Description
Skip Aiken was a computer programmer who was very active in San Francisco’s leather and uniform fetish scenes; he was also
a recovering alcoholic and American Sign Language interpreter who often volunteered his services at his Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings. Aiken’s collection contains extensive and deeply personal correspondence with family, friends, and lovers, as well
as other materials relating to sobriety, kink, and AIDS.
Background
Skip Aiken was a computer programmer who was very active in San Francisco’s kink scene, as both a leatherman and a uniform
fetishist (with particular interest in police and Nazi uniforms). He was also a recovering alcoholic and American Sign Language
interpreter who often volunteered his services at his Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. In the 1980s, Aiken lost a lover to AIDS.
He also had a significant relationship with a Deaf man who was apparently the impetus for his learning to sign. Aiken was
a founding member of Gay Fathers and the Society of Janus. In 1990, he died during surgery following a heart attack.
Restrictions
Copyright to material 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.
Availability
Collection is open for research. The erotica in this collection may only be viewed by researchers age eighteen and over and
it is made available for educational and research purposes.