Highlights from the Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection

Social Spaces

Over the years, Monterey County had quite a few LGBTQ social spaces that were welcoming of all genders and sexual orientations. Those spaces are well reflected across the collection, especially in periodicals and newspapers.

Demeter, a feminist newspaper, included many items about LGBTQ community, discussions, workshops, educational programs, and socializing opportunities during its run from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. For example, a 1979 issue of Demeter advertised a women’s rap group every Friday night in Monterey. Though not advertised as a lesbian group, members were mostly lesbian and bisexual women. Women from all backgrounds could gather and discuss community issues, feminism, and just forge connections [1]. Throughout the 1980s, a lesbian rap group met weekly for discussion, socializing, and guest speakers [2]. Workshops and support groups also offered a safe space to openly explore and discuss sexuality and identity. Antioch University Monterey offered several workshops aimed at women and lesbianism that allowed for open discussion, education, and communication [3]. Other feminist based workshops and support groups included the “Young Lesbian Support Group,” “Lesbian Couples Workshop,” and the “Bisexual Support Group" [4].

The collection also documents other support groups. Meetings for HIV positive and people with AIDS were held in Salinas, Monterey, and Santa Cruz, including support groups for partners and families of individuals impacted by HIV/AIDS [5]. Organizations like the Monterey County AIDS Project (MCAP) and John XXIII AIDS Ministry sponsored many social events along with the services they provided. Photos from John XXIII in the collection, for example, document picnics, pool parties, holiday parties, and bar-b-q’s. Newsletters from Monterey County’s chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), also in the collection, illustrate how allies, friends and family members of the LGBTQ community organized in Monterey County to support. Their newsletters document meeting agendas and events held by or supported by PFLAG, including participating in local and regional Pride celebrations [6].

A short-lived Lambda Community Resource Center (LCRC) acted as a local hangout spot for the LGBTQ community with a focus on supporting LGBTQ students as they matriculated at the then new California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) [7]. In 1996, students founded All in the Family, CSUMB’s first LGBTQ students’ organization, as a safe space on campus [8].

And, LGBTQ professionals could join the Peninsula Professional Network, or PPN. Founded in 1983, PPN provided social, educational, and professional connection-making for LGBTQ folks in the community. Its monthly newsletters, copies of which are housed in the collection, reveal the inner workings of PPN, including meeting information, social events, and fundraising for community organizations and causes.

Image sources:

Pool party, John XXIII AIDS Ministries photos. Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay

“CSUMB Gay Club Out & Wired,” The Paper, Volume 3, Number 1, July-August, 1996, Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/thepaper/12/.

Masthead for the Peninsula Professional Network newsletter, 1995. Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay

References

[1] “Women’s Rap Group,” Demeter, Volume 2, Number 6, September, 1979, Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/8/.

[2] Examples include “Lesbian Rap Group,” Demeter, Volume 3, Number 5, August, 1980, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/18/.; Calendar, Demeter. Volume 5, Number 1, April 1982. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/43/. Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay

[3] Demeter, Volume 2, Number 11, February, 1980, Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/3/.

[4] Demeter, Volume.3, Number 2, May, 1980, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/21/; Demeter, Volume.3, Number 11, February, 1981. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/12/; Demeter, Volume 4, Number 4, Summer, 1981, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/25/. Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay

[5] HIV/AIDS Resources, The Paper, Volume 4, Number 1, May-June, 1997, Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/thepaper/16/,

[6] Finding Aid, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, https://csumb.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/1. Accessed June 4, 2024.

[7] “Lambda Community Resource Center,” The Paper, Volume 1, Number 4, December-January, 1994, Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/thepaper/4/.

[8] “CSUMB Gay Club Out & Wired,” The Paper, Volume 3, Number 1, July-August, 1996, Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection, Archives and Special Collections, California State University Monterey Bay, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/thepaper/12/.