Robert (Bob) Jansen Papers

Robert (Bob) Jansen is an active member of the GLBT community in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota and the owner of a gay bar called the Main Club in Superior, Wisconsin. Jansen was a Theater teacher at the College of St. Scholastica but was fired when the school discovered he was gay. In 1982, Jansen sued the school for discrimination and won. He used the money he received to open the Main Club in 1983, one of the first gay bars in the area and a hub for regional GLBT events. Jansen was involved in organizing the Duluth-Superior Gay Pride, which began in 1985, and a leader in the Duluth-Superior gay community. He is also a co-founder of the North Star Gay Rodeo Association, the founder of the Greater North AIDS Project, and a co-founder of the Duluth Preservation Alliance. Jansen served on the Duluth Human Rights Commission and worked to create awareness and sensitivity to queer issues with the Duluth and Superior Police Departments. In 2005, Jansen was honored as Grand Marshal in Duluth-Superior Pride, and the 1996 Honorary Grand Marshal in Twin Cities Pride.

Jansen is originally from St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. His brother, Jerry, is also active in the San Francisco GLBT community. Jerry Jansen is one of the founders of the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties (CPOSCL) which was organized in 1984 to fight the closure of gay bathhouses and private sex establishments. Jerry was the treasurer and editor of their newsletter "The Journal of Sexual Liberty" and is heavily represented in the collection through his extensive correspondence with his brother.