Finding aid of the Jerry Jansen Papers

Josue Hurtado
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
657 Mission Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, California 94105
Phone: (415) 777-5455
Fax: (415) 777-5576
Email: info@glbthistory.org
URL: http://www.glbthistory.org/
© 2007
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.

Finding aid of the Jerry Jansen Papers

Collection number: 2003-11

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

San Francisco, California
Processed by:
Josue Hurtado
Date Completed:
September 2006
Encoded by:
Rebekah Kim
© 2007 The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Jerry Jansen papers
Dates: 1984-2002
Collection number: 2003-11
Creator: Jansen, Jerry
Collection Size: 8 Boxes
Repository: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94105
Abstract: The collection of pro-sex activist Jerry Jansen consists of materials from the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties, the 15 Association and the UnCut Parties, including videos, meeting minutes, newsletters, clipping files, conference materials and ephemera.
Physical location: Stored at the Archives of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco, California.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Collection open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.

Preferred Citation

Jerry Jansen Papers, 2003-11, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Jerry Jansen on April 18, 2003.

Biography

Jerry Jansen was born in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. He received his B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and was a candidate for an advanced degree in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He moved to San Francisco in 1976.
Jansen was involved with a number of significant San Francisco organizations that worked to preserve and promote sexual freedom. These included the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties (CPOSCL), The 15 Association and the Knights Templar. Jansen’s participation in the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties started in 1984, as the group fought bathhouse closures. He did administrative work, completing the group’s corporate filing, wrote its by-laws as a not-for-profit California corporation. Jansen also served as treasurer and editor of the Committee’s newsletter, The Journal of Sexual and Civil Liberties.
Jansen got involved with The 15 Association shortly after David Lewis founded the organization, around 1980. The Association was organized as a "fraternal organization" whose purpose was to provide activities for people interested in gay male "SM Identity." Classified as an "educational" non-profit, its goal was to teach by example. Jansen was a member of The Fraternal Committee when it became "The 15" – full members that served as governing directors. He produced and filed the Association’s constitution and by-laws and held various positions, including Chair and treasurer. Jansen helped arrange two video projects that documented The 15’s social, privately-produced SM events. After the "clubhouse" closed, Jansen and Alexis Sorel provided the physical party space used by The 15 on a regular basis. Jansen also worked on the club’s newsletter and produced internal communications.
Jansen was involved in the formation of the Knights Templar as a social gay male SM organization. This included preparing corporate filings and writing the organization’s constitution and bylaws.
Around 1988, the Uncut Club was formed in response to the city of San Francisco’s crackdown on gay male sex clubs. The club began twice-monthly parties, social gatherings designed for me interested in foreskin. Jansen worked on making videos available to document these events. The Uncut Club’s parties lasted until 1993.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection contains materials from Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties (CPOSCL), which include their newsletter, "The Journal of Sexual Liberty," clippings files, minutes, fliers, conference materials, t-shirts, buttons and banners. Jansen was also involved with the 15 Association, a gay male SM group, and the UnCut Parties. Material from these groups includes videos, meeting minutes and other ephemera.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Gay men
Leather
Nightlife

 

Box 1 1983-2000

Physical Description: 24 folders

Box Description

This box contains correspondences, budgets, articles of incorporation, meeting minutes, issues of the Journal of Sexual Liberty and other documents related to the Committee to Preserve our Sexual and Civil Liberties.
 

Box 2 1982-2003

Physical Description: 36 folders

Box Description

This box contains materials from the Coalition for Healthy Sex, Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties and the Journal of Sexual Liberty. There are meeting minutes, training materials and other materials from the Coalition for Healthy Sex. Also included are correspondence, budgets, brochures and other materials from the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties. Submissions, corrections, correspondence and issues of the Journal of Sexual Liberty are also included in this box. Additionally included in this box are various petitions and Jansen’s personal correspondence.
 

Box 3 1983-1995

Physical Description: 23 folders

Box Description

This box contains clippings, documents relating to the Journal of Sexual Liberty, Coalition of Healthy Sex, and Committee to Preserve our Sexual and Civil Liberties, as well as other miscellaneous materials. This includes the Coalition of Healthy Sex meeting minutes; CPOSCL correspondence, meeting minutes, flyers and other documents; Jansen’s personal correspondence; and a UCSF (University of California San Francisco) men’s survey. Some of the CPOSCL and Jansen’s personal correspondence deal with the issue of bathhouses and AIDS.
 

Box 4 1984-1997

Physical Description: 26 folders

Box Description

This box contains personal correspondence; documents from Meeting Against Bath Closure, CPOSCL,15 Association, Community United for Sexual Privacy; documents from fetish organizations and an injunction closing bath houses. Included in Jansens’s personal correspondence is one folder of correspondence regarding the Sierra Club issue. The CPOSCL documents includes correspondence, a mission statement, reports and meeting agendas. The 15 Association documents include correspondence and newsletters.
 

Box 5 1982-1998

Physical Description: 22 folders

Box Description

This box contains documents from Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties (CPOSCL), Coalition of Healthy Sex, 15 Association, Uncut Club and San Francisco Knights Templar. There are meeting minutes from the CPOSCL, the Coalition of Healthy Sex and the San Francisco Knights Templar. There are Uncut Club advertisements, flyers, and photographs; and Naked Flogging Newsletters. Also included in this box are Jansen’s personal correspondence to various media outlets and local politicians, and clippings regarding bathhouse closures.
 

Box 6 1981-1990

Physical Description: 4 folders

Box Description

This box contains the American Uniform Association 5th Annual Review and 3 folders of 15 Association pictures, advertisement and artwork.
 

Box 7 1986-1992

Physical Description: 1 folders

Box Description

This box contains Uncut J/O party ads.
 

Box 8 (Videocassettes) 2001 undated

Physical Description: 8 videocassettes

Box Description

This box contains 8 videocassettes, which include three 15 Association videos.
 

Box 9 undated

Physical Description: 4 bags of buttons and 1 can

Box Description

This box contains 4 bags of buttons, which include "Don’t invade my privacy I [heart] sex establishment," "STAY CLEAN visit a bathhouse," and "No Sex Busters" buttons. Also include 1 can labeled "THE BATHS"
 

Box 10 undated

Physical Description: 2 banners and 6 t-shirts

Box Description

This box contains a Pink and white Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties banner, a Blue Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties banner and Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties t-shirts.