Monica S. Gallamore

The Gay Academic Union (GAU), a national organization, was founded in 1973 in order to "end discrimination against gay people." The new organization sought to create a safe space for both faculty and students in academic settings, not only in New York City where the organization was born, but across the nation. The GAU wanted to increase the analysis and acknowledgement of contributions of the LGBTQ+ community to the very foundations of society be that art, politics, or academia. Over the next few years, regional GAU chapters formed across the United States and internationally. The GAU embraced students as well as established professors and together they fought to be visible, to have their voices heard. This project examines the GAU at the national as well as the local/regional level.