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Oral history interview with Cindy Cumfer

 Collection
Identifier: SR 11289

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Cindy Cumfer was conducted by Erik Funkhouser and Tim Aguirre on February 21, 2009, for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. The interview was conducted as part of a senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University, with Instructor Pat Young. One name was redacted from the audio and transcript at Cumfer's request.

In this interview, Cumfer discusses her involvement in the gay community and gay liberation movement in Portland, Oregon, in the 1970s. She talks about bars, restaurants, and bookstores that were welcoming to gay people. She discusses her work as a lawyer for the Community Law Project in Portland, and talks about some of the cases she worked on, particularly custody cases involving lesbians, and cases involving adoptions by gay parents. She also talks about the judicial career of Katharine Nachtigal. She discusses the Oregon ballot measures against LGBTQ rights in the 1980s and 1990s, and talks about how the homophobic campaign rhetoric led to her involvement in the First Unitarian Church. She closes the interview by discussing a case regarding guardianship and same-sex couples that got national attention in the 1980s.

Dates

  • Creation: 2009 February 21

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Cynthia Dee Cumfer was born in Ohio in 1949. She attended college in Florida, earning a bachelor's degree in 1971. That same year, she moved to Portland, Oregon. In 1977, she earned a law degree, and began working as a lawyer for the Community Law Project in Portland. She was one of the first lawyers to take domestic relations cases for same-sex couples in Oregon, and was the first lawyer to represent a same-sex couple in an adoption case. She wrote several books, including "The Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples in Oregon" and "Oregon Nonprofit Corporation Handbook." She earned a Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles and taught history at Reed College and at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. In 2013, she and Valerie M. Lyon were married. She retired in 2015.

Extent

1.16 Gigabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 58 min., 52 sec.) + transcript (33 pages) )

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral history interview with Cindy Cumfer conducted by Erik Funkhouser and Tim Aguirre on February 21, 2009, for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. Cumfer discusses her work as a lawyer on domestic relations cases for same-sex couples in Oregon.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Pat Young, May 2012 (Lib. Acc. 27620).

General

Forms part of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).

Title
Guide to the oral history interview with Cindy Cumfer
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240