Guides: The Underground Press @ Archives &amp; Special Collections: Gay Press

LGBTQ Publications

LGBTQ Publications

Local Periodicals

Pittsburgh Gay News

1972-1976
Published by Gay Alternatives Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
First gay newspaper in Pittsburgh

Gay News Pittsburgh Edition

1976-1980
Published by Masco Communications, Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh edition of a Philadelphia-based gay newspaper

Gay Life

1977-1979
Published by the authors of Pittsburgh Gay News under GNC Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
Tabloid magazine focusing on gay social life in Pittsburgh

Planet Queer

1994-1999
Published by Billy Hileman
Politics and activist oriented gay newspaper

Pittsburgh's OUT

1979-2012
Published by Out Publishing Co. Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
Longest running gay newspaper in Pittsburgh

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.

Chronically Queer, A Zine for the Archives: Queer Chronic Illness Experiences (Alcoholism Issue)
Chronically Queer is a zine series produced by Regan Kane as part of her Summer 2024 research. Archives & Special Collections materials from the University of Pittsburgh Library System are featured in the publication.
Chronically Queer, A Zine for the Archives: Queer Chronic Illness Experiences (Healthcare Avoidance Issue)
Chronically Queer is a zine series produced by Regan Kane as part of her Summer 2024 research. Archives & Special Collections materials from the University of Pittsburgh Library System are featured in the publication.

The Gay Press

The Gay Press was largely concerned with the development of the gay liberation movement in the 60s and 70s and eventually grew into a movement more concerned with equality for queer people. A great deal of the gay publications contained in Special Collections are indeed underground publications, but some titles (such as Pittsburgh's OUT) would not fall into this category. They are included here, however, to present a more comprehensive view of the publishing history of the gay liberation movement.

See tumblr posts about this collection below.

Timeline of Pittsburgh's Local Gay Periodicals

Cover of Issue 1 of Pittsburgh Gay Times

Cover of Vol. 2 No. 1 issue of Pittsburgh Gay News

Secondary Sources

Gay Press, Gay Power: the Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America by Tracy Baim
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)
Publication Date: 2015-12-01
The first book to focus on the experience of LGBT archival research.
Unspeakable by Rodger Streitmatter
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
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.