Gay Life Newspaper, April 1979-October 2015 | Universy of Baltimore Library Archiv

Contents:

• PLACE: WHERE IS BALTIMORE'S GAYBORHOOD?
• GAY LIFE NEWSPAPER, APRIL 1979-OCTOBER 2015
• GAY BALTIMORE : THE CHARM CY – A CHARMG PLACE TO CALL HOME
• GAY LIFE NEWSPAPER, APRIL 1979-OCTOBER 2015
• MOUNT VERNON KEEPS CHANGG, BUT N REMA THE GAYBORHOOD?

PLACE: WHERE IS BALTIMORE'S GAYBORHOOD?

Baltimore OUTloud is Mid Atlantic’s premier pennt voice of the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Qutng (LGBTQ) muny provi prehensive news, provotive opns, and the latt lol entertament and are published bi-weekly every other Friday by Pri Media Limed, and livered throughout the Mid-Atlantic regn. In 2016 Pri Media purchased Gay Life om the GLCCB, makg the only penntly n LGBTQ paper Baltimore.

Beloved lol drag performer Tia Chambers reads an updated Baltimore Queer after the Baltimore Gay Paper which was a primary source for my rearchContext for my LGBT activism MarylandAn addn to the historil non & llective knowledgeA llectn of stori, perspective & quiry to Baltimor gay pastThis is the harst part of my rearch, ntextualizg scraps of our rerd history.

Maly om the Baltimore Gay Paper but also om alternative sourc like the Ao-Amerin, my former anizatn, the Baltimore Transgenr Alliance, as well as my own personal social media project is 2 years the makg & I won’t claim objective tth. Gay men had a uple clubs & bars sttered around the cy like Leon’s & Club Baths and lbians had Diana Prs & the 31st street bookstore to the north — the were the very first public meetg spac for LGBT muny here Baltimore, but needs soon exceed Baltimore Gay Alliance was found 1975, the first polil activist group for gay people the cy.

GAY LIFE NEWSPAPER, APRIL 1979-OCTOBER 2015

For many brave gay people Baltimore, wasn’t enough to jt have private spac, the people wanted muny & this muny wanted a voice. Gay Communy Center of Baltimore spl off om the Baltimore Gay Alliance 1977 — the new GCCB would serve as a support servic anizatn, & the BGA would ntue wh their polil anizatn & activism. The Gay Communy Center of Baltimore would later bee the GLCCB & is known today as the Pri Center of GCCBs first offic were a small basement sue of rooms the 2100 block of Maryland Avenue: home to unselg servic, a meetg space & a men’s sexual health clic.

Gail Vivo also worked on the GCCB newsletter, which eventually grew to The Baltimore Gay Paper, a key player that lked rmatn om the muny center to the muny GCCB grew om this loose nglomerate of multiple enti workg together the 70’s.

GAY BALTIMORE : THE CHARM CY – A CHARMG PLACE TO CALL HOME

— However, the lengthy procs of renovatg a former pball warehoe to a new muny center was fueled by the materials, labor & sh donated by muny members saw the birth of Baltimore’s gay muny & the tablishment of this new center saw thrive. The Baltimore Gay Alliance (the group that the GCCB sprang om) was rponsible for the first two attempts at cy hall 1980 & 1984 but were feated due to heavy lobbyg om relig groups & the Archdce of the third attempt, activists were now anizg a sophistited lobbyg effort unr a broad aln lled the Baltimore Jtice Campaign. Protectn om discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn would go on to pass 1988 & was sential wh the ever-growg stigma & discrimatn gay people Baltimore were facg, whether they had HIV or not.

GAY LIFE NEWSPAPER, APRIL 1979-OCTOBER 2015

There were also groups for Ain-Amerin lbians and, 1973, gay and lbian Catholics. Gay stunt groups at lol universi and the Baltimore Pri rally both appeared 1975, and that sprg the Baltimore Gay Alliance (BGA) held s first meetg. By 1977 was clear that the BGA need to form a unified muny center; the articl of rporatn were signed on March 28th, 1977 to tablish the Gay Communy Center of Baltimore (GCCB).

The GCCB newsletter evolved to the Baltimore Gay Paper (BGP), and later Gay Life, and moved om a volunteer’s basement to the Chase Street buildg. In 1985, Lbian was add to the anizatn’s name to create the most monly known name and acronym for the Center: The Gay and Lbian Communy Center of Baltimore or the followg the Center ntued to change wh s surroundgs by offerg new programs and servic while remag a bean and refuge for the muny at large. In 2002, an effort to rema clive, the Center rporated the entire muny serv to s name to bee the Gay, Lbian, Bisexual, Transgenr Communy Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLBTCCBCM) while retag the faiar (and more manageable) nickname of “the Center.

Thgs have changed markedly om the days when the Center operated out of basements, fought for s right to hold the Pri Celebratn, or watched gay rights bill after gay rights bill get voted down by the Baltimore Cy Council. The Baltimore Gay Paper Baltimore, Md. Vernon, but the qutn is more plited than was held Wyman Park Dell om 1988 (pictured here) to 1996 (wh the exceptn of the year 1995 when was held on Towson's mp)Mt Vernon was home to the Gay Communy Center of Baltimore for 34 years & is where Baltimore held s first pri celebratn 1975.

MOUNT VERNON KEEPS CHANGG, BUT N REMA THE GAYBORHOOD?

Vernon rints today are upper-middle class whe gay men, others havg long been priced out of the neighborhood.

Many of the olr gay stutns are closg or movg for siar reasons. It was out of this women’s liberatn movement that me lbian inty, notably distct om the largely male-foced gay liberatn movement of the time.

As well the 31st St bookstore was one of the earlit & most longstandg anizg spac for gay women operatg om 1973 to 31st street Bookstore operated as a muny hub for lbians om s openg 1973 to s closg 1995. Today, this sign remas the Universy of Baltimore gay archiv — a primary source for this rearch.