This poster advertising general meetings for Denver Gay Liberation by the Gay Coalition of Denver at the Denver Free University is from February 1971, per the date written on the back, right-hand corner. The Gay Coalition of Denver group was one of the first LGBTQ+ rights groups formed after the riots at Stonewall in 1969. The group was a grassroots organization founded in Denver by Gerald Gerash, Lynn Tamlin, Terry Mangan, and Mary Sassatelelli. This specific poster also advertises the Gay Coffeehouse in Denver, which is likely referring to Approaching Lavender. Approaching Lavender “was a welcome alternative to the bars. According to Gerald Gerash, Denver Free University donated its building where [the Gay Coalition of Denver] offered weekend evenings of movies, guest speakers, women’s nights, poetry readings, live music and a variety of entertainment.” In 1977 The Denver Gay Liberation group later went on to establish a gay community center in Denver, which is now known as The Center on Colfax. This poster is a significant and excellent display of the efforts of LGBTQ+ people to gather and create community in Denver in the early 70s, during the beginning days of the Gay Rights Movement.
Thanks to the generosity of the Gill Foundation, in October 2019 History Colorado hired the Gill Foundation Associate Curator of LGBTQ+ History to manage and expand History Colorado’s LGBTQ+ holdings and to develop the Gill Foundation LGBTQ Archive in recognition of the significant contributions of Tim Gill to the state of Colorado. All LGBTQ+ acquisitions from 2019 through 2021 reflect the support of the Gill Foundation.
Dedicated to documenting the varied experiences of all Coloradans, History Colorado and the Gill Foundation initiated the LGBTQ Collecting Initiative to proactively build a research archive that preserves and promotes the contributions, history, and voices of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community.