George Raya papers

Title: George Raya papers

Dates: 1967-1996

Collection Number: 1990-09

Creator/Collector:

Extent: .4 linear feet

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

Abstract: The George Raya papers document political organizing and social networking within the gay community in California, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. In December 1974, Raya became California's first full-time lobbyist for gay rights, a position he held until June 1976.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research.

[Identification of item]. George Raya papers. Collection Number: 1990-09. GLBT Historical Society

Gift of George M. Raya on July 13, 1996.

The George Raya papers document political organizing and social networking occurring within the gay community in California, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. In December 1974, Raya became California's first full-time lobbyist for gay rights, a position he held until June 1976. Raya’s first legislative victory was the passage of AB 489, the bill that decriminalized sex between consenting adults, which was sponsored by then-California Assemblyman Willie Brown. The collection includes incoming and outgoing personal and professional correspondence (1967-1994); a program from a gay liberation conference he attended in Berkeley in 1969 and materials from Raya’s campaign for the ASUC Student Senate at UC-Berkeley in 1973; materials regarding the “gay issue” in the 1976 presidential campaign and a 1981 Whitehouse Fellowship; photographs, including photos from the 1977 White House Gay National Task Force Conference, where Raya represented the West Coast gay community; subject files on Latinos and AIDS and an Office of Civil Rights Complaint against the San Francisco Department of Public Health for lack of bilingual services; printed materials and newsclippings; and some personalia. GSSO Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_003201; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_007641; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001826