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Seeking Stories of Queer California: A Hidden Histories Online Exhibit Main Menu Introduction Galleries A guide to each of the online galleries in this digital exhibit, grouped by topic or theme. Arts Asian & AAPI LGBTQ+ people Bisexual People Black LGBTQ+ People Communities Defying Expectations HIV/AIDS Latino/a/x LGBTQ+ people Lesbians LGBTQ+ Activism LGBTQ+ Discrimination LGBTQ+ Life in California Marriage and Families Politics Pride Religion and Spirituality Transgender People

Gay men

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Men who self-identify as gay and belong to gay communities. Predominately used to describe men who are exclusively or primarily romantically and/or sexually attracted to other men, though "gay" is sometimes used as an identifier by people of all genders or as a collective term. Seen and unseen, gay men have made significant contributions to society, through activism, advocacy, art, science, and culture. Though gay men are sometimes the face of the queer community, they are far from a monolith. They have unique journeys of self-discovery, navigating societal expectations, stereotypes, and discrimination to be seen and understood.

Collection Information

For more information on the materials in this gallery, see their holding institutions.

ASU FIDM Museum
Blue Check suit by Gilbert Adrian
Designer Rudi Gernreich in his office
Gown by Gilbert Adrian
Tan Suit Ensemble by James Galanos

California Historical Society
Lesbians and Gay Men the Grand Jury's in Town

California History Section, California State Library
Data Boy, Issue 136: Film
Don't Give Him Anything but Love
Magpie of California

Gerth Archives & Special Collections, California State University Dominguez Hills
Gay Sunshine no. 6
Lavender Godzilla: Voices of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance

Historical Society of Long Beach
Membership card to the 1350 Club
Painted Rocks by Ray Lowen

The Huntington Library
Don Bachardy, portrait of Stephen Spender
Don Bachardy, portrait of Truman Capote
The Gay Times, interview with Joseph Hansen titled “Simple Lessons”
Joseph Hansen, “Why I wrote Early Graves”
Newspaper clipping from photograph album showing Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden
Photo of William Haines at his holiday home
Photo booth photographs of Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood
Souvenir featuring Don Bachardy from a party thrown by producer Allan Carr in honor of Truman Capote

LAPL Photograph Collections
Gay Dating Service Head
Gay Fathers Group
Gay Marriage Case

Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
Charles Pierce and Virginia Grey
Flier advertising A Different Light bookstore's 1989 Gay Writer Series events
Gregg Araki
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Kenneth Anger
My Beautiful Launderette
Poster and Call sheet for Making Love
Rock Hudson
Salome
Tea and Sympathy
The Word is Out

The Outwords Archive
Miguel Criado Oral History

Santa Monica History Museum
Crystal Beach bathhouse
Golden Bull
Mr. Muscle Beach Contest

Self Help Graphics & Art
Butch/Top
Intertwined
Y Que

University of California Riverside Special Collections & University Archives
Cover of manual for "Civil Rights for Lesbians and Gay Men: A Reference Manual for City and County Officials"
Excerpt from Sketchbook 11, Morris Scott Dollens
The World Book of Naders

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Portrait of Harrison Post
Portrait of William Andrews Clark

Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum
Ramon Novarro

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Lavender Godzilla: Voices of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, April 2003
Rock Hudson
Blue check women's suit by Gilbert Adrian, 1946-48
Kenneth Anger, undated
Tan Suit Ensemble by James Galanos, 1962
Joseph Hansen, “Why I wrote Early Graves,” circa 1987
Dorr Legg at drafting table, circa 1936-1942
The Gay Times, interview with Joseph Hansen titled “Simple Lessons,” January 1987
Gay Men's Chorus 25th Anniversary concert poster, 2004
Gay Dating Service Head, 1982
Jeff Horton, Larry Pickens and their son at Los Angeles gay pride, 1995
A celebration of adult Bar and Bat Mitvahs at Congregation Kol Ami, 2000
Robert Arthur, Ivy Bottini, Quentin Crisp, Morris Kight, and Patricia Nell Warren, 1994
Photo of William Haines at his holiday home, taken by Ruth Harriet Louise for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, circa 1925
Asian Pacific group at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, 1993
The Golden Bull, 2023
Portrait of Morris Kight by Don Bachardy, 1980
Poster and Call sheet for Making Love, 1981-1982
Membership card to the 1350 Club, 1981
Matlovich for Supervisor, undated
My Beautiful Laundrette, circa 1985
Ron Douglas (left) and Jack Wilson cut their wedding cake at the private marriage ceremony, 1970
Lesbians and Gay Men The Grand Jury's In Town, 1979
Newspaper clipping from photograph album showing Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, ca. 1930s
The World Book of Naders, undated
The Word is Out, 1977
Don't Give Him Anything But Love, 1973
Ramon Novarro, circa 1920s
Souvenir featuring Don Bachardy from a party thrown by producer Allan Carr in honor of Truman Capote, December 13, 1979
Excerpt from Sketchbook 11, Morris Scott Dollens, undated
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, circa 1954
Data Boy, Issue 136: Film, January 1976
Don Bachardy, portrait of Truman Capote, June 26, 1961
Cover of manual for "Civil Rights for Lesbians and Gay Men: A Reference Manual for City and County Officials", 1990
Tea and Sympathy, 1953-1956
Magpie of California, May 1969
Gay Fathers Group, 1981
Don Bachardy, portrait of Stephen Spender, June 21, 1976
Portrait of William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1925
Miguel Criado Outwords profile
Gregg Araki
Gay Sunshine no. 6, March 1971,
Gay Marriage Case in Court, 1979 Rob Brown, Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library. Photograph caption reads, "From left, attorney David M. Brown, plaintiffs, Anthony Corbett Sullivan, Richard Frank Adams. Sullivan and Adams are married, Adams a US citizen and Sullivan an Australian citizen. Both were issued a marriage license in Bolder [sic] Colorado and were married in Bolder [sic]. When Sullivan reapplied in Los Angeles in November 1975, the District Director of Immigration and Naturalization Service an immigrant visa. 'You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots', Dist Director."
Portrait of Harrison Post, 1920
Flier advertising A Different Light bookstore's 1989 Gay Writer Series events
Designer Rudi Gernreich in His Office, 1969
Painted Rocks by Ray Lowen, undated
Intertwined, 2007 Artist: Luciano Martinez. As real and imagined borders separate same-sex partners, the artist considers a new obstacle Gay Latino men face: gay marriage. Intertwined addresses the forbidden love between two men, sometimes complicated by geographic and cultural differences, trapped by an invisible cell that confines yet separates them. The prison-like bars that separate the lovers in the artwork are not only geographic, racial, and cultural but ominously political, highlighting the cross-national restrictions on gay marriage and the difficulties of recognizing same-sex partners within conservative societies. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Charles Pierce and Virginia Grey
Butch/Top, 2007 Artrist: Miguel Angel Reyes. Influenced by oddly-toned color ads from 1970's fashion magazines, play with the labels men use to describe themselves for "sex hook-ups" internet personal advertisements. Though proudly gay, the butch-top asserts his sexually dominant role as a man, dispelling the commonly-held notion that homosexual men are feminine and passive. His attitude challenges any question of machismo. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Mr. Muscle Beach Contest, 1950
Salome, 1922
Gown by Gilbert Adrian, 1948
Photo booth photographs of Don Bachardy and Christopher Isherwood, March 30, 1953
Y Que, 2007 Artist: Ruben Esparza. A deliberate flat artwork with limited colors boldly represents a shirtless, masculine, queer Chicano in a powerful stance. Y Que (translates to So What). The tattoo utilizes a decorative type treatment used in gang culture; the pearl necklace is a gay code representing a particular body fluid. Part of the exhibit "At the Heart of It: LGBT Representation at Self Help Graphics", curated by Ruben Esparza.
Crystal Beach Bathhouse, 1943