but provide insight on Lee’s organizing work. Also included are magazines, programs, event ephemera and articles related to queer API people and events from 1993-1997 that had originally been filed separately by Lee.

Biographical / historical:

Christopher Lee was born on September 4, 1964 in San Diego, California. In the early 1990’s, Lee initially found community with Bay Area Asian/Pacific Islander lesbian groups, which were the subject of work he produced for DYKE TV as well as his own documentary film project, “Asian Lesbian and Bisexual Movement 1994-1995”. In the mid-1990’s, Lee came out as a transgender man and intimately portrayed his experience with transition in his film, Christopher’s Chronicles (1996). His following works–Trappings of Transhood (1997), Alley of the Tranny Boys (1998), and Sex Flesh in Blood (1999)--also featured trans men and aimed to constantly subvert norms around sex, sexuality and gender. Lee’s films are recognized as some of the first works created by and about BIPOC trans men and his work is also credited as the origins of radical transgender porn. His films have been shown (and continue to be shown) in film festivals nationally and internationally. In 1997, Lee co-founded the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival alongside Alison Austin. The festival was the first of its kind in North America and provided a space for artists and filmmakers to display the range and richness of trans life. In 2002, Lee became the first openly transgender man to be elected as Grand Marshall of the San Francisco Pride Parade. Throughout the 2000’s, Lee was active in the recovery community and two-spirit community. He was living with chronic fatigue and immune deficiency syndrome (CFIDS), which deeply shaped his housing and living conditions. Lee passed away on December 12, 2012 at the age of 48. After Lee was misgendered on his death certificate, his chosen family members spearheaded a political battle to pass the AB 1577 "Respect After Death Act", allowing for death certificates to reflect an individual’s lived gender.

Acquisition information:

The collection was formally donated to the GLBT Historical Society by Jae Carranza in April, 2024. It is unclear when the collection originally arrived at GLBTHS. Contact the Archivist for additional information.

Related resources

Additional collection guides:

• Finding Aid

Indexed terms

Subjects:

LGBTQ
Asian and Pacific Islander people
Transgender people
Trans men
People of color
Motion pictures
Activism
Lesbians
Bisexual people
Asian Americans
Documentary films

Places:

San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff.

Date Prepared:

1993-2003

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright is retained by the estate representative, Jae Carranza. All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist. Permission for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material is given on behalf of the GLBT Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

Christopher Lee papers. GLBT Historical Society

Location of this collection:

GLBT Historical Society

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, CA 94103, US

Contact:

(415) 777-5455

reference@glbthistory.org

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