Tamara Pickett was born Terry Lee Pickett. As a male, he served as a soldier in the United States Army. Terry finished her transition to Tamara with sexual reassignment surgery in 1996. As Tamara, she is known for her activism in Las Vegas, Nevada, especially her successful campaign for better health care provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for transgender veterans. She was also involved with the Nevada Gender League and The Turnabouts, a transgender support group in Las Vegas.
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Jahna Steele, aka Jahna Reis [d. January 24, 2008], was a renowned transgender performer in Las Vegas whose reputation became international through the 1990s and 2000s. Steele hosted The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 2004. For information on Steele, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 153-154. For Steele's obituary, see the Las Vegas Review-Journal, January 29, 2008, p. 4B. Also see "Jahna Steele: Woman of Steele" [QVegas, December 2005, 34] and "Jahna Steele" [Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 10, 2010, 4J]. This videotape is a promotional item of Steele's entertainment career. [00:00:00 - 00:06:38]
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The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) records span the years 1994 to 2002 and are comprised of material documenting the organization's involvment in gay issues in Las Vegas, Nevada. PLAN was founded in 1994 as the umbrella organization for Nevada's progressive groups and institutions. This collection is comprised of material documenting the Minority Status and Child Protection Act of 1994 and the Coalition for Unity and Equal Rights Nevada, and contains a number of files from that effort, including opinion surveys, meeting agendas and campaign plans.
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The Center Stage, Inc. Records (1994 to 2008) are comprised of photographs, bylaws, correspondence, meeting minutes, publicity, scripts, programs, cast lists, and video cassettes of a number of the productions. Center Stage Theater Inc. was the first LGBT theater company in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Nevada State Assembly Bill 311, introduced by Assemblyman David Parks in 1999 and subsequently passed, was Nevada's version of the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act [ENDA]. A rally was held on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on March 21, 1999 in support of the bill. Speakers at the rally included David Parks; Dr. Reva Anderson, the African American executive director of the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada; and Jane Heenan who spoke on behalf of the transgender community. This audio tape contains a short interview conducted by journalist Michael "Mike" Spadoni with Parks and Anderson which was later broadcast on the radio. Photographs of this rally and of Spadoni conducting his interview may be found in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Special Collections Department in photograph collection no. 00263 [McBride Collection], photograph nos. 3215-3247. For a narrative history of AB 311, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 168-169,267-271, 276, and 279. Also see Dennis McBride journal entry for a description of the rally.
Archival Component
The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada Records (1992-2023) and include news articles, institutional records such as bylaws, agendas, and meeting minutes, ephemera, and programs for the Center’s annual Honorarium fundraiser. Additional materials include materials relating the the wellness clinic.
Archival Collection