Forget-Me-Nots records

Title: Forget-Me-Nots records

Dates: 1987-1989

Collection Number: 1989-10

Creator/Collector:

Extent: .5 linear feet

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

Abstract: The Forget-Me-Nots was a small group of gay men from San Francisco who formed an affinity group prior to the 1987 March on Washington in order to perform civil disobedience on the steps of the Supreme Court.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research.

[Identification of item]. Forget-Me-Nots records. Collection Number: 1989-10. GLBT Historical Society

Gift of Allan Bérubé in 1989. Addition by Yoel Kahn in February 2020.

The Forget-Me-Nots was a small group of gay men from San Francisco who formed an affinity group prior to the 1987 March on Washington in order to perform civil disobedience on the steps of the Supreme Court. Founders included historian and activist Allan Bérubé, who donated the collection to the Historical Society. The group’s name stemmed from the fact that each member marched and demonstrated in memory of a lover and – for one man who was a nurse – in memory of numerous patients lost to AIDS. After returning from Washington, the group remained together for short time, organizing against two 1988 California ballot measures, Propositions 96 and 102. Proposition 96 would allow courts to order HIV testing for some criminal suspects. Proposition 102 would prohibit anonymous testing for HIV infection and require medical personnel to report the name of anyone infected (or anyone they had reasonable cause to believe was infected) with the virus to public health authorities. The Forget-Me-Nots originated and circulated the Pledge of Resistance in response to Prop 102; signers pledged noncompliance with the law if it passed. This Pledge was taken up by a larger group of activists who formed the AIDS Action Pledge, which evolved into ACT UP San Francisco. The collection contains materials regarding civil disobedience at the 1987 March on Washington and the Forget Me-Not-’s work against Propositions 96 and 102 in 1988. There is correspondence, meeting minutes, flyers and brochures, press releases and news clippings. Materials related to the Pledge of Non-Compliance include notes, drafts, signed pledges, and a draft of Bérubé’s Prop 102 election night speech. There are cassette tape recordings of a 1987 Forget-Me-Nots group meeting which have been digitized through the generous support of Larry Brenner and Angelo Figone. The collection also includes materials related to another group co-founded by Berube, the Surviving Partners Contingent. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000374; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000521