Title: The National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce records, 1973-2000
Description: The National LGBTQ Task Force is the oldest LGBTQ advocacy group in the United States still in existence. Since its founding in 1973, the Task Force has been involved with every major issue affecting gays and lesbians. The organization has combatted discrimination in employment and military service; advocated for LGBTQ civil rights; fought anti-sodomy laws; focused governmental and public attention on AIDS; exposed violence against LGBTQ individuals; advocated on behalf of gay and lesbian families; and connected and assisted LGBTQ activists nationwide. This collection documents all of these efforts and others from 1973 to 2000. It also contains the organization's administrative records during these years. The collection does not contain files produced after 2000 nor NGLTF's publications. In addition to the Task Force's founding documents, the administrative files include staff reports, meeting minutes, conference reports, strategic planning documents, financial records, membership lists, and fundraising plans. Documentation of the Task Force's programmatic activity includes lobbying documents, notes on Congressional hearings and testimony; individual case reports; correspondence; surveys; press releases; publications; legal documents; press clippings; and photographs. The most thorough documentation comes from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. In 1985, the organization changed its name from the National Gay Task Force to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). In 2014, it became the National LGBTQ Task Force. A significant portion of the collection comprises field files from NGLTF projects. The Anti-Violence Project is the largest component of these field files, and includes the group's extensive documentation of incidents of anti-LGBTQ violence and its sustained lobbying efforts on the victims' behalf. The AIDS Project also figures prominently. Other projects with substantial files include Gays in the Military, Families/Domestic Partnership, Open Employment, and Privacy. General subject files cover issues ranging from abortion to youth. Researchers will also find correspondence detailing the NGLTF's relationships with individual members of Congress from 1987 to 1993 as well as with a wide range of organizations. This collection is essential for researchers interested in LGBTQ advocacy and policy in the United States in the late twentieth century.
Subjects: Gay rights, Sexual minorities, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (U.S.)
Places: United States