Monday, July 1, 2013

Vanguard Revisited Online Exhibit: Magazines

The Original Vanguard Magazine:
The original Vanguard produced an extraordinary self-titled magazine from 1966-69 that included themes of poverty and social stigma; related issues of drug use and sex work; isolation and loneliness; artistic expression; and faith and queer theology.
  • Volume 1 of the Original Vanguard Magazine:
 
 2011 Vanguard Revisited Magazine

Working with a variety of homeless youth services organizations, program coordinators Joey Plaster and Pastor Megan Rohrer presented the history of Vanguard to today’s queer youth. We then asked them to respond by submitting stories, art, and poetry “in conversation” with original 1960s essays, or touching on similar themes.

This magazine presents their writings along with reprints from the Vanguard Magazine of the 1960s. These materials are supplemented with archival materials, a historical narrative, and writings from urban ministers and youth organizers. Working over a period of three months with a group of youth at Larkin Street Youth Services, we sought to create a magazine that spoke to their expressed desire to “enlighten youth, celebrate the queer history of the Tenderloin, and create a voice for the unheard.”

The magazine is focused on the themes of:
Loneliness and Community, Poverty and Social Stigma, Drug Use and Sex Work, Sexuality and Gender, Mental Health and Queer Theology

Featured in the magazine are selections from the original Vanguard, oral history excerpts, original art, poetry and essays written by contemporary queer homeless youth in San Francisco's Tenderloin.
Page 2
Page 35




Otro Vanguard, 2013 - is still in process 

Vanguard Revisited Online Exhibit: In the Photo Booth

Left: J.P. Marat, the first president of Vanguard and one of the authors of the Drugs in the Tenderloin study. Right: Mark Forrester, a community activist at Glide Memorial, who helped organize and advocate for the youth.

 Both  photos are stills from the film Drugs in the Tenderloin. Courtesy of the The Allen Willis Archives.



Photos to left and below, are Vanguard leaders and participants.  Additional pastors, advocates and leaders helping to clean up Central City (the Tenderloin and SOMA districts in San Francisco) are also included in the photos.  Courtesy of the Don Lucas Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.


 
Left: Mia Tu Mutch , speaking at the 2012 Trans March, Courtesy of the Trans March.  Center: Taylor, speaking at the 2012 Trans March, Courtesy of the Trans March.  Right: Joey Plaster and Rev. Megan Rohrer, Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.


Photos from the photo booth at the Vangaurd Revisited Magazine release party.  Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.






  

 Photo of Mia Tu Mutch for Otro Vanguard Magazine, by Gotti, 2012. 

 Photo of Taylor for Otro Vanguard Magazine, by Megan Rohrer. 

Photo of Gotti for Otro Vanguard Magazine, by Megan Rohrer.

Vanguard Revisited Online Exhibit: Organizing


First Oral History of the Original Vanguard Members:

Oral Histories of the Original Vanguard by Joey Plaster, 2010. Photos courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society. Video edited by Megan Rohrer.
  • Vanguard Pastors - 1961-1971 - Oral Histories

Oral Histories and audio from: Susan Stryker, Paul Gabriel, Megan Rohrer and the Pacifica Audio Archive. Photos courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society. Video edited and written by Megan Rohrer, 2011.

Vanguard Revisited: 2010-12:
Taylor was one of the youth published in Vanguard Revisited.  In this video, Taylor reflects on the weekly Monday gatherings, how it helped the youth stay in touch and how it felt to work with pastors.

 
Oral history by Megan Rohrer.

Additional News and Multimedia:
  • Shepherding a Homeless Flock: Trans Minister Headlines Unity Banquet, Out Smart Magazine, April 2012.
  • Queer Voices, 90.1 KPFT-Houston, April 23,2012. 
  • Joey Plaster, Imagined Conversations and Activist Lineages: Public Histories of Queer Homeless youth Organization and the Policing of Public Space in San Francisco's Tenderloin, 1960's and Present, Radical History Review, Spring 2012. 


Vanguard Revisited Online Exhibit: Street Demonstrations


Street Sweeps:
Left: Vanguard Magazine Vol One: Issue Two, 1966, Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society.  Right: Sleep-In and Street Sweep in May 14, 2011.  Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.
 
 Vanguard Magazine Volume One: Issue Two, 1966, Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society.


Left: Otro Vanguard members pose at San Francisco City Hall at the 46th Anniversary Celebration of the Compton Cafeteria Riots, before marching through the Tenderloin to the site of the Compton Cafeteria Riots (August 20, 2012). Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.



Compton's Cafeteria Riot: 
 Left: Still from The Screaming Queens movie, Courtesy of the Susan Stryker Papers at the GLBT Historical Society.  Right: 46th Anniversary Celebration of the Compton Cafeteria Riots, Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society

 Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society.



Left: Still of the Vanguard youth meeting at a dinner from the Drugs in the Tenderloin movie, Courtesy of the The Allen Willis Archives. 



Left: Tamara Ching an original participant in the 1966 Compton Cafeteria Riots.  Right: Mia Tu Mutch a leader in the Vanguard Revisited Project.  Photos Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society


Sleep-In:

 Video by Megan Rohrer, 2011.

On May 14, 2011 the Vanguard youth marched from City Hall to the Castro, participated in a street sweep and slept overnight at Harvey Milk Plaza in order to bring attention to the needs of the LGBT homeless youth in San Francisco



Video courtesy of Tony De Renzo. 



News and Additional Multimedia about these events:

Vanguard Revisited Online Exhibit: Introduction

Tenderloin street youth founded Vanguard in 1966. They protested police harassment, picketed discriminatory businesses, and held same-sex dances in church halls. They also produced a blunt and honest magazine about poverty and queer politics; drug use and sex work; isolation and loneliness; artistic expression; and faith and queer theology.

Working with a variety of homeless youth services organizations, Joey Plaster and Pastor Megan Rohrer presented the history of Vanguard to queer youth in the San Francisco's Tenderloin in 2011. This exhibit shares information about both the historical and contemporary Vanguard youth.

Vanguard Magazine Volume One: Issue One, 1966
Courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society

 Vanguard Revisited Magazine Volume One: Issue One, 2010
Courtesy of the Megan Rohrer Papers at the GLBT Historical Society

Brief Video of Vanguard Youth 1960's and 2011:

Oral Histories of the Original Vanguard by Joey Plaster, 2010. Recordings of 2011 Vanguard Youth by Buzz Kill Films. Photos courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society. Edited by Megan Rohrer 2011.

Additional  Information:

Vangaurd Revisited Online Exhibit






Curated by Megan Rohrer 2013.

Megan Rohrer is a nationally recognized LGBTQ faith leader, historian, writer, homeless advocate, community organizer and speaker. The first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church, Megan was awarded an honorary doctorate from Palo Alto University, won Out History's Since Stonewall Local Histories Competition and co-edited Letters For Our Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect, which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in transgender nonfiction.