This collection comprises minutes, meeting agendas, financial records, correspondence, memoranda, reports, press releases, newsletters, publications, legal papers, subject files, notes, photographs, ephemera, and a videocassette relating to the on-going activities of the Lesbian & Gay Rights Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU-LGRC), in Los Angeles. The LGRC is the first ACLU chapter in the United States to address the civil rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. The earliest materials in the collection date before the founding of the LGRC and document the gay- and lesbian-related activities of the ACLU--including the Rights of Homosexuals Committee (1973 - 1976) and the Gay Rights Panel (1975 - 1976). The collection spans the founding of the LGRC in August 1976 up to 2004. However, the bulk of the materials come from the years 1976 to 1995.

Since the early and mid-1960s, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates took on the cases of founders of the Mattachine Society, members of the Daughters of Bilitis, and publishers of gay and lesbian publications such as ONE Magazine to challenge the federal government's exclusions of lesbians and gay men from civil service jobs, to fight police entrapment and bathhouse raids, and to end post office censorship. In 1966, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California formally affirmed that the right to privacy in sexual relations is a basic constitutional right and defended a public school teacher threatened with the loss of his teaching credentials after he was acquitted of charges of illegal homosexual conduct. In 1970, the ACLU of Southern California went on to obtain an injunction that permitted the first Christopher Street West parade to take place.

13 Linear Feet 26 boxes.

Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).

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