Jim Kepner began writing extensively for ONE Magazine under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms in April 1954. With assistance from others nationwide, he documented the 1950s witch hunts, exposing the police and liquor control tactics that targeted gay people and violated freedom of association rights.
In 1967, following a raid on Los Angeles’ Black Cat bar, he organized a rally which grew the membership of the newly formed militant PRIDE organization. He wrote and edited much of the organization’s newsletter, which became The Los Angeles Advocate and later The Advocate, first a national newspaper and then a newsmagazine.
In 1971, Kepner made available to researchers his vast collection of gay rights movement documents and memorabilia, which became the International Gay and Lesbian Archives (IGLA). Today, the IGLA has been merged with the ONE Institute’s collections and the archive’s holdings number more than 2 million pieces.
Jim Kepner died on November 15, 1997.