These materials consist of audio tapes, videotapes and films that were culled from the organizational records and personal papers collected by the International Gay Information Center. They include audio recordings of interviews, meetings, lectures, radio and television shows, and live performances.
There are also videotapes from the Open Channel cable show and several gay erotic films. These materials document the development of an underground gay subculture in the s and s, the emergence of the gay rights movement after the Stonewall Riots of and the evolution of gay and lesbian communities with their own distinct cultures in the s and s. Information on the gay movement in the s and s is found primarily in the interviews, which also provide some data on the gay culture of the s and s.
The interviews with Harry Hay and James Kepner in subseries 1. These sources mainly document developments in Los Angeles and San Francisco. There are also recordings of meetings series 2. The materials provide extensive data on the beginnings of the gay rights movement in the early s. The interviews provide contemporary documentation on the development of a number of local gay organizations in subseries 1. There are also recordings of a few gay meetings from this period, such as the Rhode Island Gay Conference of Series 2.
The materials provide the strongest documentation on the solidification of gay communities and the flowering of gay culture in the late s and s, particularly in the New York City area. The strengthening of gay identity and the evolution of a gay culture during this period is documented in the lectures on gay art and history subseries 3. The interviews, some of which are with gay performers subseries 1. These audio-visual materials also provide some information on other social movements that influenced or had contact with the gay rights movement, such as the civil rights movement, the black power movement, the feminist movement, and the Vietnam anti-war movement.
There are scattered references to these movements in the interviews Series 1. The Open Channel Television Programs subseries 5. The International Gay Information Center collection audiovisual materials are arranged in seven series:. Consists of interviews conducted in the s and s, most of which are with gay activists, members of gay organizations, and prominent figures in the gay community.
