Gay Peoples Union (Milwaukee, Wis.).

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

As a preservation measure, researchers must use the digital reproductions of the Gay Perspective radio programs and other sound recordings rather than the original audio reels and cassettes.

ARRANGEMENT:  The collection is organized into four series:  1. Administrative Files, 1972-1984. 2. Gay Perspective Radio Program, 1971-1972. 3. Other Public Interviews, 1972, and 4. Textual Materials, 1971-1972. Within the first series, materials are arranged alphabetically by folder title and then chronologically. Within the other series, materials are arranged chronologically by date.

Many of the audio recordings were received with conflicting date information. The processing archivist relied primarily on the recordings themselves as the chief source of information for determining the date, and then on accompanying textual material and the original boxes. Dates enclosed in brackets indicate that the information was inferred by the processing archivist.

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

1. Administrative Files, 1972-1984. Series includes annual reports, articles of incorporation, board of directors meeting minutes, fliers, newsletters, and proposals for the establishment of a community service center, library, and news and events hotline.
2. Gay Perspective Radio Program, 1971-1972. Topics include gay liberation, oppression, legal reform, coming out, gay marriage, drag and female impersonation, icons of hypermasculinity in gay male culture, and venereal disease.
3. Other Audio Recordings, 1972. Series includes audio recordings of interviews given by GPU members as part of the organization's educational mission. Topics include gay liberation and coming out.
4. Textual Materials, 1971-1972. Series includes texual material that accompanied the audio recordings (i.e., run-downs, program notes, and photocopies of the original boxes, which often convey information regarding program topics and dates).

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY:  Gay Peoples Union (GPU) began as a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student organization, the Homosexual Freedom League. HLF held its organizational meeting at UWM on March 5, 1970 with an estimated seventy-five people attending. From this meeting, the group emerged with a new name, the Gay Liberation Organization. GLO included both students and individuals from the general Milwaukee community. From the beginning, there was disagreement between members who supported a revolutionary, broad-based politics and those wishing to pursue the single-issue of "homosexual liberation" through non-militant activism. In fall 1970, the more radical members of GLO withdrew and formed the Gay Liberation Front. The remaining members of GLO reorganized as the Gay Peoples Union and focused on educational programs and social activities. By fall 1971, GPU's affiliation with the university faded, and the organization took on a community-wide character.

GPU was the most important gay and lesbian rights organization in Milwaukee during the 1970s. Taking distance from the radical politics of the New Left, it adopted a politically moderate approach to social change, emphasizing education and legal reform. The organization actively embraced mainstream and alternative media outlets in order to educate the general public about homosexuality. It produced the first regularly scheduled, scripted gay and lesbian radio program in the nation, Gay Perspective. WZMF aired the half-hour program from February to June 1971; WUWM continued the program from July 1971 to May 18, 1972. The organization's monthly news magazine, GPU News, started publication in October 1971 and lasted a full decade. GPU collaborated with the mainstream media on at least two occasions, working with the Milwaukee Journal in February 1972 on its six-part series, "The Gay Revolution," and with WTMJ-TV in September 1973 on a five-part series titled "Some Call Them Gay."

GPU also took a leadership role in building an infrastructure for the emerging local gay and lesbian community. In 1972, it began operating a telephone counseling service on a mainly full-time basis. In October 1974, GPU opened its Venereal Disease Examination Center, the precursor of the Brady East STD Clinic. In mid-1975, it established Milwaukee's first gay and lesbian community center in a rented flat at 1568 N. Farwell Avenue. The Farwell Center housed both the GPU Library and the GPU VD Clinic.

During the 1980s, a host of other gay and lesbian groups emerged within existing social institutions such as businesses, sports, theater, healthcare, addiction recovery programs, and the media. Concurrently, the rise of lesbian separatism and the autonomous organizing of gays and lesbians of color seemed to undercut the relevance of a broad-based group such as GPU. The organization was effectively defunct by the early 1980s, although it continues to exist in name only at the time of this writing.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Gay Peoples Union (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records, 1971-1984. UWM Manuscript Collection 240. University Manuscript Collection. Archives. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Barbee, Lloyd A., 1925-2002. Papers. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 16)

Brady East STD Clinic. Records. (UWM Manuscript Collection 238)

GPU News. (Special Collections HQ76.8.W6 G6x)

Lisowski, Michael. Papers. (UWM Manuscript Collection 235)

Milwaukee Journal Stations. Collection. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 203)

Navarro, Ralph. Papers. (UWM Manuscript Collection 218)

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Office of the Dean of Students. Records. (UWM Archival Collection 48)

Utke, Donna. Papers. (UWM Manuscript Collection 233)

ACQUISITION:  Don Schwamb donated Gay Peoples Union newsletters in June 2004 (accession 2003-093). The Brady East STD Clinic donated the Gay Peoples Union administrative records in November 2005 (accession 2005-027). The Gay Peoples Union donated the Gay Perspective radio program and other recordings (via Eldon Murray) in July 2006 (accession 2006-001). Gay Peoples Union donated additional materials (via the Estate of Eldon Murray) in July 2007 (accession 2007-001).

PROCESSING:  Michael Doylen and Ryan Claringbole processed accessions 2003-093, 2005-027, and 2006-001 in fall 2006. Michael Doylen added accession 2007-001 in September 2007.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

• Gay communities--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Gay liberation movement--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Gay Liberation Organization (Milwaukee, Wis.).
• Homosexual Freedom League.

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Last edited on Thursday, September 27, 2007.
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