James A. Gay III was born March 6th, 1916 in Fordyce, Arkansas. Arriving in 1946, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
The Terry Wilsey Papers on the Las Vegas, Nevada LGBT Community (1979-2002) are comprised of records from the Las Vegas Gay Switchboard, the Nevadans for Human Rights, and other LGBT community groups based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection contains newsletters, agendas and meeting minutes, informational pamphlets, as well as photographs, programs, and a VHS recording of local theatre productions.
Michael Loewy was the founder of Desert Mountain States Lesbian and Gay Conference and the Lesbian and Gay Academic Union at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Loewy moved to California in 1987, but remained involved with the gay community in Las Vegas. In 2002 he graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2003 he won a Foundation Award, "Honoring the Pioneers of Gay Las Vegas."
From the Dennis McBride Photograph Collection (PH-00263) -- LGBTQ+ events and organizations in Las Vegas, Nevada -- Digital images file. Individuals identified by the donor, Dennis McBride: David Parks [Nevada State Senator, District 7, Democrat (gay)]; Pat Spearman [Nevada State Senator, District 1, Democrat (lesbian)]; Heidi Swank [Nevada State Assemblywoman, District 16, Democrat]; James Healey [Nevada State Assemblyman, District 35, Democrat (gay)]; Andrew Martin [Nevada State Assemblyman, District 9, Democrat (gay)]
Oral history interviews with Tamara Pickett conducted by Dennis McBride on November 01, 2002 and November 08, 2002 for the Las Vegas Gay Archives Oral History Project. In these interviews, Pickett discusses her early life and the traumatizing experiences that occurred during her childhood. Pickett remembers serving in the United States Army, beginning her transition to Tamara, and completing a sexual reassignment surgery in 1999. Later, Pickett talks about her activism work in Las Vegas, Nevada, campaigning for improved health care for transgender veterans, and her involvement with the transgender community in Las Vegas.
The Stand OUT for Equality Records (2008-2011) contain correspondence, lobbying materials, press kits, promotional materials, expense reports, meeting agendas and minutes, certificates, and notes pertaining to the 2009 and 2011 lobbying efforts by Stand OUT for Equality for gay and straight domestic partnership benefits and transgender rights held in Carson City, Nevada. The collection also contains photographic prints of the 2009 and 2011 Equality Days in Carson City, copies of legislation related to domestic partnerships in Nevada, event invitations, newspaper clippings, and optical discs with digital copies of fliers, posters, logos, manuals, training videos, and photographs, as well as templates and budgeting information.
The Cave Nightclub Records (1992-1994) are comprised of materials generated during the planning and construction of the Cave Nightclub in Las Vegas, Nevada. It opened in 1992 as a straight nightclub. It changed ownership in 1993, and reopened on September 3, 1993 as a gay nightclub and closed early in 1995. The collection contains policy documents, building plans, and promotional and publicity materials, as well as artifacts, including waiter uniforms from the nightclub.