The Las Vegas, Nevada Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Collection documents the social and political activities of Las Vegas, Nevada's LGBTQ community from 1955 to 2020. The collection includes hundreds of newspaper articles about LGBTQ issues, ranging from AIDS to Nevada legislation. The collection also documents the presence of the LGBTQ community in Las Vegas, including material from gay bars, nightclubs, social clubs, advocacy and political organizations, entertainers, and student groups. Previously known as the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection.
The Ted Lenhart LGBTQ Community Collection (1990-2001) is comprised of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and organizational material detailing LGBTQ community issues in Nevada throughout the 1990s. The collection includes materials from organizations including: Aid for AIDS of Nevada, the Clark County Coalition of HIV/AIDS Service Providers, the Nevada chapter of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP), efforts to organize an HIV-Negative Men’s support group in Nevada, and Nevada Outdoors, an LGBTQ hiking club.
The Dennis McBride LGBTQ Poster and Sign Collection (1977-2018) contains posters and signs created by the Las Vegas, Nevada Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community, collected by historian Dennis McBride. These handmade and commercially printed signs cover events of particular interest to the Las Vegas, Nevada LGBTQ community, including social events, entertainment venues, political rallies, and Gay Pride events.
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.
This collection is comprised of research files dating from approximately 1980 to 2021 created by Boulder City Nevadan, Dennis McBride, primarily in support of his book, Out of the Neon Closet: A History of Gay Las Vegas on the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, gay, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community in Southern Nevada. Materials in this collection also include ephemera and clippings documenting LGBTQ establishments and organizations in Las Vegas, biographies of individuals, and other issues pertinent to the LGBTQ community. This collection also includes some materials about the LGBTQ community and their issues in Northern Nevada. The collection represents McBride's overall efforts to document and preserve the history of the LGBTQ community in Nevada.