Kepner, Jim (James), 1923-1997

Administrative History

The Southern California Council on Religion and the Homophile (SCCRH) traces its origins to a June 1, 1965, meeting of 20 individuals in the Westchester YMCA called by the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, of San Francisco, which had been founded in 1964. The purposes of SCCRH were "to open the avenues of communication and understanding between churchmen and homophiles; to investigate and implement ways for meeting the spiritual needs and social responsibilities of homophiles; to encourage more satisfactory climate of opinion within the community on broad matters of sex and morals; [and] to seek just social treatment of the homophile community". The articles of incorporation submitted to the California Secretary of State in April 1966 were signed by the Rev. Alexander Smith, director of the Downtown Service Bureau of the Los Angeles Missionary Society of the Methodist Church; W. Dorr Legg, of ONE Institute; the Rev. Kenneth Wahrenbrock, of the First Methodist Church in Glendale; the Rev. Marjorie Likins; and the gay activist and journalist Jim Kepner. The SCCRH provided an extensive program of monthly lectures, discussion groups, and informal meetings of clergymen, church members, and members of the GLBT community; retreats and conferences exploring homosexuality and religion; "exposure education" for non-gay clergymen and church members to learn about such aspects of GLBT culture as gay bars, clubs, and organizations; assistance to churches developing policies relating to homosexuality and religion and to homosexual law reform; and training for counselors, teachers, clergymen, and others who counseled homosexuals. The organization originally utilized the mailing address of the Rev. Smith's Downtown Service Bureau; by 1970 it used the address of the Los Angeles Council of Churches on West Adams Blvd.; and by February 1971 the Venice Blvd. address of ONE Institute, of which both Legg and Kepner were officers.

Despite vigorous activity in its early years, by the 1970s the SCCRH was overtaken by more activist religious organizations, in particular the Metropolitan Community Church and Dignity, whose more militant, and even at times confrontational, stand appealed more to the Gay Liberation generation of the GLBT community. While the SCCRH continued to hold meetings as late as 1974, a notice for a meeting in July of that year ended with the statement, "[w]e hope that many of you will wish to attend, for just because groups such as DIGNITY, the Metropolitan Community Churches and the various metropolitan Community Temples exist does not mean that the need for keeping channels open toward the major church denominations is less than before. It suggests, rather, that the opportunity for developing better relations with large religious bodies is greater than ever and should not be neglected." The SCCRH appears to have ceased operations by 1975.

From the guide to the Southern California Council on Religion and the Homophile records, 1965-1984., 1965-1969., (ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.)

Administrative History

The AIDS History Project Collection was formed in the Fall of 1985 by Jim Kepner, as part of his International Gay and Lesbian Archives (IGLA), to document the history of the AIDS epidemic, in particular in Southern California. It consisted of organizational and subject files. Kepner formed and augmented the collection by removing AIDS-related materials from organizational and personal papers in the IGLA collections. The earliest project coordinator was Olaf Odegaard, succeeded in turn by David Grossman and Jack Carrel, who later worked for the Los Angeles Free Clinic and the Los Angeles County Sexually Transmitted Disease Program. The size of the collection was greatly increased in 2001/2002 by the acquisition of the Southern California AIDS Social Policy Archive, which had been formed at the University of Southern California in 1995 to preserve and make accessible pertinent private papers of David Johnson, the first Los Angeles City AIDS Coordinator, Dr. Michael Gottlieb, and Dr. Joel Weisman, materials from local AIDS activist groups, and papers of the Los Angeles City Attorney AIDS/HIV Discrimination Unit.

From the guide to the AIDS History Project collection, circa 1967-2007, 1985-1997, (ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.)