The Empty Closet

Last updated
The Empty Closet
TypeMonthly magazine
PublisherOut Alliance (previously called Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley)
Founded1971
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters100 College Ave STE 100,
Rochester NY
United States
OCLC number 5737153
Website The Empty Closet
Free online archives Archives hosted by the University of Rochester

The Empty Closet is a free magazine published by the Out Alliance based in Rochester, New York. [1] The Empty Closet reports on issues of interest to the local and national LGBT and allied communities.

Contents

History

The Empty Closet began publication in January 1971 by the University of Rochester Gay Liberation Front student group. [2] [3] Some of the founding members were Bob Osborn, Larry Fine, RJ Alcalá, Marshall Goldman, Debbie Lestz, Pattie Evans (her pseudonym during the early publications was Patricia Evers), [4] Karen Hagberg, and Sue Minor. [5] It is one of the longest continually published newspapers in the United States focusing on the LGBT community. [2] [3] It was a newspaper until February 2018. [6]

Importance

In February 2011, the New York State Senate passed Resolution K130-2011, "Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of The Empty Closet", noting the contributions of the newspaper to creating an atmosphere of social tolerance in the Rochester region: "This progressive paper has been a powerful tool in documenting the social, political, religious, cultural, artistic, business and literary history and events for the GLBT community of Rochester and surrounding areas." [7]

In 2013, a complete run of The Empty Closet was transferred to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Archives for preservation. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

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This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1970.

Stonewall Inn Gay tavern and monument in Manhattan, New York

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Gay Liberation Front Gay liberation groups in major US, UK, and Canadian cities during the 1960s-70s

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Vito Russo American historian

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Kay Lahusen American photographer, writer and activist

Katherine Lahusen was an American photographer, writer and gay rights activist. She was the first openly lesbian American photojournalist. Under Lahusen's art direction, photographs of lesbians appeared on the cover of The Ladder for the first time. It was one of many projects she undertook with partner Barbara Gittings, who was then The Ladder's editor. As an activist, Lahusen was involved with the founding of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) in 1970 and the removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). She contributed writing and photographs to a New York–based Gay Newsweekly, and co-authored two books: The Gay Crusaders in 1972 with Randy Wicker and Love and Resistance: Out of the Closet into the Stonewall Era, collecting their photographs with Diana Davies in 2019.

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GLBT Historical Society American non-profit LGBT historical society

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References

  1. "The Empty Closet". The Empty Closet. Out Alliance. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Empty Closet Archive Chronicles Four Decades of Gay Rights". University of Rochester News. University of Rochester. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 Baim, Tracy, ed. (2012). Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America. Chicago: Prairie Avenue Productions and Windy City Media Group. pp. 99–100. ISBN   978-1-4800-8052-2. OCLC   821046450.
  4. McCally, Karen (July–August 2013). "Forty Years Out". Features. Rochester Review. 75 (6).
  5. Bailey, Evelyn (5 October 2011). "Our History Is Our Strength". Shoulders to Stand On Blog. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  6. Gamilla, Michael (February 21, 2018). "Empty Closet: Newspaper to Magazine After Four Decades". The Empty Closet. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  7. "Resolution K130-2011, Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of The Empty Closet". Open Legislation, New York State Senate. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  8. Granite, Lisa (2015-02-27). "Non-Profit Report: The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley". Rochester Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  9. Robinson Jr., Franklin A. (Summer 2014). "Queering the Archive". QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking. Michigan State University Press. 1 (2): 195–199. doi:10.14321/qed.1.2.0195. S2CID   161954172 via Project MUSE.