Rupert Kinnard
| Rupert Kinnard | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rupert Kinnard 1954 Chicago, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Prof. I.B. Gittendowne |
Notable works | B.B. and the Diva |
Rupert Kinnard (born 1954) also credited as Prof. I.B. Gittendowne,[1] is an African-American cartoonist, who created the first openly gay/lesbian African-American ongoing comic-strip characters: the Brown Bomber (a teenage superhero) and Diva Touché Flambé (his lesbian partner).[2]
Biography
Rupert Kinnard was born in Chicago in 1954, and spent his early years living on the West Side. He moved with his parents and four sisters to a 16th-floor apartment in then-new housing projects, then to the South Side, where he attended Morgan Park High and later the Chicago Public Schools' High School for Metropolitan Studies. After graduating, he attended American Academy of Art.[3]
In 1976 he enrolled at Cornell College in Iowa, where he created the openly gay/lesbian African-American characters "Brown Bomber" and "Diva Touché Flambé" in 1977; they were featured in his strip Cathartic Comics, published in the college newspaper.[2] The characters – described by him as "a gay male superhero-slash-fairy with a lesbian partner" – were created in reaction to Kinnard's realization that even the comics characters he'd originally been creating himself were all white.[4] Brown Bomber was modeled after boxer Joe Louis (who was also known by that nickname).[3] A collection of Kinnard's strips was published in 1992 by Alyson Books as B.B. and the Diva.[5] The lead characters were also portrayed on stage in 1994, in Out of the Inkwell, a Theater Rhinoceros production in San Francisco, also featuring characters from Doonesbury.[1] The strip was carried in Outlines and several other gay publications, and was included in volumes of Meatmen.
He graduated from college in 1979, and moved to Portland, Oregon, where he began working for alternative newspaper Willamette Week as associate art director. In 1983 he cofounded Just Out, Oregon's first LGBT publication, which won the 1983 National Gay Press Association award for best overall design. He was was the first African American to serve on the board of the Portland Town Council, the state's first LGBT organization, and helped to establish The Diversity Alliance, a multicultural LGBT group. He was art director of the San Francisco Sentinel when it received the 1987 National Gay Press Association award for best overall design. In 1993 he and six other men formed the Portland chapter of Brother to Brother, a social organization for African-American queer men.[1]
Kinnard was paralyzed from the waist down following an automobile accident in 1996.[1][4]
He and his partner Scott Stapley were among the plaintiffs in Martinez vs. Kulongoski an unsuccessful 2008 court challenge against Oregon's Ballot Measure 36, which prohibited same sex marriage.[1][6]
In 2013 Kinnard received a "Standing on the Shoulders" Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Arts Foundation, which stated that his "artistic talent and leadership to reach out to the LGBTQ community honors the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."[1][4][7] He was a featured panelist at the first Queers & Comics conference in May 2015, as one of the "Pioneers of Queer Men’s Comics" and a speaker on "Queer Comics, Health and Dis/Ability".[4]
Kinnard and his partner own and operate a guesthouse in Portland.[8][3] He is working on an graphic memoir called LifeCapsule.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Lynn, Logan. "Queer Heroes NW – June 11th, 2013 – Featured Hero: Rupert Kinnard". Q Center. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ a b Booker, M. Keith (Oct 28, 2014). Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO. p. 599. ISBN 9780313397516. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d Baim, Tracy (2009-07-15). "The 'Diva' Comes To Life". Windy City Times. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Rupert Kinnard: A Superhero of His Own Making". PQ Monthly. June 10, 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ Kinnard, Rupert (1992). B.B. and the Diva. Alyson Books. ISBN 9781555831349.
- ^ . Judicial Department, State of Oregon http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/docs/A130818.htm.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Kinnard wins lifetime achievement award". Cornell College. February 20, 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ "Kinley Manor guest house". Retrieved 2 February 2016.
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