From the Dennis McBride Photograph Collection (PH-00263) -- LGBTQ+ events and organizations in Las Vegas, Nevada -- Digital images file. Notes from the donor, Dennis McBride: Sevcik, et. Al. vs Sandoval was the court case which led in part to overturning Nevada's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. On April 10, 2012 the Lambda Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight Nevada same-sex couples; the rally depicted in these photographs was called at the Center to celebrate the filing. For more on the same-sex marriage issue in Nevada, see Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, by Dennis McBride [North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016], pp. 273-318. Individuals identified by the donor, Dennis McBride: Tara Borelli [Lambda Legal Defense Fund attorney]
Interview with James A. Gay III conducted by Joyce M. Wright in 1973. Edited by Elizabeth Nelson Patrick, and transcribed for the project "Black Experience in Southern Nevada, Donated Tapes Collection," James R. Dickinson Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, December 1978. Arriving in 1946 from Fordyce, Arkansas, 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.
Oral history interview with James A. Gay III (Jimmy Gay) conducted by Perry Kaufman on April 12, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Gay discusses becoming the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas, Nevada and his work improving race relations, social, economic, and civic issues.