Mertz (Tom) collection on Queer Nation, 1990-2000

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Summary

Title:
Tom Mertz collection on Queer Nation
Dates:
1990-2000
Creators:
Mertz, Tom
Abstract:
Press material, flyers, clippings, correspondence, notes, protest signs, audiocassettes, and a VHS videocassette from Tom Mertz documenting the activities of the Los Angeles chapter of Queer Nation, 1990-2000. The collection documents the actions Queer Nation/LA organized and the media attention it received, including a zap on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1991.
Extent:
0.4 linear foot. 1 archive carton + 1 mapcase drawer.
Language:
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] Tom Mertz Collection on Queer Nation, Coll2014-025, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection comprises press material, flyers, clippings, correspondence, notes, protest signs, audiocassettes, and a VHS videocassette from activist Tom Mertz documenting the activities of the Los Angeles chapter of Queer Nation, 1990-2000. The bulk of the materials documents the actions Queer Nation/LA organized and the media attention it received, including actions against the Arsenio Hall Show, Barney's Beanery, and Dr. Laura Schlesinger. Also included is material for a radio documentary on the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center, produced by Mertz for the IMRU radio program on KPFK.

Biographical / historical:

Queer Nation was an action-oriented movement formed in New York City in April 1990 in response to a sharp increase in violence against LGBT people. The group sought to increase LGBT visibility and fight "oppression, homophobia, racism, misogyny, the bigotry of religious hypocrites and our own self-hatred" through direct actions. By the next year, 60 chapters of Queer Nation sprung up in cities throughout North America. Queer Nation/Los Angeles formed in 1990 and engaged in actions such as protesting Governor Pete Wilson's veto of AB 101 anti-discrimination bill; picketting during the Academy Awards and encouraging Hollywood actors to come out; and organizing a zap on the Arsenio Hall Show to confront the host on his lack of LGBT guests.

Source: Freeman, Elizabeth. "Queer Nation." Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America. 3 vols. Marc Stein, Ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons: Thomson Gale, 2003. 478-481.

"Queer Nation (organization)," ONE Subject File collection, Coll2012-001, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California

Acquisition information:
Gift of Tom Mertz, December 14, 2006.
Processing information:

Formerly box #102-A135. Collection processed by Loni Shibuyama, May 2014.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Loni Shibuyama
Sponsor:
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Date Prepared:
(c) 2014
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2014-05-22T16:39-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries 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.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] Tom Mertz Collection on Queer Nation, Coll2014-025, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Location of this collection:
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007, US
Contact:
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
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