Say Their Names – Part of the Prosperos Legacy
The Prosperos is comprised of a diverse, and some say eccentric community of truth seekers; people looking for a safe harbor to be themselves; students as artist of all sorts; people seeking enlightenment; people coming to connect with their spiritual core; To reconcile the Truth of their being with the existence they were living; but most importantly, people came for a love called Agape.
In and amongst the various groups of people that came to the Prosperos in the 1970’s-80’s were the LGBT students that came to the Prosperos for the sake of sanity. They needed to know the Truth, and the difference between Physical truth, Cultural & Historical truth, Narrative truth, and Existential truth. In order to live their lives authentically, honestly, and without shame and with some dignity.
Some of their names still run through my head, like a breeze through an open window, and during this holiday season, that breeze just kicked through the window, so today I am compelled to speak their names: Mary Ritley, Suzane Deakins, JoAnn Ross, Sandy Sandoz, Stella Rush, Billye Talmadge, Lane Montgomery, Ramon Noya, David Miles, and Pepe.
What really called forth these names for me was a post that came across my Facebook feed today. A post that has not been part of my feed before. It was called - Making Gay History - The Podcast's Post. I was caught off guard to see this post on my feed, for I had not subscribed to it.
I was then stunned and possessed by a picture of a young Stella Rush in leather surrounded by Gay Icons of the time. This post was about Stella Rush! I had met Stella Rush and her partner Sandy Sandoz in the Prosperos School of Ontology in 1967 and became fast friends. We stayed friends until Stella’s death.
I found Stella to be a courageous and defiant woman, who in the face of danger stood up for herself to live an authentic lifestyle that was natural to her. In Stella Rush, I found a role model, a good friend, and Mentor. Stella and her partner were the people there for you. Always firm but kind, people who were humble, modest and unassuming. characterized by lack of pretentiousness and being down-to-earth - Someone who my mama would say “knew the difference between shit and Shinola.”
My Mother had met Sandy and Stella at a Prosperos Party and something deep and heartfelt was shared in a conversation between them, that I had witnessed from a distance. My Mother had deep respect for them. In this reverie came the memories of my other student compatriots.
I felt in a scared space of gratitude and responsibility where the "Baton” and Legacy" of the School has symbolically passed to me; representing the transfer of responsibility, values, and mission (the legacy) from one generation, one person to the next, ensuring continuity and progress in faith, family, leadership, and purpose for the Prosperos School of Ontology to continue to be a space for a diverse, and eccentric community. I had to speak their names. Oh, you ask, what was in that Making Gay History - The Podcast's Post? Below is the article and link to that Facebook post I received:
https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/makinggayhistorypodcast
"I came out in December of 1948, at the old If Club ... I dressed like a gay person, but I didn’t know they had a uniform … I had on Levi’s and leather jackets, and you didn’t do that in 1948 unless there was something really strange … I just thought I was asserting my individuality. I didn’t know that meant you were gay. I mean, I thought, that’s perfectly ridiculous. I felt more comfortable that way." — Stella Rush (aka Sten Russell)
Stella Rush may have unwittingly donned a “gay uniform,” but she didn’t fit any mold. Listen to the self-described “bisexual ki-ki s.o.b. butch-femme” who carved out a place for herself on ONE magazine’s mostly male 1950s masthead in season 4 of #MakingGayHistorypodcast. Image: From left to right, Stella Rush, Keith St. Clare of Vanguard, Harry Hay, and Jim Kepner at the Western Regional Homophile Planning Conference at Aldersgate Lodge in Los Angeles, April 1967. Credit: Pat Rocco/ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.
