Oral history interview with Frankie Perez conducted by Elsa Lopez and Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez on November 05th, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Perez speaks about the importance of sports, and the lack of Latinx representation in teachers during high school. Perez then discusses being placed on medical hold in the military, how his transition affected his physical tests, how the 2016 election may have impacted transgendered people in the military, and how everyday military personnel feel about transgendered people serving in the military. The interview concludes with Perez discussing the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgendered, and Queer (LGBTQ) scene in Las Vegas, Nevada and about how culture impacts which clubs members of LBGTQ community would visit.
The Rick L. May Papers document social and political activities of Las Vegas, Nevada's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community from 1982 to 1997. The papers include records from the Gay Academic Union of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; various gay pride celebrations in Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas; the Metropolitan Community Church's outreach to the LGBT community; as well as Rick L. May's own notes and collections about LGBT-supportive stores like R and R Assordid Sundries. The collection also includes several t-shirts that commemorate the pride celebrations. The papers demonstrate how the pride celebrations that began in 1984 were the result of efforts from several sectors of Las Vegas' LGBT community.
The Dennis McBride Photograph Collection (approximately 1904-2018) contains over 5,000 individual photographic prints, negatives, digital images, and postcards that depict various events, people, and locations, across southern Nevada, particularly from the 1960s to the 1990s. The postcards depict a large number of hotels and casinos in cities throughout Nevada including Las Vegas, Tahoe, Reno, and Boulder City. The photographs depict a variety of events held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives, local branches of the Las Vegas Public Library, and local community spaces and stores. The collection also includes a detailed list of photographs from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) events taking place across Las Vegas from 1996 to 2018 including Pride parades, social gatherings in bars and nightclubs, holiday celebrations, and political marches and demonstrations.
In the years following this interview, Kerr continued entertaining, although he never returned to the Las Vegas Strip. Kerr performed at OUTfest Phoenix, at Palm Springs’ Awesome August celebrations, Las Vegas’ National Coming Out Day event, and for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center’s Youth Service’s Division. Kerr also gave shows at small bars and restaurants such as Café Nicolle and DeStefano’s in Las Vegas, the Wilde Goose in Cathedral City, California, and the Plush Room in San Francisco. There were rumors that Kerr was set to replace emcee Joey Arias in Cirque du Soliel [2004] and Frank Marino in La Cage [2005], but neither turned out to be true. Instead, Kerr performed in such local gay nightclubs as Flex, Sasha’s, Krave, Suede, and, on July 31, 2012, at the Onyx Theatre in Commercial Center. In 2006, Kerr made peace with his former rival, Frank Marino. Kerr’s son, Kristin Vidal, made Kenny a grandfather with his own son, Alexander. It was clear during his July 2012 performan
Bill Schafer is an active member of the Las Vegas, Nevada lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. He worked at the Las Vegas Bugle and served as managing editor throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Subsequently, he was also involved with the Las Vegas Night Beat, another LGBTQ publication in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a female impersonator identity known as Wilhelmina Parsons. He was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church under his given name and as Wilhelmina Parsons.