The Bill Schafer Papers (1980-2018) contain personal and professional papers of Las Vegas, Nevada journalist and publisher, Bill Schafer, and photographs from various LGBTQIA+ related events in Las Vegas. The materials include files related to Schafer's work managing the Las Vegas Night Beat and Las Vegas Bugle publications. The collection contains copies of various LGBTQIA+ directories and photographs from events such as the Las Vegas Pride parade and the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada's annual Honorarium. Also included are photographs and papers from Schafer's involvement with the Imperial Royal Sovereign Court of the Desert Empire, Inc.
Oral history interview with Laura Sussman and Wendy Kraft conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 17, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Sussman and Kraft talk about being business partners in Kraft-Sussman Funeral Home, which caters to the Jewish community. They also talk about the local LGBT community as a lesbian couple.
The Las Vegas, Nevada Women's Softball Collection (1951-1952) contains photographic prints and negatives depicting a southern Nevada women's softball team. The team was sponsored by Wilson's Texaco Station in Boulder City, Nevada, and the women played in regional games in both southern California and southern Nevada. Photographs in the collection show the team practicing at Peterson Field in Boulder City, and celebrating and spending time together at the Mt. Charleston Lodge. The collection also contains copies of personal accounts written by team member Orpha Alveta Bowman (McBride), who recalls the prejudice some of the lesbian members faced from local community members. The originals of these handwritten accounts are held in MS-01099.
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.
The Las Vegas LGBTQ Community Center of Southern Nevada Audiovisual Collection contains seventeen VHS tapes which contain recordings of "Beyond the Rainbow" a Gay and Lesbian Center of Southern Nevada Cable show; the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada 1998 and 1999 Honorariums; and news program relating to "Pride Ride 2000." "Beyond the Rainbow" was a weekly cable show sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada created not just to reach the LGBTQ+ community, but anyone interested in learning more about the community and the issues faced by its members. Programming explored a number of topics including employment, personal safety, families, relationships, diversity, and spirituality.
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.
The Gay Business Directories Collection, compiled by Dennis McBride, dates from 1992 to 2015 and consists of gay and lesbian business telephone directories from sixteen North American markets, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver.
The Nevada State Protection of Marriage Initiative Collection (2000) consists of Clark County, Nevada petition signatures in favor of the initiative to exclude gay and lesbian Nevadans from marriage. The "Protection of Marriage Initiative" was also known as Question Two on the ballot. Much of this material is photocopied from the Nevada State Archives and contains pages from Clark County, including Boulder City, as well as notable Southern Nevada signatures.
Oral history interviews with Patricia Vazquez conducted by Marcela Rodriguez-Campo, Monserrath Hernandez, and Rodrigo Vazquez on November 14, 2018 and June 14, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In these interviews, Vazquez discusses growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving to Mexico. She talks about the transition of moving back to the United States from Mexico in 1970. Vazquez then describes how she was selected for special education in elementary school because she did not speak English, her education experience in the Clark County School District, and later being placed into Advanced Placement classes. She then shares coming out as a lesbian, her family dynamics after announcing her sexuality, and talks about what it is like to come out in the Latinx community. Vazquez describes her art and explains that her paintings depict moments in her life that defined her as a person. Later, Vazquez describes her involvement in queer activism in Las Vegas through the Latino Youth Leadership Conference and Planned Parenthood. Lastly, Vazquez discusses her involvement in diverse hiring committees for the College of Southern Nevada (CSN), which is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), and teaching literature courses at CSN.
The D. L. Washburn Photograph Collection on Sasha's Nightclub and Restaurant is comprised of primarily candid photographs of patrons and entertainers such as musicians, female impersonators, and male strippers at Sasha's Nightclub in Las Vegas, Nevada from approximately 2001 to 2003. The collection includes photographs of Sasha Scarlett with patrons and entertainers at the nightclub. The majority of individuals in this collection are unidentified.