June 17th 2012

Culture Series

The early records of the Advocate have now been processed and are available for research at ONE Archives. First published in September 1967, the Advocate was a revised extension of the newsletter of the Los Angeles gay rights organization P.R.I.D.E. (Personal Rights through Defense and Education). Later in 1967, Steve Ginsberg, the founder of the financially struggling organization, sold the rights to the publication to Dick Michaels for one dollar.

The inauspicious first issue had a run of 500 copies and was sold from under the counter of Los Angeles' gay bars. Though the content of the first few issues was negligent, Dick Michaels started to work with local writers such as Jim Kepner and later chief news editor Rob Cole, to transform the magazine into a solid source of news to the gay community. The impact was felt immediately. The magazine's print run jumped to 5,500 issues in 1968 and began being openly sold in coin-operated machines in gay-friendly neighborhoods. In January 1969, changing from its magazine-sized format to the larger tabloid newspaper format, the publication soon grew to become the largest gay and lesbian news publication of its time.

The Advocate played a prominent role in the shaping of the gay community by covering the most significant gay news stories of the period. These included protests and pride celebrations, contentious relations with police officials  

and politicians, the founding of numerous pride and faith organizations, tragedies at gay bars and churches, gays and lesbians in the military, marriage equality, and the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness. The Advocate also offered pop cultural coverage of theater, film, television, and celebrities, affecting the landscape of the entertainment industry.

In December 1974, Dick Michaels sold the Advocate to David B. Goodstein, who closed the magazine's Los Angeles offices and moved its operations to San Mateo, California. Goodstein donated to ONE their supply of back issues and inactive files. Now because of a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the dedicated work of librarian Robert Graves, those files have been made available to the public. Of note among the materials are the extensive collection of editorial subject files and image negatives, the detailed coverage of the Advocate-sponsored Groovy Guy competitions from 1968-1972, and the original oversized political cartoons from artist John Klamik (pseudonym Buckshot).

For more information on the Advocate and its storied history, please refer to Mark Thompson's Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement from St. Martin's Press and Advocate Days & other Stories from Queer Mojo.   

The finding aid is located here. 

Enjoy two great evenings of LGBT short films and support a great cause, and organizations that are friends of ONE in the bargain. The first-ever Short Film Festival by California Men's Gatherings (CMG) offers a mix of new and classic films, current award winners, hits from the past, and even a world premiere. As shorts, these films don't always achieve the notoriety of feature films, but they still pack a punch - sometimes, literally.  

The Festival takes place Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16, at the new home of Metropolitan Community Church, Los Angeles ("MCCLA"), 4607 Prospect Ave., L.A. 90027. Both programs start at 8:00 p.m. and will be followed by Q+A with the filmmakers. $12 for one evening's program, $20 for both. All net proceeds will be donated to AIDS Walk Los Angeles. To see the festival web page and a one-minute trailer for the festival, and to order tickets visit www.thecmg.org/film.

Please help us to support the many activities at ONE in your philanthropy. Show us your love with a gift to preserve the past and ensure the future of LGBTQ histories.