Connect The Bay: Coming Out
Rick Bacigalupi | Northern California Public Media October 7, 2021
BAYMEC Community Foundation Executive Director Ken Yeager tours his recent exhibition “Coming Out: 50 Years of Queer Resistance and Resilience in Silicon Valley.” Included are mementos and artifacts from decades of activism and celebration of the suburban LGBTQ+ community in the South Bay. Watch here
Opinion: History museum tells the story of queer Silicon Valley
Ken Yeager | Mercury News, June 26, 2021
Historians often turn to cultural centers such as the Castro and Greenwich Village to tell the story of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. That may explain why the progression of the queer community in Silicon Valley from political outcasts to integral members of society has never been widely chronicled. Read more
Pride month: Silicon Valley’s LGBTQ history focus of new exhibit
Sal Pizarro, Bay Area News Group | Mercury News, June 26, 2021
Anyone who loves local history can’t help but cheer the opening of a new exhibition exploring the challenges and triumphs of Santa Clara Valley’s LGBTQ community. Read more
Points of Pride: History San Jose Chronicles 50 Years of LGBTQ History in Silicon Valley
Katie Lauer | San Jose Inside, June 25, 2021
Filed away amongst a trove of yellowed newspaper clippings, worn newsletters, fading photographs and nearly obsolete newsreels, four oversized office cabinets inside former Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager’s San Jose garage gradually became an unofficial archive of the last 50 years of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer life… Read more
South Bay queer activism focus of new exhibit
Heather Cassell | Bay Area Reporter, June 23, 2021
Silicon Valley’s LGBTQ community and others will be able to take a trip back in time this Pride weekend with a new historical exhibit about the region’s history. Read more
40 years of fighting for LGBTQ rights in San Jose
Lorraine Gabbert | San Jose Spotlight, March 21, 2021
It may be hard to imagine now, but there was a time when a majority of San Jose and Santa Clara County voters rejected an opportunity to ban discrimination against the LGBTQ people among them. Read more
Proudly Out: Queer Silicon Valley Preserves Local LGBTQ History
Katie Lauer | San Jose Inside, November 5, 2020
Bennet Marks was a nervous wreck when Apple quoted him in the company’s newspaper announcing the 1986 launch of gay employee group he founded, Apple Lambda—outing him in the process. In the 1980s and 90s, he became Apple’s de facto LGBTQ spokesperson amid a bloom of nondiscrimination… Read more
New site charts the history of Silicon Valley’s LGBTQ community
Sal Pizarro, Bay Area News Group | Mercury News, October 3, 2020
BAYMEC Foundation Executive Director Ken Yeager knows a thing or two about Santa Clara County’s LGBTQ history. After all, the former Santa Clara County Supervisor, who was the first openly gay elected official in the county, was front and center for much of it. This week at the… Read more
Exclusive: Silicon Valley LGBTQ history website goes live
Matthew S. Bajko | Bay Area Reporter, September 29, 2020
Thirty-five years prior to the killings of Black Americans in recent months by police officers across the country, the shooting death of Melvin Truss by a San Jose police officer outraged and galvanized the LGBTQ community in Santa Clara County. The police department’s describing the 17-year-old Truss as a transvestite… Read more
Interviews
Ken Yeager interviewed on Outlook Video, January 2021 (segment begins at 16:55)
Ken Yeager interviewed for Silicon Valley Pride Chats, November 2020
Community Comments
Just a quick “Thank You” for organizing the LBGTQ history website. It is a wonderful creation and a monumental legacy!
Tim Abney (via email)
Yep, good stuff! Meant to tell you that the entire site has started out great! It appears to be a “living” historical record, so as people jog their memories, remembrances/information can be added or corrected – it all is so fuzzy!? It highlights a tremendous amount of research on your part, and great work on the site design and functionality. Especially for us….seniors😉. While some of us were having (too much) fun up in SF, many of you were doing the real “structural” groundwork in SCCo, and having fun too, I assume.
Richard Nichols (via email)
I’ve enjoyed looking through the new Queer Silicon Valley project website. It’s great to see this taking shape. I’ve said it before, and I’ll do so again: I am grateful that you’re doing this historical work. It’s important. I wish I had had access to such resources when I was growing up. I’m looking forward to seeing the project expand over time.
Paul Escobar (via email)
Thanks for sharing this great resource! It is such a valuable collection of of history and culture. It’s great to see my alma mater SCU represented, too! The Rainbow Resource Center on campus was really invaluable to me during my time as an undergrad as it helped me to explore my own identity and find the confidence to finally come out! With Pride,
Alex Golding
So many thanks for the website.. As the proud Mom of a gay man, it is awesome to see how far the community has grown and see the members be recognized for their contributions. So many thanks for all you are doing for the Bay Area!
Melissa Egusa
The website really made me appreciate the progressive efforts by thousands in San Jose’s history. San Jose is so diverse and it’s a giant melting pot of cultures and ideas. It’ll take me a while to explore the website but in my opinion it’s really well done!
Joaquin Andrade
It’s a very good website. A lot of information all tied into one spot, which is nice. It’s nice to be able to go to one site and learn a lot about the community and find information that’s actually useful.
Will Estrada