RANDY P. CONNER, Ph.D., born on this date (d: 2022), was a gay spiritual seeker, activist, author, artist, and teacher.
Conner received
his B.A. and M.A. degrees in English literature/composition from the
University of Texas at Austin. In the 1970s he taught the first gay and
lesbian workshop at the Student Union there. His studies concentrated on
the intersections of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and pursuit of the
sacred. Conner received his doctorate in humanities and religion in
2007 from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.
He taught at several colleges including Florida State University, the
University of Texas at Austin, and the California Institute of Integral
Studies. He was most recently Associate Professor of World Humanities at
Moraine Valley Community College near Chicago where he created a
successful state- and college-approved LGBTQ+ humanities course.
Conner’s
spiritual path was focused on LGBTQ+ spirit in history and culture,
especially as related to European Neo-Pagan, Indigenous Native American
and African Diasporic traditions. He was an initiate and practitioner
of both Haitian Vodou and Reglade Ocho (Santeria), studying primarily
with Mama Lola, a well-known practitioner of these African Diasporic
traditions. He received his “Elekes” (spiritual beads for the
orishas/deities) as a Santero in Cuba, later earning the title of
Oungan.
Also a
practitioner of Neopaganism and Wicca, he studied metaphysics and
psychic arts with Tama Diaghilev, and Wicca/Witchcraft with ecofeminist
leader Starhawk. Conner also studied Tarot and mystical symbology with
spiritual teacher and scholar Angeles Arrien. He became a Radical Faery
in the 1980s and attended many gatherings over the years.
As an activist
for LGBTQ+ rights, Conner testified in the mid-1970s at the Texas State
Legislature for inclusion of gay and lesbian student organizations on
campuses for which he was fired from his graduate teaching position.
After moving to the Bay Area in 1978, he became a member of Bay Area Gay
Liberation, campaigned against the Proposition 6 Briggs initiative, and
for social/political justice for the queer and people of color
communities. He also co-curated with his husband, David Hatfield Sparks,
the El Mundo Surdo poetry series at Small Press Traffic in Noe Valley,
created by Gloria AnzaldĂșa, his "hermana espiritual," and participated
in Mainstream Exiles organized by San Francisco trans-activist Tede
Mathews.
Conner was a contributor to several LGBTQ+ publications including the Advocate, the old San Francisco Sentinel and White Crane Journal. He also served as fiction editor for RFD
magazine and taught a course in gay spirit at the Harvey Milk Institute
in the mid-1990s. Among his many essays, articles, books, speeches,
presentations, and other publications, several were nominated for Lambda
Literary Awards, including the seminal Blossom of Bone: Reclaiming Connections between Homoeroticism and the Sacred (Harper San Francisco 1993); the Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit (Cassell 1997) and Queering
Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas (Routledge 2004). In 2019, Conner published his five-volume study, The Pagan Heart of the West: Embodying Ancient Beliefs and Practices from Antiquity to Present (Oxford). An expanded, revised edition of the Encyclopedia, re-titled The LGBTQ+ Companion to Symbol, Mythology, Folklore, and Spirituality, is forthcoming from Equinox Publications (London).
These many
interests and projects he shared with his long-time companion/husband of
forty-three years, David Hatfield Sparks. Conner went to ride with
Charon to the Otherworld on May 5, 2022. He is also survived by their
daughter Mariah.
