Jinx Beers (October 12, 1933 – October 4, 2018), born Clara Jean Beers, was an American activist and editor. She was founder of ''The Lesbian News'', the longest-running newspaper for the lesbian community in the United States. She was also a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

veteran, a scientist studying driver impairment, an art gallery director, and a mystery writer.

Early life and education

Beers was born in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, the youngest of five children born to William Earl Beers and Frances Edith Woodley Beers. She attended

Pasadena Junior College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four-year junior college, combining the la ...

in 1951. After her service in the United States Air Force, she used the

G. I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

to earn a bachelor's degree in psychology at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA).

Career

Beers served in the United States Air Force, stationed in Germany from 1951 to 1955, and at the USAF Hospital in Long Beach; after her honorable discharge she served in the

Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...

for another twelve years. She worked at the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering at UCLA for 18 years, studying driver alertness and fatigue, impaired drivers, signage, and safety. She taught a 1970 course in UCLA's Experimental College titled "The Lesbian Experience". She was active in many protests, demonstrations, and other community activities in Los Angeles, and was a member of the National Organization of Women's Lesbian Rights Task Force. In 1975, Beers founded ''The Lesbian News'' (also known as ''LN'' or ''TLN''), a free monthly publication for the lesbian community in Southern California. ''LN'' included community announcements, interviews, practical advice, and reviews. Beers' editorial policy was explicitly anti-racist, anti-ageist, anti-sexist, and anti-violence. “I never planned to have a publication. I had to learn everything along the way,” she said later. In 1989, she sold ''LN'' and began another periodical, ''LSF: Lesbian Short Fiction''. In 1986, Beers became director of Pendragon Gallery, "the only gallery on the West Coast devoted exclusively to the science fiction and fantasy genre." In 2009, she published an autobiography, ''Memories of an Old Dyke'', with proceeds supporting the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives. In 2013, she gave an oral history interview to the Mazer Archives. She also wrote mystery stories, and was a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Sister in Crime.

Awards and honors

Beers received the Community Service Award from Southern California Women for Understanding. In 1987, she received the Dick Michaels Media Award from Christopher Street West. She was named the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club's Woman of the Year in 1990. In 2009, the Lesbian & Gay Advisory Board of West Hollywood presented Beers with the Rainbow Key Award, and the City of West Hollywood presented her with the Etheridge Award. In 2017, Beers was inducted into the LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.

Personal life

Beers and artist

Alicia Austin Alicia Austin (born 1942) is an American fantasy and science fiction artist and illustrator. She works in print-making, Prismacolor, pastels and watercolors. Early life and education Austin was born in Providence, Kentucky. As her father was c ...

were partners. Beers died from

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

in 2018, aged 84 years, at a senior living facility in Los Angeles. Her papers are archived in the Special Collections Library at UCLA.

References

External links

Mazer Oral Herstory Project, “Jinx Beers Interview: Creating an Image”
and
“Jinx Beers Interview: Love At First Sight”
(November 21, 2013), parts of the oral history interview with Beers, posted on Vimeo by the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beers, Jinx 1933 births 2018 deaths People from Pasadena, California American editors American LGBT military personnel LGBT rights activists from the United States University of California, Los Angeles staff University of California, Los Angeles alumni Pasadena City College alumni American LGBT writers American mystery writers