Las Vegas, Nevada OutHistory Image Gallery

Le Café

Le Café : Established in 1970, Le Café was the base of operations for the emerging gay community in southern Nevada.

Boys in the Band, 1969
Le Bistro Ad, 1969
Le Café billboard, 1970s
Gay Notes from Le Café, 07/1972
Le Cafe neon Sign, c1975
Le Café Fire, 1978
Le Café burns, 1978
Gay Notes from Le Café, 08/1972
Le Café bartender Kenny, 1970
Le Café fire coverage, Vegas Gay Times, 10/1978
Le Café fire news article, Las Vegas Sun, 8/25/1978
Le Café matchbook, 1970s - inside
Le Café matchbook, 1970s - outside
Le Café playing cards, 1970s
Le Café staff at Caesars Palace Bacchanal Room, 1975
Marge Jacques at Le Café, 1970
Marge Jacques' hip flask
Marge Jacques, c1980s
Marge Jacques, May 28, 1998
Patrick the All-American Stripper at Le Café, 1977
Second Le Café fire, 1979
Disco Le Café show flier, 1984
Disco Le Café show flier, 1984
Disco Le Café business card, 1983-84
Disco Le Cafe grand opening invitation, 1983
Disco Le Café show flier, 1983
Disco Le Café, 1983
Grand opening of Disco Le Café, 1983

Metropolitan Community Church

Metropolitan Community Church: An article from March 1974 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes that Rev. Clonnie Lambert is pastor of a Las Vegas chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).

Las Vegas Community Bookstore, 1984
Gay Switchboard Chili Cookoff fundraiser, 1983
Las Vegas Review-Journal, 03/18/1984
Planned worship service, 1976
Program from Maureen Mackey's ordination service, 1996
MCC’s second Las Vegas incarnation, 1979
Las Vegas Review-Journal, 03/29/1980
Las Vegas Gay Guide, v. 1:1, 1980
MCC-Las Vegas’ 4th anniversary, 1983
sock-hop fundraiser, 1984
worship program, 1984
Las Vegas’ first gay youth group, 1984
Holiday Bazaar, 1984
MCC-Las Vegas choir, 1984
newsletter, January/February 1989
Rev. Dr. Maureen Mackey and her life partner, Mary Ellen Racel, 1996
MCC-Las Vegas baptism at Aztec Cove on the Colorado River, 1997
Rev. Troy Perry dedicates the new MCC-Las Vegas church, 2000
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman’s gay town hall meeting at MCC-Las Vegas,2001

ACLU-Las Vegas

ACLU-Las Vegas: In 1975, The American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] opened an office in Las Vegas with a $5,000 grant from the national office. ACLU involvement in Las Vegas eventually led to the gay community's first newspaper.

Valley Times, September 1977
Lamont Downs, April 1979
Steve Hinkson, 1981
Vegas Gay Times, volume 1, issue 1, June 1978
Flier for Nevadans for Human Rights Fundraiser, 1983
ACLU at Las Vegas Gay Pride, 2006
ACLU Teach-In, 1998
Valley Times, September 21, 1977
ACLU-NV and gay rights, 1984

Reno Gay Rodeo (RGR)

Reno Gay Rodeo (RGR): This rodeo, which officially began in 1977, raised the profile of the state’s gay people and went far toward establishing community and national recognition.

Advertisement for the National Reno Gay Rodeo, 1983
Flier for the Gymkhana, 1994
Flier for the Reno Gay Rodeo, 1979
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1980
Las Vegas Sun, 1981
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1980
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1980
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1980
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1980
Christian protestors at Reno Gay Rodeo, 1980
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1981
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1982
AIDS intrudes on the Reno Gay Rodeo, 1983
Reno Gay Rodeo, 1983
Nevada Gay Rodeo newsletter, September 1992
Nevada Gay Rodeo Gymkhana, June 18, 1994
Nevada Gay Rodeo brochure, 1996
Las Vegas Big Horn Rodeo, 1996
Nevada Gay Rodeo Association bylaws, 1997
Las Vegas Big Horn Rodeo, 2000
Las Vegas Big Horn Rodeo, 2002
Las Vegas Big Horn Rodeo, 2009

Boylesque

Boylesque: Female impersonation in Las Vegas, with a focus on Boylesque, which began its long run in 1977.

Las Vegas Star, August 1977
Las Vegas Star, July 1977
Panorama, September 1978
Kenny Kerr on the cover of the Bugle, 1993
Kenny Kerr's Fantasy, 1983
Boylesque at the Plaza, 1991
Suede Nightclub, 2006
LV Mirror 5/24/1978
Boylesque at Debbie Reynolds, 1996
Boylesque at the Stardust, 3/10/91
Boylesque review, 1977 - LV Review-Journal, 5/20/77
Frank Marino & Kenny Kerr, 11/24/1996
Kenny Kerr, 1980s
Kerr at the Bootlegger nightclub, 2007
Kerr at the New Frontier, 2001
Kerr at the Sahara Hotel, 1990
Kerr at the Sunset Station, 2004
Kerr in San Francisco, 2003
Las Vegas Sun 02/04/1979
Political fundraiser, 1984

Nevadans for Human Rights

Nevadans for Human Rights: Founded in 1978, Nevadans for Human Rights was the first gay rights organization in Las Vegas.

Vegas Gay Times first issue, June 1978
Florida orange juice boycott info in the Vegas Gay Times, June 1978
Nevadans for Human Rights potluck, 1983
Editorial, Nevada Gay Times, September 1983
Resignation letter from Nevada Gay Times, September 1983
Gay Pride 1984, Nevada Gay Times, June 1984
Vegas Gay Times association with the ACLU, July 1978
candidate survey, Vegas Gay Times, September 1978
homophobic Nevada politician, Vegas Gay Times, September 1980
NHR shuts down, July 1981
first Las Vegas AIDS death, Nevada Gay Times, April 1983
Tanya Corman lecture, 1984
NHR membership application, 1984
Schlegel proposal to take over the Nevada Gay Times, 1985 (part 1)
Schlegel proposal to take over the Nevada Gay Times, 1985 (part 2)

Gay Academic Union

Gay Academic Union: Closely associated with Las Vegas' first Gay Pride Celebration, UNLV's Gay Academic Union held its first meeting in 1982.

Founding members of the Gay Academic Union, 1983
GAU members during Gay Pride, 1983
LGAU Newsletter, 1989
Flier for Gay Straight Freedom Alliance Meeting,2001
GAU's first annual Gay Pride Banquet, 1983
Gay Academic Union approval letter from the national organization, 1982
GAU newsletter, 1983
GAU newsletter, 1984
GAU fundraising, 1984
GAU fundraising, 1985
AIDS awareness, 1990
GAU organizational promotion, 1990
Lesbian Gay Academic Union banner at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas raised for National Coming Out Day, October 12, 1990
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Organization, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1996

Las Vegas' first Gay Pride Celebration

Las Vegas' first Gay Pride Celebration: Las Vegas held its first Gay Pride Celebration in 1983.

Las Vegas Sun: LV homosexuals urged to band together, 1983
Nevada Gay Times: First Vegas Gay Pride Week Set, 1983
Las Vegas Sun: Gays Need Legal Protection, 1983
Will Collins, Las Vegas Gay Pride co-founder, 1984
Las Vegas Gay Pride, 1984
Ephemera from Gay Pride Banquet, 1984
Dennis McBride and Ken Matheson, 1984
Nevada Gay Times, June 1983
Nevada Gay Times, June 1984
Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 1, 1984
Gay Pride Las Vegas flier, 1984
Gay Pride Las Vegas 1984 Human Rights Seminar flier
Gay Pride Las Vegas festival, June 2, 1984 at Sunset Park
Gay Pride Las Vegas festival, June 2, 1984 at Sunset Park
Gay Pride Las Vegas 1984 banquet, June 9, 1984
Gay Pride Las Vegas 1984 banquet, June 9, 1984
Gay Pride Las Vegas 1984 banquet, June 9, 1984

AIDS in Southern Nevada

AIDS in Southern Nevada: In 1983<, A 32-year-old man, resident in Las Vegas for just six months, was Southern Nevada's first AIDS death.

First reported case of AIDS in LV, 1983
First community AIDS benefit, 1983
AIDS Brochure, 1984
AFAN brochure, 1993
Letter to a legislator, 1989
Golden Rainbow, 1998
Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 6, 1983, 5B
safe-sex trick card, 1985 - front
safe-sex trick card, 1985 - back
brochure, 1986
Superstar Aid for AIDS Benefit, June 14, 1987
Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 6, 1987, 1B
AFAN brochure, 1989
Golden Rainbow, 1990
Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 19, 1991, 16B
Southern Nevada NAMES Project, ca. 1991
AIDS hysteria, 1991
Southern Nevada AIDS Project, 1992
ACT UP, Nevada protest, June 20, 1994
brochure, 1996
brochure, 1997
World AIDS Day, 1997
dedication of the Las Vegas AIDS Memorial garden at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, May 17, 1998
St. Therese Center, 1999
brochure, 2003
Sista to Sista, 2003

Stonewall Park

Stonewall Park: In 1984, Reno gay activist Fred Schoonmaker and his husband, Alfred Parkinson, initiated a series of efforts to establish a gay town in Nevada known as Stonewall Park.

Stonewall Park stock certificate, 1984
Alfred Parkinson(l) Fred Schoonmaker(r) Stonewall Park Rhyolite, 1987
Fred Schoonmaker(l) andAlfred Parkinson (r), 1970s
Stonewall Park brochure, 1985-86
Stonewall Park Rhyolite editorial comic, 1986
Stonewall Park Silver Springs, 1986
Stonewall Park Thunder Mountain, 1987
Fred Schoonmaker, ca. 1950s
Fred Schoonmaker and Alfred Parkinson, 1970s
Fred Schoonmaker and Alfred Parkinson, ca. early 1980s
Stonewall Park Silver Springs (Fernley Leader-Courier, May 7, 1986)
Stonewall Park Rhyolite flier, November 1986
Stonewall Park Rhyolite (Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 9, 1986)
Stonewall Park Rhyolite (Weekly World News, November 25, 1986)

Women United of Nevada

Women United of Nevada: Founded in 1987, Women United of Nevada [WUN], was the first separately founded, lesbian-identified organization in Las Vegas.

1987 bylaws of Women United of Nevada
1993 bylaws of Women United of Nevada
Women United of Nevada promotional brochure, ca. 1989
WUN business card, 1980s
Flier for WUN Valentine's Day Dance, 1989
Flier for McCalla & Fier, 1989
Women United of Nevada executive circle, 1989
Women United of Nevada newsletter, April 1989
Women United of Nevada newsletter, June 1989
Women United of Nevada promotional brochure, ca. 1989
Women United of Nevada Alix Dobkin concert, 1989
Women United of Nevada reunion dance, 1997

Bright Pink Literature (Get Booked)

Bright Pink Literature (Get Booked): Bright Pink Literature (later becoming Get Booked), opened in 1987. While more famous bookstores across the country, such as A Different Light and the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, have closed as LGBT literature has gone “mainstream,” Bright Pink Literature (Get Booked) has survived for more than 20 years.

Bright Pink opens, 1987
Flier for Bright Pink Cinema, 1991
Get Booked, 1995
Get Booked moving notice, 1996
Frank Marino (center) at Get Booked, 1997
Wes Miller, 2002
Get Booked advertisement, 2009
Bright Pink ad, 1987
Get Booked, July 1994
Pink Highways Book Tour, 1995
Business Card, 1996
Tupperware party, 1997
Dr. Charles Silverstein, 1999
Dr. Charles Silverstein, 1999
poet Renee Christy, 1999
Barrie Jean Borich, 1999
Barrie Jean Borich and Raul Mangubat, 1999
bumper sticker, 2000
Gay Pride, 2000
Get Booked, 2001
Tupperware party, 2002
Advertisement, 2004
Rose Pry, 2009

Community Counseling Center

Community Counseling Center: In 1990 the Community Counseling Center opened at 1006-1008 East Sahara Avenue. Within a short time Community Counseling becomes one of the gay community's greatest resources.

Transgender Support Group, 1998
The cover of City Life, 1999
Ron Lawrence, 1997
Spanish CCC brochure, 1996
brochure, 1990
brochure, 1990
Lesbian support group, 1993
Friday Night Men’s Group, 1993
brochure, 1995
Lesbian Rap, 1996
brochure, 1996
brochure, 1996
brochure, 1996
lesbian support group, 1997
fundraiser, 1998
Friday Night Gay Men’s group, 1999
budget cuts, 2004
education, 2006
brochure, 2007
Threads of the Community, 2007
fundraiser, 2009
brochure, 2009

Senate Bill 466

Senate Bill 466: Until the 1993 passage of Senate Bill 466, the history of Gay people in Nevada was largely one of criminal prosecution.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Lawsuit Poorly Timed, 1985
Reno Gazette-Journal: Anti-gay law stay on Nevada books, 1985
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Gay activists work against sodomy laws, 1993
Letter from Assemblyman Jim Gibbons, 1993
Letter from Assemblyman, John Bonaventura, 1993
1985 sodomy law challenge (Reno Gazette-Journal, September 12, 1985)
1993 sodomy law challenge (Las Vegas Sun, February 5, 1993)
1993 sodomy law challenge – flier (June 1993)
1993 sodomy law challenge (Las Vegas Sun June 17, 1993)
1993 sodomy law chellenge – Nevadans for Constitutional Equality draft bylaws
1993 sodomy law challenge – Nevadans for Constitutional Equality brochure
1993 sodomy law challenge – Nevadans for Constitutional Equality brochure
1993 sodomy law challenge – Nevadans for Constitutional Equality brochure

Center Stage, Inc.

Center Stage, Inc.: Nevada’s first queer theatre troupe was Center Stage, Inc., founded in 1999.

Poster for Hidden: A Gender , 2000
program for Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, 1999
program for A Very Gay Christmas Carol,2000
cast of Hidden: A Gender, 2000
The Second Coming of Joan of Arc, 2000
Sappho in Love, 2001
admission ticket for Hidden: A Gender, 2000
poster for The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,2001
program for Sappho In Love, 2001
flier for The Second Coming of Joan of Arc,2000
poster for Twilight of the Golds,2003
cast of Last Summer at Bluefish Cove,1999
cast of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,2001
cast of A Very Gay Christmas Carol,2000
Twilight of the Golds,2003

Question 2

Question 2: The fight for equal rights suffered a severe blow with the 2002 amendment to the Nevada constitution that denied same-sex partners the right to marry.

1999 Fundraiser
Proclamation of Freedom to Marry Day, 1998
"Strange Bedfellows" Political Cartoon, Las Vegas CityLife, 11/02/2002
Pro Question 2 Mailer, 2002
Equal Rights Mailer, 2000
"Mormon Church backs bill", Las Vegas Review-Journal, 09/10/2002
Equal Right to Marry Project at the Clark County Library, August 2, 1996
Equal Right to Marry Project at the Clark County Library, August 2, 1996
Equal Right to Marry project fundraiser, August 3, 1996
Nevada Freedon to Marry Coalition mass wedding at the Foley Federal Building, Las Vegas, February 12, 1998
Nevada Freedon to Marry Coalition mass wedding at the Foley Federal Building, Las Vegas, February 12, 1998
Nevada Freedon to Marry Coalition mass wedding at the Foley Federal Building, Las Vegas, February 12, 1998
Mormon-sponsored homophobia - opening round in the Question 2 fight (Nevada Beehive, December 15, 1999-1)
Mormon-sponsored homophobia - opening round in the Question 2 fight (Nevada Beehive, December 15, 1999-2)
Coalition for the Protection of Marriage solicitation letter, December 20, 1999-1
Coalition for the Protection of Marriage solicitation letter, December 20, 1999-2
Question 2 petition, 1999
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada’s first press conference at Christ Episcopal Church, September 11, 2000
Las Vegas Business Press, January 3, 2000
Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 15, 2000
Coalition for the Protection of Marriage signature petition
Coalition for the Protection of Marriage donation disclosure form
Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 17, 2000
Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 18, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada bumper sticker
homophobic political campaign sign exploiting the Question 2 issue (August 18, 2000)
Equal Rights Nevada flier (September 2000)
anti-Question 2 poster (October 1, 2000)
Equal Rights Nevada brochure (October 11, 2000)
Equal Rights Nevada brochure (October 11, 2000)
anti-Question 2 yard sign (October 17, 2000)
pro-Question 2 yard sign (October 17, 2000)
Equal Rights Nevada fundraiser, October 17, 2000
Equal Rights Nevada poster (October 17, 2000)
Dennis McBride fighting Question 2 in Boulder City, NV, November 2, 2000
first passage of the question (Las Vegas Sun, November 8, 2000)
first passage of the question (Las Vegas Sun, November 8, 2000)
Las Vegas City Life February 28, 2002
Coalition for the Protection of Marriage’s “Marriage Protection Pledge for political candidates
Equal Rights Nevada’s Gill Foundation booklet
Equal Rights Nevada bumper sticker (June 27, 2002)
vandalism (Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 13, 2002)
future Nevada gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid supported Question 2 in 2002 (Nevada Beehive, September 15, 2002)
pro-Question 2 ad (Nevada Senior World, October 2002)
Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 3, 2002
pro-Question 2 political campaign ad (Nevada Beehive, October 15, 2002)
Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 3, 2002
second passage amends the Nevada State constitution (Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 6, 2002)
homophobic political campaign sign still exploiting anti-same-sex marriage hysteria two years after Question 2 passed in Nevada (September 8, 2004)

Las Vegas Transgender

Las Vegas Transgender: Transgender people have long been part of Las Vegas history, even though they have usually been left out of the social and political development of the gay community, and have been far slower in establishing a community of their own. But by 2009, Las Vegas held its first annual Transgender Health Fair and participated in the National Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Christine Jorgensen in Las Vegas, 1953
Jennifer Fox in Las Vegas, 1970
Hedy Jo Star, 1950s
Transgender beauty show to benefit the Lighthouse AIDS Ministry, 1996
Jane Heenan, 1999
Denise Jay, 1999
Transgender Day of Remembrance, 2009
Resource Guide, 2009
Celeste Tate outed, 1990
I Changed My Sex!, by Hedy Jo Star, 1963
Sequel to I Changed My Sex!, by Hedy Jo Star, 1964
Hedy Jo Star costume label, ca. 1970s
Transgender support group at the Community Counseling Center, 1996
Turnabouts brochure, 1997
Coquette Society, 1999
Transgender Support and Advocacy brochure, 2000
Andrea Hackett, Las Vegas City Life, 4-17-03
Transgender beauty contest, 2004
Jahna Steele, 2005
Christina DiEdoardo, Las Vegas Sun, 5-31-05
Trans.lation flyer, 2009
1st Annual Transgender Health Fair, 10-31-09
Transgender Day of Remembrance, 11-20-09
Transgender Day of Remembrance, 11-20-09
Transgender Day of Remembrance, 11-20-09
brochure, 2010
QVegas transgender cover story, January 2010

SB 283

Despite a veto by Governor Jim Gibbons, SB 283, Nevada's Domestic Partnership Act, was passed in 2009.

AB 496, 2001
Las Vegas Mercury, 2003
Stand OUT for Equality rally,2008
Wanda Sykes at Stand OUT for Equality rally, 2008
Nevada’s First Lady Dawn Gibbons, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 21, 2009
Reciprocal Beneficiary Relationships, aka the Family Fairness Bill, 2001
Las Vegas Sun, April 17, 2001
Las Vegas Sun, April 27, 2001
Las Vegas Sun, July 8, 2003
Stand Out for Equality rally at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, November 15, 2008
Stand Out for Equality rally on Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 13, 2008
Stand Out for Equality rally on Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 13, 2008
SB 283 – Nevada Domestic Partnership Act, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 28, 2009
Equality Days, April 21-22, 2009
Equality Days breakfast, April 22, 2009
celebrating Nevada State Senate passage of SB 283, April 21, 2009
Stand Out for Equality lobbies Republican Nevada State Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, April 22, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 17, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 20, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 26, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 31, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 1, 2009
Las Vegas City Life, August 27, 2009