LGBT at UIUC

Chancellor's Task Force on Sexual Orientation, Final Report 1987
Multi-Page Item | 252 pages | 1987In February of 1986, the Chancellor appointed the Task Force on Sexual Orientation. This document includes Thomas E. Everhart's press release statement, followed by the report itself.
Chaz Bono LGBT lecture series poster
Image | 2012Chaz Bono advertisement poster, another big name brought to UIUC for LGBT outreach and visibility, particularly for the trans community.
Day of Silence poster
Image | 2012The Day of Silence is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT bullying and harassment unacceptable in schools take part in activities to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment – in effect, the silencing – experienced by LGBT students and their allies.
Don Lemon event flyer
Image | 2012Event flyer for an evening with CNN journalist Don Lemon.
Evan Wolfson lecture event flyer
Image | 2015Event flyer for an Evan Wolfson lecture entitled "Marriage as a Human Rights Battlefield." Wolfson was the executive director of The Freedom to Marry Project and an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University.
Gay Awareness Week calendar of events
Image | 1986Gay Awareness Week was created by the group when it was under the Gay Illini name. These events eventually became LGBT Awareness Days in later years under other group and office names.
Gay Awareness Week calendar of events
Image | 1983Gay Awareness Week was created by the group when it was under the Gay Illini name. These events eventually became LGBT Awareness Days in later years under other group and office names.
Gay Awareness Week poster
Image | 1994Still known at the time as Gay Awareness Week, poster describing the week's itinerary of events around campus.
Gay Illini Constitution
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1975The Gay Illini was the first of many registered Student organizationss that went on to various names and iterations throughout University of Illinois history. Records indicate that the group by this name, also known as the The Gay People's Alliance, was in effect from 1973 to 1989.
Gay Illini fact sheet
Image | 1976Document describing the various programs started and maintained by the Gay Illini.
Gay Illini fact sheet updated
Image | 1983Document describing the various programs started and maintained by the Gay Illini. Updated from 1976.
Gay Illini's 3rd Annual Halloween Bar Benefit flyer
Image | 1979Giovanni's was a haven for LGBT culture in the late seventies.
Gay Students' Alliance first meeting memo
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1975This memo was distributed at Giovanni's, The Balloon Saloon, and presumably other LGBT friendly locales around the C-U area, encouraging members outside of the university to join the group.
Gay Students' Alliance first notices
Image | 1975The first notices to appear in the Daily Illini announcing the Gay Students' Alliance meetings, forums, and a dance.
Gay Switchboard general flyer
Image | 1976Flyer for the Gay Switchboard
Gay V.D. Discussion flyer
Image | 1979A flyer announcing an open discussion on "Gay V.D.s". Although the full blown AIDS epidemic in America wouldn't happen for a few years, the community was already concerned about other illnesses or conditions that may be specific to gay or lesbian sex.
GLBT Awareness Days
Image | 1998In 1998, the words lesbian and gay were switched, to make the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Awareness Days. There has been much debate about the acronym of groups around the world over the years, particularly in the past two decades.
If the Girl Next Door Was Black & Gay Gloria Bigelow comedy poster
Image | 2010Gloria Bigelow remembers to bring laughter to the LGBT rights table.
Invitation to "be yourself"
ImageIt is unclear where this document originated, it may have been part of welcome packets for incoming students made available in offices or at meetings sponsored by groups or the Office of Concerns.
Laverne Cox event
ImageEvent flyer for Laverne Cox, best known for her role as Sophia Burset on Orange is the New Black.
Lesbian/Gay Illini DI advertisement
Image | 1989This advertisment for the Lesbian and Gay Illini ran in the "New Student Welcome" and the "Welcome Back" editions of the Daily Illini in July and August of 1989. At this time, the group already had dedicated space in the Illini Union. It would still be several years and multiple name changes, however, before the terms bisexual or transgender made their way into the organizat...
Letter to the editor
Image | 1975This letter was never submitted to the Daily Illini, but members of the Gay Students' Alliance threatened to submit it when a fraternity on campus denied the right of a same sex couple to dance at a fundraiser. As someone (unknown) noted, the fraternity conceded after the threat, but the situation was undoubtedly uncomfortable by then, and ultimately no gay couple did wind u...
LGBT Awareness Days
Image | 1996By 1996 the name of the week long event had been changed to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Awareness Days. Note the list of sponsors, by this time several RSOs now fell under the umbrella Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns.
LGBT Awareness Days
Image | 1997By 1996 the name of the week long event had been changed to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Awareness Days. Note the list of sponsors, by this time several RSOs now fell under the umbrella Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns.
LGBTRC 20th Anniversary schedule of events
Multi-Page Item | 2 pages | 2013Schedule of events from the Resource Center's 20th anniversary that took place in 2013. In 2008, the office changed its name from "Office of Concerns" to "Resouce Center." The Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations was beginning to take shape in the summer of 2008 and the cultural and resource centers were folded under this new umbrella. Office administrators also f...
Marlee Matlin keynote speaker poster, GLBT awareness week, 2009
Image | 2009Keynote speaker advertisement for Marlee Matlin, demonstrating fairly influential outreach from a university given her level of fame.
Mayoral proclamation of Lesbian and Gay Pride Day
Image | 1989Champaign and Urbana were the first cities in Illinois to protect the rights of gays and lesbians under the passage of human rights ordinances. In 1989, both city's mayors declared June 28th to be "Lesbian and Gay Pride Day," largely influenced by the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
A Night of New Wave
Image | 1983Fundraiser flyer for the Gay Illini. The Gay Illini regularly held benefits and fundraisers to help pay for the robust programming of the organization.
Partial Gay Switchboard governance and policies document
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1979On January 12th, 1976, the Gay Switchboard opened. The Switchboard remains one of the crowning achievements of the Gay Illini. An important aspect of this documentation is that it points to an understanding of and an openness to both transvestites and transexuals in the "LG" (or "GL") community was an important purpose of the Switchboard and it's policies.
Past, Present, and Future flyer
Image | 1983the United States government. Her early experiences with trying to learn more about lesbianism fueled her lifetime work with libraries. In the 1970s, Gittings was most involved in the American Library Association, especially its gay caucus, the first such in a professional organization, in order to promote positive literature about homosexuality in libraries. She was a part ...
Political goals of the Gay Illini
Image | 1975A page from Gay Illini internal documentation stating their political agenda. Either the group iteself or individual members were apparently also part of the National Coalition of Gay Activists. This documentation sought to align the goals of the group with a more global agenda, primarily that of the 1972 Gay Rights Platform.
Potluck Dinner
Image | 1976Flyer announcing a strictly lesbian event. Presumably the Gay Illini group felt that the term "gay" was encompassing of lesbian women, although the presence of the address for a separate group is shown on the bottom of the flyer. The group went through a myriad of name changes reflective of changes in LGBT culture throughout the years.
RSO card 1970
Image | 1970Official RSO card for the Gay Liberation group. Under this name, statement of purpose was listed as "To advance the political and social rights of homosexuals through education of the heterosexual community.
RSO card 1971
Image | 1971Official RSO card for the Gay Liberation group. Under this name, statement of purpose was listed as "To advance the political and social rights of homosexuals through education of the heterosexual community.
RSO card 1971 #2
Image | 1971Official RSO card for the Gay Liberation group. On this card, the staement of purpose changed to "combat oppression."
RSO card 1972
Image | 1972Official RSO card for the Gay Liberation Front. Noticeable changes from previous card show the addition of the word ""Front" to the group name, and the purpose changed again to "the advancement of gay people."
RSO card 1975
Image | 1975Official RSO card for the Gay Students' Alliance. Along with the name of the group, the purpose statement changed again, this time to, "foster a sense of pride in homosexual students, to inform the general public on the subject, and to provide an alternative to gay bars."
RSO card 1975 #2
Image | 1975Official RSO card for the Gay Students' Alliance. Purpose statement changed again in the same year, to "devlop a sense of pride in the gay community and to educate the student body on homosexuality."
RSO card 1976 #2
Image | 1976Official RSO card for the Gay Illini aka Gay People's Alliance. In 1976 and 1977, the RSO cards recorded the purpose of the group as "Gay Liberation."
RSO card 1976 card #1
Image | 1976Official RSO card for the Gay Illini aka Gay People's Alliance. In 1976 and 1977, the RSO cards recorded the purpose of the group as "Gay Liberation."

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