Banned from California: -Jim Foshee- Persecution, Redemption, Liberation ... and the Gay Civil Rights Movement

A Gripping Biography of a Gay Trailblazer

Jim Foshee had always known that he was different. Born in 1939 to a conservative family, he longed for a place where he could be himself and find love. At the age of 15, he decided to take matters into his own hands and fled from his family in Idaho, hitchhiking across multiple states throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Arriving in 1950s Los Angeles, he discovered the underground world of homosexuals and early queer culture. He witnessed the front lines of the emerging gay civil rights movement and became determined to fight for his rights and the rights of others.

Every time he returned home to Idaho, Jim was met with hostility and institutionalization. The authorities locked him up in a mental institution, citing his "sexual deviation and sociopathic personality." But the teenager refused to be silenced and repeatedly ran away back to California, despite the risks.

Throughout his life, Jim was constantly institutionalized—he was placed in an orphanage as a toddler, sentenced to juvenile detention in a state reform school, and imprisoned in the early 1960s where he toiled on a Texas chain gang. But he never lost his fighting spirit.

Banned from California is a gripping, thought-provoking and inspiring book. Filled with vintage photographs and meticulous annotations, author Robert C. Steele chronicles the journey of a true trailblazer who left an indelible mark on mid-20th century history.

Publishers Weekly ~ Booklife "Editor's Pick" for Outstanding Quality
Kirkus Reviews ~ (Starred Review) for Exceptional Merit
"An incredible read!" ~Think Queerly podcast
"A fascinating biography." ~Out Front Magazine

Robert C. Steele served as a reporter and producer at various radio and television stations in Colorado and Arizona.  He was a broadcaster at the Italian National Broadcasting Company (RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana) in Naples, Italy. While on active duty in the US military, he was a reporter for Armed Forces Radio and Television along the coast of Vietnam, the Asian Western Pacific and Vicenza, Italy.
 
He was a volunteer and activist in the early gay liberation movement with the Gay Coalition of Denver and with two weekly gay radio shows in Colorado. Later, as a federal government public affairs officer, he served as a government spokesperson and managed media relations with reporters who worked for media outlets from across the USA and around the world.

For more information visit the website: BannedCA.com