Newspapers – Part 3 – LGBTQ Periodicals

Hopefully, our ancestors didn’t appear in the news because of a police raid, but in their local gay community paper. Many LGBTQ Newspapers have started since Stonewall.

Here are newspapers and magazines serving the LGBTQ community.

Two of the earliest LGBTQ publications were from

  • The Mattachine Society – was founded in 1950 by Harry Hay and a group of friends in Los Angeles. Soon there were chapters in other U.S. cities.
  • And The Ladder was a publication from the Daughter of Billits. A lesbian civil and political rights organization found in San Francisco in 1955 by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons.

The table shows the name of the paper, City or area of coverage, the date it started – if there is no end date, then it is still in publication, and where you can find back issues online.

Paper Coverage Since Back Issues
The Village Voice NYC 1955 On Google News
The Ladder Daughter of Bilitis 1956-1972 OskiCat UC Berkeley Digital Assets
The Advocate National 1967 Magazine Subscriptions.co.uk $
Washington Blade Washington DC 1969
Fag Rag Boston 1971-1987 WorldCat
The Empty Closet Genessee Valley, NY 1971 River Campus Libraries
Bay Area Reporter San Francisco 1971 On Archives.org
San Francisco Sentinel San Francisco 1974
Out Front Colorado Colorado 1976 Out Front Colorado
Philadelphia Gay News Philadelphia, PA 1976 on ISSUU
Seattle Gay News Seattle 1977 Seattle Gay News Archive
San Francisco Bay Times San Francisco 1978 on ISSUU
New York Native NYC 1980-1997
Bay Windows New England 1983 Bay Windows
Just Out Portland 1983
Dallas Voice Texas 1984 University of North Texas
Windy City Times Chicago 1985 Windy City Times Archives
Gay People’s Chronicle Ohio 1985-2015
Q-Notes N & S Carolina 1986 Q-Notes Archive
Southern Voice Atlanta 1988-2000 Digital Library of Georgia
Curve National 1990
Erie Gay News Erie, PA 1993 on ISSUU
Between the Lines (newspaper) Michigan 1993 PrideSource
Metro Weekly Washington DC 1994 Metro Weekly Archive
Gay City News NYC 1994
Lavender Magazine Minnesota 1995
Gay Life Baltimore 2001 on ISSUU
Out & About Newspaper Nashville 2002
QsaltLake Salt Lake City 2004 QsaltLake Archive
The Rainbow Times New England 2006
South Florida Gay News Florida 2009 South Florida Gay News
The Georgia Voice Georgia 2009 on ISSUU
San Diego Gay and Lesbian News San Diego 2009
Baltimore Out Loud Baltimore
The Gay & Lesbian Review International 1994

UC Berkeley has an extensive collection of online historic LGBTQ periodical, most of which are no longer in print.

ADZ gayzette San Francisco, Calif.: K/DEL Enterprises [etc.], 1970-
Agapé and action Berkeley, Calif.: Committee of Concern for Homosexuals.
Amazon quarterly Oakland, Calif.: Amazon Press, 1972-1975.
ARC news (Association for Responsible Citizenship)  [Sacramento]: The Association, 1966-
BAR (San Francisco, Calif.)  San Francisco: Benro Enterprises, Inc., 1971-
Bar rag San Francisco, Calif.: [Guy Strait], 1967.
Bridge (San Jose, Calif.)  San Jose, Calif. [etc.] : GLF,
California voice (San Francisco, Calif.: 1983)  San Francisco: Paul D. Hardman [etc.], 1983-
Citizen’s news (San Francisco, Calif.)  San Francisco, Calif.; Guy & Associates, 1964-1967.
Coming up (San Francisco, Calif.)  San Francisco: [s.n.], 1979-1989.
CRH newsletter San Francisco: C.R.H., 1967-
Cruise news and world report San Francisco, Calif.: [Guy Strait], 1965-1967.
Dykes and gorgons Berkeley, Calif.: [s.n.],
East Bay gay men’s newsletter Oakland, Calif.: Oakland Gay Men’s Political Action Group,
Free particle San Francisco: [s.n.],
GAA lifeline San Francisco: The Alliance,
Gay Bay newsletter San Francisco: S.F. Committee for Homosexual Freedom,
Gay focus magazine San Francisco: California/South Carolina/New Mexico Corp., 1981-1982.
Gay people’s newsletter Berkeley: [s.n.],
Gay pride crusader San Francisco: [Crusader Press], 1972-1981.
Gay Students’ Union Berkeley, Calif.: The Union, 1970.
Gay sunshine.  [Berkeley, Calif.: Gay Sunshine, 1970-1981]
Gay switchboard Berkeley, Calif.: [s.n.],
Gay voice Sacramento: [s.n.],
GSU newsletter [Berkeley: GSU],
Haight Ashbury free press San Francisco: [Guy Strait, 1967]
I am San Francisco: Emmaus House, 1971-
Kalendar San Francisco, Calif.: Mecca Publications, 1972-
Lavender reader [Santa Cruz, Calif.: s.n.], 1986-
LCE news San Francisco, Calif.: [Guy Strait], 1961-1967.
Lesbian voices Campbell, CA: Sisters of Sappha, Lesbian-Feminist Alliance of Santa Clara County, 1974-
Mama Bears news and notes.  Oakland, Calif.: Mama Bears,
Mattachine newsletter (San Francisco, Calif.)  San Francisco: San Francisco Area Council of the Mattachine Society, [1955]- 
The Effeminist Berkeley, Calif.: [s.n.],
The Gay radical rag San Francisco: [s.n.], 1970.
The Ladder San Francisco, Calif.: [s.n.], 1956-1972. 
The Lavender letter San Francisco: Gay Alliance of S.F.,

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