Gay male and lesbian organizations and leaders
In its effort to document contemporary life, the library has collected materials on the topic of sexuality. Of great significance is the collection received from University of Michigan staff member James W. Toy. Consisting of materials created and/or collected over a three decade period, mainly from 1971 to 1994, the James Toy collection is a combination of personal papers and records of the university office (originally named Human Sexuality Office, later Lesbian-Gay Male Programs Office, and now the Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Affairs) in which Toy was employed for twenty-five years.
In 1970, Toy helped to found and served as secretary of both the Detroit Gay Liberation Movement and the Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front, organizations established to dramatize and seek remedy for the discrimination and harassment that gays and lesbians confronted. In April 1970, Toy made his first public pronouncement as an "open" gay male at an anti-war rally in Detroit. Also in 1970, Toy and other students proposed that the University of Michigan should create a unit to address the needs of gay and lesbian students. Partially as a result of their efforts, the university in 1971 under the auspices of its Office of Special Services and Programs created a Human Sexuality Office. The Jim Toy Papers cover the period from the late 1960s to 1995.
Also available for research are records of chapters of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), substantial runs of the publications of Michigan-based lesbian and gay male organizations, and records from the University of Michigan Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Affairs. One organizational record group of note is the Michigan Organization of Human Rights. Established in 1977, MOHR was formed as a resource for various local and statewide organizations engaged in the effort to eliminate discrimination. In addition to paper records, this record group includes reel-to-reel tapes of a Detroit radio program which in the mid- to late-1970s addressed issues of concern to lesbians and gay males.