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Contributing Institution:
Sacramento Public Library
email: sacroom@saclibrary.org
phone: (916) 264-2795
Title: MC 130: Guide to the George M. Raya Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MC 130
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/31/resources/1272
Physical Description:
.5 Linear Feet
1 acid-free box
Date (inclusive): 1968-2022
Abstract: Collection contains materials – correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and published materials – that
document the years 1968 to 2022 in the life of Sacramento attorney and LGBTQ activist George M. Raya.
Language of Material:
English
.
George M. Raya was born in Sacramento, California, on April 23, 1949. While attending Sacramento High School, he co-founded
the Mexican American Youth Association which was designed to encourage Mexican American youth to attend college. After graduation
in 1968, Raya enrolled at Sacramento State College. While there – and after coming out at the age of 18 – he co-founded the
Society for Homosexual Freedom and, in 1970, joined the Young People's Socialist League. That June, Raya was elected to the
Sacramento County Democratic Central Committee. He earned a degree in Government from Sacramento in 1972, making him the first
member of his family to graduate from college.
In August 1972, Raya enrolled in the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He dropped out, but
while there became the director of the Boalt Hall Community Assistance Program, co-founded the Boalt Hall Gay Law Students
Association, became a member if the Berkeley Community Health Advisory Committee, and co-founded San Francisco's La Raza Centro
Legal.
In 1974, Raya moved to the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco where he became a full-time gay rights activist. He soon returned
to Sacramento as a gay rights legislative advocate, helping push AB 489, the Willie Consenting Adult Bill, to victory. Before
exiting lobbying in June 1976, Raya travelled the state organizing political action groups with many becoming Gay Democratic
Clubs. In 1977, he was selected as one 14 Americans representing the nation's gay community at the National Gay Task Force
Conference, the first time that gay rights were openly discussed in the White House.
In December 1980, Raya graduated with a law degree from San Diego, California's, Western State University School of Law (now
known as the Thomas Jefferson School of Law). That same year, he joined the California State Democratic Central Committee
and was appointed by State Democratic Party Chair Nancy Pelosi to co-chair (with Joe Serna) the State Democratic Party's Legislative
Committee.
Raya went on to work as a Case Manager for the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance while also finding time to
sit as a board member for the Capital Crossroads Gay Rodeo Association and Sacramento Parks and Recreation Commission. He
continues to live in Sacramento where he actively works to positively impact issues related to social justice.
The papers are divided into seven series. They are as follows: Series I. Speeches and Biography; II. Correspondence; III.
Photographs; IV. Newspaper Clippings; V. Oral History; VI. Miscellaneous; VII. Published Materials.
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Sacramento Public Library must be submitted in writing
to sacroom@saclibrary.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Sacramento Public Library as the owner of
the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained
by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
[Identification of item], George M. Raya Papers, MC 130, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.