The Auburn Avenue Research Library LGBTQ collection

About the Collection

The Black LGBTQ Collection at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History preserves the lives, labor, and cultural production of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities. Spanning the late twentieth century into the early twenty-first, the collection documents how individuals and organizations in Atlanta and beyond cultivated spaces of visibility, care, resistance, and self-definition.

At its core, the collection brings together personal papers, organizational records, and print culture to illustrate both intimate experiences and collective movements. Materials from figures such as Aida Rentas, Craig Washington, Carolyn Mobley, and Anthony “Tony” Daniels sit alongside the records of influential organizations including ZAMI, In The Life Atlanta, and ADODI Muse. Together, these archives trace the development of advocacy networks, cultural institutions, and community-based responses to issues ranging from HIV/AIDS and public health to artistic expression, political organizing, and identity formation.

The collection also foregrounds the critical role of Black LGBTQ print culture as a site of connection and self-representation. Through newsletters, magazines, and community publications, individuals documented their lives, circulated resources, and shaped discourse in ways often absent from mainstream media. These materials reveal how storytelling, documentation, and visual culture functioned as tools of both survival and empowerment.

AARL Large Print LGBTQ Collection

The Large Print LGBTQ Collection forms a vital component of this archive, preserving newsletters, magazines, and periodicals produced primarily between the 1980s and early 2000s. These publications provided essential platforms for Black LGBTQ communities to share information, build networks, and assert their presence within both local and national conversations.

Highlights include:

• Venus Magazine — a leading publication for lesbians and gays of color, covering cultural production, political movements, and community life
• GMAD Newsletter (Gay Men of African Descent) — focused on education, health, and advocacy for Black gay men
• Black Dates — a nationwide listing of events and gatherings for Black LGBTQ communities
• Between Brothers — centering dialogue around identity, mentorship, and collective responsibility among Black men

Collectively, these materials demonstrate how print culture operated as an infrastructure for connection—linking individuals across cities, movements, and shared experiences.

By preserving these records, the Auburn Avenue Research Library affirms that Black LGBTQ histories are not peripheral, but foundational to African American cultural and social life. This collection documents the ways communities organized, created, and sustained themselves—often in the absence of institutional recognition.

The materials reveal a continuum of resilience and innovation: from grassroots organizing and public programming to artistic expression and intellectual exchange. They also highlight Atlanta’s role as a critical hub for Black LGBTQ life in the South.

For researchers, students, and the public, this collection offers a layered understanding of how identity, community, and resistance have been shaped across generations. It invites not only study, but reflection on the ongoing work of visibility, care, and liberation.