Introduction

The purpose of this exhibit is to share the research we did in Dr. Mytheli Sreenivas’ Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 2550 course, History of Feminist Thought. Throughout the Spring 2018 semester, we conducted research at the Ohio State University Archives concerning OSU’s LGBTQ community historically. Obviously, this is a huge topic with decades upon decades of material to comb through! We chose to narrow the research by focusing on the 1970's and 1980's. The history of OSU’s LGBTQ community is interesting for a couple reasons. First of all, as WGSS majors, we’ve both been exposed to and involved in LGBTQ activism during our time on campus, leading us to wonder what it’s been like for past students and faculty. Additionally, it’s no secret that Columbus is one of the “gayest” cities in America; according to The Dispatch, Columbus ranks 15th in the nation for highest populations of gay residents. With such a large presence of LGBTQ individuals, we were curious to know if the culture of acceptance that permeates Columbus today has been consistent historically, as well as the effect of Columbus’ politics on the university.

Within this exhibit you will find everything from undercover cops and legal disputes to former students’ ‘coming out’ testimonies and Pride Week. Much of our research comes from digitally archived copies of OSU’s student newspaper, The Lantern. We were also able to gain new insight into some of the topics covered by Lantern reporters in an interview with Dr. John Quigley, the first faculty advisor of Columbus' Gay Activist Alliance. We feel it’s important to note that the following posts are based only in what was recorded and kept from the time and, as a result, there may be some missing information or events that simply did not appear in the archival materials. Thanks for reading!