Astrid Silva was born in the state of Durango, Mexico. In 1992, she was barely four years old when immigrated with her mother to the United States. After a few months in Los Angeles, California, her father found a better work situation and relocated the family to Las Vegas, Nevada. Astrid attended Doris Hancock Elementary School, Garside Middle School, and was a 2006 graduate of the Advanced Technology Academy (A-Tech).
Nevada Assembly Bill 496, titled, Family Fairness Bill, was introduced by Assemblyman David Parks in the 2001 legislature to establish reciprocal beneficiary relationships in state law. AB 496 was an attempt to establish some legal protections for same-sex and other "non-married" relationships under threat of the success of Question 2. AB 496's failure was blamed on Question 2. Question 2 was an anti-same-sex marriage constitutional amendment passed by popular referendum in Nevada in 2000 and 2002. This video records a debate between Richard Ziser, director of the referendum's sponsoring organization, the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage in Nevada [CPM], and Las Vegas queer activist, Vincent Frey over AB 496. The program which hosted this debate was Face to Face, a half-hour public affairs program hosted by renowned Nevada journalist, Jon Ralston [who has a transgender son named Jacob "Jake" Ralston], sponsored by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper and broadcast on Las Vegas ONE, a 24-hour local news network which was a collaboration among the Las Vegas Sun, KLAS-TV Channel 8, and Prime Cable [Prime was purchased in 1998 by Cox Cable/Cox Communications], on channels 1 and 39. The general manager of Las Vegas ONE was Robert "Bob" Stoldal. The network operated from April 6, 1998 through January 9, 2010. For information on Nevada AB 496, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 292, 304, 307, and MS-00802, Box 8 ["Domestic Partner Benefits - Nevada: AB 496 (2001)"] in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Special Collections Department. For the history of POV Vegas, see "Sun to Launch Daily Television News Talk Show" [Las Vegas Sun, June 27, 1999]. An oral history interview with David Parks is deposited in the Special Collections Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. [00:01:27 - 00:30:06]
Archival Collection
Las Vegas, Nevada LGBTQ Collection
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Collection Number: MS-00251 Collection Name: Las Vegas, Nevada LGBTQ Collection Box/Folder: Box 19, Digital File 00
The Edythe and Lloyd Katz Photographs (1947-1986) contain photographs of the businesses operated by Las Vegas, Nevada entrepreneurs Edythe and Lloyd Katz. The photographs primarily depict the movie theaters purchased by the Katz Family, including the Guild Theatre (formerly the Palace Theatre) and the Fremont Theatre. The photographs also depict the Katz Family and the Helldorado Days parade.
The Robert E. "Spud" Lake Photographs depict "Spud" Lake, his family, and Las Vegas, Nevada from 1905 to 1947. The photographs include the Las Vegas town site auction, Stewart (Kiel) Ranch, Clark County Courthouse, Eglington Ranch, Helldorado Parade, and Colorado River and the Hoover (Boulder) Dam. The photographs also depict a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon honoring Las Vegas pioneers, the Gold Bar Club tent in Pahrump, Nevada, and Fremont Street in Las Vegas.
The Frank Scott Papers date from 1940 to 1984 and contain promotional materials, photographs, and menus from the Union Plaza Hotel; University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) basketball memorabilia; and KRLR TV documentation, correspondence, and news clippings. The collection also contains a scrapbook and photographs of the re-opening of the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada.
The Jon E. Cobain Papers (1963-2009) contains material representing Cobain's experience as the first official graduate of Nevada Southern University (later University of Nevada, Las Vegas) in 1964. Materials include photographs of Cobain and his family, a scrapbook from his 1964 graduation day, newsletters, a copy of Beau's Bits Handbook, personal correspondence, and his diploma. This collection is comprised exclusively of digital surrogates.