Pittsburgh Gay Periodicals - Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program - Pittsburgh Campus

Local Periodicals

Pittsburgh Gay News by Gay Alternatives Pittsburgh

First published in May 1972
Ran until September 1976 when sold to a Philadelphia publisher and became Gay News Pittsburgh Edition

Gay News Pittsburgh Edition by Masco Communications

First published in October 1976
Ran until April 1980

Gay Life by GNC Inc.

First published in March 1977 by the authors of Pittsburgh Gay News
Ran until September 1979 when it transitioned to a new format as Pittsburgh's OUT

Planet Queer by Billy Hileman

First published in April 1994
Ran until January 1999

Pittsburgh's OUT by Out Publishing Co. Inc.

First published as a magazine in November 1979
Switched to a newspaper format in August 1980
Ran until July 2012 when it transitioned to an online format

Archives & Special Collections

These periodicals are all currently housed within the Archives & Special Collections Department in Hillman Library. The Archives & Special Collections Department is the general designation for rare books, general manuscripts, and special collections which belong to the University of Pittsburgh. Established in 1966, the collections consists of over 52,000 physical volumes, 560 linear feet of manuscripts and archives, 13,000 photographs, 500,000 theatre programs, and various slides, microfilms, posters, recordings, ephemera, and memorabilia.

See tumblr posts about this collection below.

Timeline of Pittsburgh's Local Gay Periodicals

Secondary Sources

Gay Press, Gay Power: the Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America by Tracy Baim
ISBN: 9781480080522
Publication Date: 2012-11-24
This book provides an overview of the history of LGBT community newspapers and magazines in America. It provides a specific focus on weekly and biweekly newspapers, but also assesses the LGBT state of print media overall. The book starts with an in-depth look into the reasons a gay press started in the 1900s--as a response to either absent or anti-gay coverage by the mainstream media. It then explores the early gay media and journalists working in the gay press from the 1950s to the 1980s. The book includes chapters on some of the longer-lasting LGBT newspapers, such as the Washington Blade, Bay Area Reporter and Philadelphia Gay News.There is also an in-depth exploration of advertising and marketing in LGBT media, and a look at the future of queer media in America.
Out of the Closet, into the Archives by Amy L. Stone; Jaime Cantrell (Editor)
ISBN: 1438459033
Publication Date: 2015
The first book to focus on the experience of LGBT archival research.
Unspeakable by Rodger Streitmatter
ISBN: 0571198732
Publication Date: 1995-11-01
Unspeakable documents the major phases in the evolution of the gay and lesbian press while providing a window into the history of the movement, from the era of McCarthyism to the militancy of the '60s and the Stonewall Riots, from the liberality of the '70s to the issue of AIDS in the '80s and the outing of the '90s. 20 illustrations.
Straight News by Edward Alwood
ISBN: 0231084366
Publication Date: 1996-08-06
Addressing the critical role of the media in creating a public image of gay issues and lives, this is a comprehensive survey of how the news media have covered, or failed to cover, major lesbian and gay issues since the 1940s. A former CNN reporter, the author provides an insider's view of the changing fortunes of lesbians and gays in American print and broadcasting media.

Related Sources

Queer Nostalgia Collection
This online collection of queer historical artifacts endeavors to connect local communities to the rich resources available in the archives. In so doing, this project aims to increase access to and utilization of this historical information by queer Pittsburghers, but also to allow community members to contribute their own memories to fill in the gaps in the historical record.
Pittsburgh Queer History Project
The Pittsburgh Queer History Project (PQHP) is an oral history and media archive, focusing on LGBT nightlife in Pittsburgh, PA from 1960 to 1990. Working to preserve and recirculate these histories, the PQHP has collected interviews and artifacts from owners, employees, and customers. Our online catalog will serve to recirculate materials that had previously been saved by the community in basements, closets, and attics; as well as offering opportunities to contribute to the PQHP whether it be through comments, interviews, or donating materials to the collection.
Gay Life (1977-79)
An in-depth look at PIttsburgh's Gay Life print periodical from 1977-79.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Course & Subject Guides

Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program - Pittsburgh Campus

Gay Periodicals

Local Periodicals

Archives & Special Collections

Timeline of Pittsburgh's Local Gay Periodicals

Secondary Sources

Related Sources