by Jerry Berbiar, a.k.a. Jerry the Faerie
I saw many dozens die, close, beloved friends; more distant but still affectionately regarded friends; and acquaintances, both faerie and non-faerie; saw them sicken, slip away and die. I will never be able to process it all, to realize the full horror and devastation I witnessed in the AIDS holocaust. Of course there were also those who died of other illnesses or just old age.
I have gone through the list and am writing a paragraph about those ancestors I knew personally. Some of those that I only had a passing acquaintance with have left behind partners, lovers, and friends who could provide much better information, but have drifted away from the faeries or are out of touch. At least I can provide some information about them. Most of the faeries I knew lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have not included those ancestors who are already well known and written about, such as Harry n' John and renowned poet and filmmaker James Broughton. I use "gay" rather than "LGBT" when referring to what organizations etc. were called at the time, when writing about events that happened before the phrase "LGBT" existed. Over and over, I state it if someone died from AIDS or hard drug addiction, to convey, especially to younger faeries, the relentless drumbeat of death and loss in our communities from these epidemics.
Wessie (Wesley Alfred Russell) 6/14/29 - 10/24/08
Wessie was beloved in many communities including the Radical Faeries. He discovered us at the 1987 Gold Creek gathering near LA and we benefited from his wit and wisdom. He survived his partner Richard, after an approximately forty five year open relationship. They were out of the closet in 1954, when they would drive around downtown LA in a Cadillac convertible picking up sailors. Wessie died of cancer and is survived by his partner of later years, Goat, as well as loving members of his biological family and many close friends.
Bennett Tanner <http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/0303/stories/0303_memorial.php> <http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/0303/stories/0303_memorial.php> 1/26/53 - 2/12/08
Originally from Orange County CA, Bennett was fearless, sometimes going outside naked on the streets of San Francisco at night, walking to a park to find sex. A hilarious comedian he could crack up audiences at Radical Faerie gathering talent shows with long monologues about his butt. He was also a talented puppeteer. Sadly Bennett perished in a fire in a homeless encampment in Ashland, OR
Buckwheat (Peter Bernard Kesselman) 5/6/57 - 12/21/06
Buckwheat was an early member of the Radical faeries and one of the those who worked with Nomenus founding the Nomenus radical faerie Sanctuary at Wolf Creek OR and remained active in Nomenus the rest of his life. A member of the Radical Faerie artistic group the Temple Whores, Buckwheat was a musician artist, graphic artist, and computer expert.He worked on the layout for some important books up to shortly before his death. He survived HIV but was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed on the Solstice only forty days from his diagnosis. Buckwheat is survived by his pa
Hooter (David L Carpenter) 10/9/57 - 11/18/06
Hooter was a unique character and Wolf Creek area local, with a rambunctious personality that was sometimes too much for the faint of heart. He hid his tender heart beneath a gruff exterior. Hooter liked to spend winters in the desert in his camper, returning to Oregon the rest of the year. for many years he was often on the land at Wolf C during and between gatherings.He struggled with AIDS for a long time and lived years longer than most of us expected him to.
Diamond Heart (Jeoffrey Douglas) 8/26/46 - 7/14/06
Diamond Heart and his partner Sssnake owned the Faerie chocolate shop on Castro St., giving away expensive treats for free to faeries who came into the store. He liked heart circles and attended at least one gathering at Wolf Creek despite heart problems. He is survived by his partner Sssnake.
Katie Eagle Singer (Dan Jones) 4/22/55 - 3/22/06
Katie lived in Portland and went to gatherings at Breitenbush. He wore fabulous drag and had a lovable personality. He was taken from us by AIDS.
Reed Grier <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/20/MNGRIERREE20.DTL&hw=reed+grier&sn=001&sc=1000> - 8/12/05 (age 51) Reed was an early Nomenus member and helped establish Wolf Creek. He was one of the minority who was failed by the medications effective for most, and died of AIDS.
Yvain Reed <http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougiers/48209568/> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougiers/48209568/> Feb 19 - Jan 2005
Yvain had a brilliant mind and powerful persona. He did a lot of work in Nomenus for the Nomenus Radical Faerie Sanctuary at Wolf Creek. He was taken from us as much by the meth epidemic as by AIDS.
Gary Reagan (Dotti) 4/3/51 - 5/4/04
A longtime caretaker and yogi at the Nomenus Radical Faerie Sanctuary at Wolf Creek, Gary was had a knack for dealing with and calming difficult, even psychotic faeries, who sometimes appeared at Wolf Creek. I knew him in San Francisco before and after his sojourn at Wolf Creek.
A beloved figure to many, Gary sadly succumbed to meth and AIDS.
Violet Plague, Tug 6/6/71 - 1/1/03 An intense, troubled, but bright and lovable faerie, Violet Plague lived for years on the streets of San Francisco and often stayed on the land at Wolf Creek. Meth, heroin, and AIDS ended with an accidental overdose on the streets of the Castro.
Beautiful Dove (David Baker) 2/18/55 - 2/20/02 A talented actor Beautiful Dove was a co-founder of the Gay Men's Theater Collective in San Francisco, where he co-produced and acted in the critically acclaimed play, Crimes Against Nature. Dying of AIDS related kidney failure and on dialysis, David loved life so much he took a luxury cruise, doing his dialysis on board the ship. He died the day after his return to S.F.
Blue (Bluford) Moor <http://www.radfae.org/ancestors/blue> <http://www.radfae.org/ancestors/blue> 10/17/65 - 7/5/01
Blue facilitated the first Faerie Freedom Village at the San Francisco LGBT Pride celebration. He was a musician, artist and writer,publishing the online zine, LSD, Love, Supreme Desire. Choosing not to take medications Blue passed on from AIDS.
Satya Little Bear (Steve Ledford) - late May '01
Little Bear was a member of the Temple Whores, a musician and long time Radical Faerie who came to many gatherings and was beloved in the San Francisco Faerie community. Choosing not to take medications until near death, Little bear died of AIDS.
Faygele Ben Miriam 10/21/44 - 6/5/00
Legally changing his name to Faygelle, which means faggot in Yiddish, he was a fierce activist who made national news in the 1970's for suing the Federal government for firing him for wearing a skirt to work at his bureaucrat job in Washington DC. A longtime Radical Faerie, Faygelle died of AIDS one of the few that medications couldn't save.
Light Eagle, Henahan (David Joseph Stewart) <http://www.radfae.org/ancestors/leagle.html> <http://www.radfae.org/ancestors/leagle.html> 2/24/64 - 10/2/99
The legendary Light Eagle, a beloved faerie shaman was also the bundle keeper for the first Wolf Creek Naraya. He died after being struck by a car in San Francisco while visiting from his home in Arcata, CA
Scott O'Hara 10/16/61 - 2/18/98
Scott published Steam Magazine, a guide to cruising all over the USA, interspersed with articles about AIDS, LGBT politics, and gay male sex. Died of AIDS
Earl Galvin 5/3/46 - 1/14/98
A brilliant intellectual, Earl had many interest including an extensive library of books on Esperanto, an artificially constructed language, created to unite mankind with a universal world language. A 1974 TV news interview with Earl, about a 1974 unprovoked police riot on Castro St., can be seen in the movie Milk.
Karl Clothier 5/31/67 - 11/6/96
Karl had a brilliant mind and once did the electrical wiring for the barn at Wolf Creek. He was active in the San Francisco Buddhist community. Karl took his own life amidst an addiction to painkillers, following years of intractable pain after a car accident.
Bradley Rose 7/5/57 - 6/11/96
Bradley was one of the founders of the Gay Vision Circle which preceded Nomenus. Partners with the very much still alive gay anthropologist and prolific writer Will Roscoe, Bradley edited the Radical faerie seedbed an important collection of essays by well known Radical Faerie authors. Bradley had many talents, including being an award winning accordionist.
Gryphon Blackswan (Christopher Tate Anderson) <http://www.radfae.org/ancestors/gryphon.html> <http://www.radfae.org/ancestors/gryphon.html> 4/19/51 - 4/18/96
Gryphon was so brilliant, had so many skills and talents combined with such a strong personality, he often seemed like a force of nature. He made beautiful unique clothing, was a professional caterer, spoke fluent Japanese (we wrote each other long letters during his three year stint of living and working in Japan, and he drove a pink hearse. He died of AIDS.
Van Robert Ault <http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2008/11/van-robert-ault-1956-1996.html> <http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2008/11/van-robert-ault-1956-1996.html> 11/11/56 - 4/2/96
Reknown in San Francisco as an expert in occult arts and Tarot, Van Ault died of AIDS.
Russel 9/15/67 - 2/5/96
I used to see Russell around the San Francisco faerie scene, before he moved to New York. He was an actor, and very cute. In 1994, visiting New York, I saw him perform at a Radical Faerie benefit performance and hung out with and some friends briefly. I never saw him again. He later moved to Arizona and later died of AIDS, only twenty nine years old.
Daisy Chainsaw 2/26/75 - 1/7/96
Daisy Chainsaw was a fabulous faerie who I saw everywhere, but didn't know that well. I admired his determination and courage when I saw him at the 1994 Beltane gatherings at Wolf Creek, and he was dragging around his IV pole with attached medication machine around the land. Daisy Chainsaw died of AIDS.
Diet Popstitute (Michael Joseph Collins) <http://www.alvinorloff.com/webstitute.html> <http://www.alvinorloff.com/webstitute.html> 2/13/58 - 8/25/95
Legendary performance artist with the Popstitutes and the Club Uranus performance art scene at the End UP in San Francisco, Diet was incredibly creative, and funny, just a lot of fun to be around. At the 1994 Beltane gathering at Wolf Creek, while we were both in an altered state, Diet pulled out a fake camera which squirted me in the face with water, then took out a real camera and photographed me with water running down my face, and my surprised expression. Diet died of AIDS.
Stephen Maxxine Mack 12/19/60 - 3/17/95
Maxxine was a diva and since his death has become almost a magical faerie icon. I well remember the devastating Sarsaparillas, Jagermeister mixed with sweet liquor, he would serve me when he bar-tended and performed at the legendary Club Uranus. It's hard to imagine him as a beautiful shy boy of twenty who had never yet worn drag, but that's who he was when I first met him. Years later, I once saw him play Kali at the old Detour Bar. On stage in an outfit with black leather and lots of feathers, he chanted while swinging a cow bone fresh from the butcher shop, with such force and speed it made a whistling sound, while hunks of bloody raw meat were flying off and striking terrified members of the audience. Those of you who were at the 1993 Faeriestock at Wolf Creek will probably never forget his performance as Nina Hagen coming out of a tent lit inside with colored moving lights to look like a flying saucer. Maxxine, Diet and Daisy were good friends. All three attended the Wolf Creek Beltane gathering in 1994. All three, had died of AIDS be the end of 1995..
Tommy Tadlock 5/20/41 - 6/4/95
Tommy could sometimes be charming and tell great stories, despite having mental health issues and being addicted to alcohol and meth. He lived across the road from the land at Wolf Creek where he once tried to burn down Garden House. AIDS related illness necessitated his moving back to San Francisco for medical care. Tommy continued to "party' until he died of AIDS.
Shine (Tom Mapp) 8/28/47 - 2/18/95
I remember Shine was tall and had a beautiful smile. I saw him at many Nomenus meetings, gatherings at Wolf Creek, and other places, ran into him around S.F., but didn't know him that well. He died of AIDS.
Nymphaea Ric Laraia Guru Darshan 11/7/52 - 2/13/95
Nymphae was amazing and somewhat of a faerie celebrity. Composer, musician and singer, he made a cassette tape with some of his original material, sacred songs, as well as doing covers of Ccharlie Murphy and other pagan musicians. Brilliant, focused and kind, Nymphaes' death from AIDS was a real loss to us, of a gifted soul.
Gidget (Ted Birth) 5/17/59 - 10/16/94
Gidget was an accomplished ceramic artist and a professional baker. I met him in 1982 when he lived at the famous 501 collective here in S.F., and was the first Radical Faerie I ever met. Gidget moved to Portland before his death from AIDS, and is survived by his partner Vaughn Frick.
Daisy (David M. Lindahl) 2/15/57 - 8/26/94
Daisy lived here briefly, his home being in Minneapolis. he was an accomplished writer of prose and poetry and the James White Literary Review often published his writing. He died of AIDS.
Lynn Johnson - 1994 (age 46)
Lynn used to own an occult store in SF which became a faerie hangout. With his partner Ivan he moved to Wolf Creek where they purchased extensive real estate holdings in the area, including the land across Wolf Creek road from our land, where there was a large motor home and a small shack, which he rented to faeries. Lynn's death was caused by AIDS and his partner Ivan also died from it, a number of years later.
Albert Bell "Rooster", Ms. Moutha - 11/27/93
Albert lived in San Diego, traveling to LA to work with Harry n' John in the Lavender Caucus of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition. Albert was a Jackson delegate at the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco. He spoke on the floor, identifying himself as the first openly gay delegate to speak at a national political convention of a major party. he pleaded for government help with the AIDS epidemic, which would not be forthcoming for a number of years. Albert was a shit stirrer and was arrested at civil disobedience actions to gain attention about the epidemic. He spoke again on the floor of the 1988 Democratic convention, again as a delegate for Jesse Jackson. At the 1992 Malibu gathering he spoke about the physical and psychological agony he was going through as he was dying of AIDS. At that gathering he devised the most powerful ritual I've ever participated in, called "Who dies?"
Four pairs of faeries played angels of death, physically grabbing faeries and carrying them out of the circle to their death. It became so intense, the lovers and friends of some of the faeries lost it, and actually physically wrestled with the "angels" to stop their loved ones from being dragged off.
At the end half the faeries had been dragged off to sit in a separate circle, they were dead.Tthen we merged back into one circle and had a heart circle about our experience of the ritual. Albert planned his own funeral, including a march around the Hillcrest neighborhood in San Diego by all of us faeries in full drag. An oil painting of Albert hangs in the LGBT Community Center in San Diego.
Brian Jones, Miss Mary Louise 9/6/55 - 5/20/93
Brian was an acclaimed journalist in the mainstream media before dropping out to work as a reporter for San Francisco's gay paper ( the term LGBT didn't yet exist), the Bay Area Reporter. He attended many gatherings and worked with Nomenus to establish the sanctuary at Wolf Creek. Brian died of AIDS.
Joe (Joseph L.) Drake 7/25/62 - 5/2/93
Joe Drake was an artist who along with the fabulous Stephen Maxxine, Dick Stacks, and Robin Stephen were at various times among thef our husbands of David Dvorsky. Joe died of AIDS.
Thomas O'Malley 10/2/51 - 3/25/93
Thomas was a co-founder of the Temple Whores, a group of Radical Faerie artists, musicians, and performance artists who are still active today. At one time, with some faerie friends he rented land in Sonoma county CA where they held some small Radical Faerie gatherings. Thomas was beloved in the faerie community. He was also a facilitator of the Faerie Camp at Rainbow Gatherings. Thomas died of AIDS.
Sky Forest, Marina Barracuda, Dripping Beaver (Oliver Karthheiser) 1953 - 3/15/93
Marina Barracuda was a Portland faerie who went to a number of gatherings. He died of AIDS and is survived by his partner John Keating aka Red Cedar.
Oskrr Earthsong-Feino 7/23/28 - 4/25/92
Oskrr was our Nomenite monk. He volunteered to singlehandedly run our busy Nomenus office in Buzz Benses' sex club, South of market in SF.
Everyone loved Oskrr. He made beautiful clothes, smoked pot as a sacrament, was our first and many say the best caretaker, Wolf Creek ever had. Oskrr died of AIDS at his spiritual home, the Nomenus Radical Faerie Sanctuary.
Mica Kindman 5/8/45 - 11/22/91
Mica was a brilliant intellectual and fierce activist. At university he was a journalist and organized actions against the Vietnam war. Much later he worked with Harry n' John in the Gay Vision Circle which became Nomenus. He was instrumental in founding the Nomenus Radical Faerie Sanctuary and authored the amazing "Nomenus Speaks to the I.R.S.". When his legs were covered with huge KS lesions and bleeding open sores, he would wear short pants in the Castro saying, people need to see this. They need to see what AIDS is. Mica died during the 1992 Malibu gathering, where AIDS was of course the main topic. When the phone call about Mica's death came at the gathering, Harry cried and said, "He understood my work".
Gary Reynolds "Girlene" "Jereldine" 8/2/64 - 6/10/91
Gary was a Santa Cruz CA faerie known at gatherings for his Karen Carpenter imitations. That girl could sing! A fierce activist he once organized the following. A billboard had a whiskey ad that said, "Straight man's drink", showing men playing cards and showing the hand of one of the men, holding a straight. Gary got some friends together at night to change the billboard to say, "Don't drink, be gay!" All the cards in the man's hand were changed to queens. Gary, who died of AIDS, rode as a Grand Marshall in the 1991 Santa Cruz Gay Pride Parade, on the same day he died!
David Emerson Smith 1/10/45 - 5/12/91
David was a well known gay radical poet, the author of "Queer Poet Lives!" If you google him you can find quite a bit of info. David died of AIDS.
Butterfly (Walter Blumoff) 1/26/41 - 4/26/91
Butterfly was an acclaimed photographer living in Santa Cruz, CA whose work was displayed in galleries and museums. At a large San Francisco faerie party, attended by Harry n' John, visiting from LA, we not only watched the psychedelic patterns projected on the wall by John's Symetricon, we were treated to Butterfly's slide show of nude young men posing by Butterfly's swimming pool. On his 50th birthday, knowing his death from AIDS was imminent, he went out with friends to a fancy restaurant wearing a dress, Some of Butterfly's photographs are archived at the Hormel LGBT Library archives in San Francisco.
Nova Begonia (Randy Jacobs) - 1991
Nova was a faerie who grew up in the Wolf Creek area, son of a local sheriff. A musician who did fabulous drag, created amazing decorations for gatherings, and had a brilliant wit, Nova helped organize, the West Coast Radical Faerie Tea Dance and Symposium, in 1986 at Wolf Creek, a few months before Nomenus bought the land.
Nova taught college courses later, when he lived in Eugene, and Portland Eventually he moved to San Francisco for better medical care before going blind, then dying of AIDS.
Robin Stephens "Rama Robin" 8/8/56 - 11/6/90Rama Robin could cheer folks up even when he felt bad himself, he was that way. Vulnerable and tender, yet brave and courageous, Robin had an outrageous sense of humor. Robin was one of David Dvorsky's four husbands. He attended the 1988 Spiritual Gathering of Radical Faeries at Wolf Creek and the Black Leather Wings gathering directly afterwords. He was a real sweetheart, with an outrageous sense of humor. Robin died of AIDS.
Pat T. Dyke (Michael Brownfield) 9/30/59 - 2/5/90
Pat T. Dyke, was one of the Manson Sisters at the 1987 and 1988 Wolf Creek gatherings. There was no gathering at Wolf Creek in 1989 and before the 1990 gathering he had died of AIDS. Pat T. Dyke created Pattyville, an elaborately decorated hangout amidst the dense tent camping nearest the barn and shitters at Wolf Creek. He kept a full bar where "bad" faeries could have a cocktail in the middle of the day, or at night.
Shastina Mylar (Lloyd Fair) 9/26/41 - 11/22/89
Ms. Mylar, as I knew him, once was an attorney who argued and won a case in front of the New York Supreme Court, in another incarnation before he morphed into a fabulous faerie who could never work a straight job. Lloyd was also my friend. At the Homecoming Gathering at Wolf Creek in 1987 Lloyd conceived of the giant poodle which was made of stucco and had a huge penis, big curling eyelashes, and a long protruding tongue.
Lloyd relentlessly made us fold colored pieces of paper into carnations as we sat in heart-circle. There had to be 2000 of them, he insisted. Once the 2000 carnations were affixed to the poodle,,it looked so fabulous, we understood Lloyd's vision. Another fabulous faerie lost to AIDS.
Gary "Glennda" Compton 10/30/50 - 9/26/89
Gary Compton used to work as a petroleum geologist in Alaska before moving to San Francisco and becoming a Radical Faerie. He worked with Nomenus establishing the Sanctuary and generously donated large sums of money to help get Wolf Creek established. Gary lived in a faerie household in a large luxurious flat in a Victorian mansion where many faerie parties took place. Gary was my friend and died of AIDS.
Tryon Kennen - 6/89
I knew Tryon, not well, but he was close friends with my close friend, Joey Cain, who took care of him when he was dying of AIDS. At the 1987 Homecoming gathering at Wolf Creek, a faerie got up in heart-circle and stated that because faeries were more evolved than ordinary gay men, we would be immune from AIDS. I knew faeries who had AIDS, but they were in the closet about having it. I was impressed by Tryon's bravery when he and Gary Compton came into the center of the circle together, holding hands, announced to well over a hundred faeries that they both had AIDS, and exposed the arrogant ignorance of the previous speaker.
Myles Storcamp (Bruce) 8/30/48 - 10/24/88
I remember Myles from Nomenus meetings, faerie gatherings, and San Francisco faerie events, but didn't know him well. He did have lots of friends among the faeries. Maybe one of them will see this and add more information about him on the ancestor website. Myles died of AIDS.
David Dvorsky 4/13/49 - 10/24/88
David was my close friend for eleven years until he died of AIDS. He rented both flats of a Castro flat with a total of seven bedrooms, which became his "house of boys". A striking tall figure with long hair, black leather pants, boots and jacket, David never had trouble keeping all the bedrooms full. Some of the guys became just roommates, but four of them were David's husbands and all five had sexual relations with each other, brought other guys home to play with them, it was pretty wild.
Our famous fabulous diva Maxxine was one of them along with Joe Drake, Rama Robin Stephens and Joe Drake. Gary Reagan also lived there as a roommate at one time. David's only gathering was the 1985 Breitenbush spiritual gathering of Radical Faeries, where he met Harry n' John a year before I did, leaving a lasting impression on David.
David loved his friends and his three cats. He was furious about the AIDS epidemic, the lack of government response, and the indifference of the general mainstream public. David died of AIDS.
John Herschel Bandy 10/26/42 - 8/9/88
John was an among other things, a talented organist who I heard play once at a distinguished recital. He is survived by his partner Steve Muchnik aka Rosemary.
Richard Nelson - 8/3/88
Richard was a very tall faerie, I think he was 6'8'. He spoke about how he dreamed of finding a man big enough to hold him in his arms. He died of AIDS before he had time to find that fellow giant of his dreams, and before I had time to get to know him well.
Trecs De Lai Diffner (Eric Norman Diffner) 2/25/50 - 10/19/87
Trecs was a Seattle faerie who was well known in he community there. I had several conversations with him in the coffee shop where he worked while I visited in 1986. Trecs died of AIDS.
Candor Smoothstone, Kenny Allison, Martin Xero 9/25/45 - 9/11/87
I met Candor Smoothstone in 1978, at the Stud Bar in San Francisco. He was living in an apartment building full of radical gay men, who were having a rent strike against their landlord in the Haight Ashbury. Colorful banners hung from the building, denouncing not only the landlord but the concept of property ownership in general, "Rent is theft", one banner proclaimed. Candor introduced me to his roommate Assunta, a year before Assunta moved to Wolf Creek. Candor was already part of the collective at Magdellan Farm, which was what the land at Wolf Creek was called then. He went back and forth between Wolf Creek and San Francisco, returning to the City when he needed to earn money. Candor died of AIDS.
Crit Goin (Newbold Crittenden Goin II) 6/38 - 1/86
"Hot Damn!" was Crit's frequent exclamation. With his friend Hyromonius he posed for Dan Nicoletta's "Faggots are Fabulous" photo which was widely distributed as a postcard, at least in San Francisco. Crit owned land in Humbolt County near Honeydew CA, where he dressed and acted as flamboyantly as in San Francisco. He made and carried a walking stick with a round ornamental stained glass decoration affixed to the top of it. When he lived in San Francisco for awhile his bakery in the Mission district made the best pot brownies. Crit died of AIDS.
Baba Ram Rom (Tom Bond)
Baba Ram Rom created The Holy Faerie Database, which at one time had the contact info of over 1500 Radical faeries on it. We would use it to do mass mailings of the call to gatherings at Wolf Creek. I remember him giving us the stack of floppy disks it took to hold the data in those days, so we could print mailing labels. Tom was active in Nomenus and attended many early gatherings, before dying of AIDS.
Jonathan West who died of AIDS is survived by his partner Dennis Peron
Wayne Carr "Homunculus Troglodyte", "Infected Faggot"
Wayne was a fierce AIDS activist in Los Angeles, involved in LA Act Up, and Queer Nation. .
A Radical Faerie, he was friends with Harry n' John, attended Malibu Spirtual Gatherings of Radical Faeries, and visited Wolf Creek.
He was known for doing civil disobedience, dressed in a custom made black & white very short dress that basically ended at the crotch while covering the butt, but had a sewn on pouch hanging from it that contained his genitals. Wayne was photographed in the LA Times wearing it while smashing the glass doors of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building with a metal pipe during a riot to protest the vetoing of antidiscrimination legislation by Govenor Duekmajan Wayne left that dress to me on condition I promise to wear it to gay protest demonstrations which I did. I eventually donated it, along with the LA Times photo of Wayne rioting in the dress, to the GLBT Historical Society of Northern California. Wayne wrote and published the amazingly transgressive AIDS zine, Infected Faggot Perspectives. I had all thirteen issues, I donated them to the Hormel LGBT library archives, where they can be viewed on request. After a hard fought battle, Wayne succumbed to AIDS.
Jerry Berbiar, a.k.a Jerry the Faerie of San Francisco, was part of the Circle of Loving Companions that brought Harry Hay & John Burnside from LA to SF to care for them in the last years of their lives. A member of Nomenus, he was involved in the founding of the Sanctuary in Wolf Creek, OR. An activist for healthcare and tenants rights in SF, Jerry is currently a member of Bound Together Anarchist Bookstore Collective, the Alexander Berkman Anarchist Social Club, and the Temple Whores.
