Forget-Me-Nots records
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: Forget-Me-Nots records
Dates: 1987-1989
Collection Number: 1989-10
Creator/Collector:
Extent: .5 linear feet
Online items available
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
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
Scope and Content of Collection
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. 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
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AIDS (disease)
Gay men