The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Archives of Philadelphia
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Online
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General
Collections:
(Rare books, posters, audiovisuals, cloth, performing arts programs, etc.) |
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0001:
William F. Damon Papers
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0002: Tea Time Papers |
| 0003: Barbara Gittings / Kay Tobin Lahusen Tapes and Photographs |
| 0004: Harry R. Eberlin Photographs |
| 0005: Walter J. Lear Papers |
| 0006: Congregation Beth Ahavah Papers |
| 0007: Temple University Military Recruitment Case Papers |
| 0008: Randolfe Hayden Wicker Videotapes |
| 0009: Gay Alternative / Jeffrey Escoffier Papers |
| 0010: Gay Media Project Papers |
| Special Collections in Processing |
Special Collection
#0010:
The Gay Media Project Papers
1974-1976, 5 linear inches
The Gay Media Project Papers document the activities of this Philadelphia-based media watch and action group. The papers include administrative forms as well as detailed information about some of the media issues that they pursued.
The Gay Media Project (GMP) was founded in May 1974 in response to a cover story about homosexuality in the Philadelphia Inquirer's Sunday magazine. The organization's stated mission was to contribute to the liberation of gay people by raising and sustaining the consciousness of the communications media as regards the lives of gay men and women. Through the efforts of up to seventy volunteers, GMP focused on specific instances of anti-gay treatment in the local and national media. It also assisted other Philadelphia area organizations in their quest for publicity and positive media attention. In addition, GMP was instrumental in the production of WPVI-TV's short-lived gay public affairs program, Out Front.
A
substantial portion of this collection is devoted to the issues surrounding
a controversial 1974 episode of the television series Marcus Welby,
M.D. That portion of the collection includes the entire script
of this episode, as well as the GMP’s meeting notes regarding this
TV program.
This collection is particularly relevant to researchers interested in gay and lesbian media representation. Furthermore, since these papers document an early organization devoted to fair and accurate media representation, they serve as a foundation to the study of homosexual media issues, revealing workings of a local forerunner of such current organizations as GLAAD.
The Gay Media Project Papers were donated to the Gay/Archives of Philadelphia in the 1970s or 1980s. The papers were merged into the GLBT Library/Archives of Philadelphia in the early 1990s. Access to this collection is unrestricted.
Videos of the GMP/WPVI TV series Out Front , which the Library/Archives acquired separately, are in the General Video Collection.