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Guide to the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County Records
MS.R.118
MS.R.118
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Title: Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County records
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.118
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
14.1 Linear feet
(28 boxes and 3 oversized folders)
Date (inclusive): 1977-2005
Language of Collection Materials: Collection materials are primarily in
English with some materials in
Spanish.
Abstract: This collection comprises the records of The Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County (The Center OC), a
not-for-profit organization serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community in Orange County, California. The
collection documents the Center OC's operations, sponsored events, services, fundraising, educational activities, and public
health campaigns including those addressing HIV/AIDS. Materials include reports, newsletters, memoranda, event programs, photographs,
fliers, posters, training and educational materials, clippings, and audiovisual recordings.
Creator:
Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County.
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records. For
permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County Records. MS-R118. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine
Libraries, Irvine, California.
Gift of Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County, 2004-2007.
Accruals are expected.
Some of the materials in the collection were contributed as part of the Orange County Historical LGBT Timeline Project.
Processed by Dawn Schmitz, Kimberly Gallon, Christine Kim, and Natalie Newton in 2011.
The Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County (The Center OC) is one of the oldest gay and lesbian community
centers in the United States, established as a volunteer organization in 1971 and incorporated in 1975 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit
community-based organization. The Center's programming serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community,
including the Spanish-speaking LGBT community, those who are questioning, LGBT youth, and LGBT families.
Through its AIDS Response Program, The Center was the first community-based agency to address the AIDS crisis in Orange County.
The program responded to the crisis with a variety of initiatives, including Stop AIDS Orange County, a volunteer-based HIV/AIDS
prevention program that began in 1987. In 1993 the LifeGuard program was created to provide education about safer sex for
gay and bisexual men. The Center also designed HIV/AIDS prevention services specifically to serve the Latino and Asian American
community. In addition to HIV/AIDS support and education services, The Center has advanced other public health initiatives,
including an anti-smoking campaign.
In addition to its public health programs, The Center has organized or sponsored a range of social events and other activities
to serve the LGBT community. The Orange Coast Guild was a social group that organized cultural events in the early 1990s.
In the early 2000s, The Center co-sponsored Orange County Dyke March events, public demonstrations designed to empower lesbian,
bisexual and transgender women. In 2003-2004, The Center was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit
charging officials in Costa Mesa, California, with imposing unduly burdensome permit requirements on the Dyke March organizers.
The Center relocated and expanded its facilities to a new Garden Grove location in 1988. In June, 2009, it relocated again
to Santa Ana, California.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises the records of The Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County (The Center OC), a
not-for-profit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Orange County, California.
The collection documents the Center's operations, sponsored events, services, fundraising, and programs, particularly those
addressing HIV/AIDS. Materials include board of directors meeting agendas, reports, newsletters, memoranda, photographs, event
programs, fliers, posters, training and educational materials, clippings, and videotapes.
This collection is arranged in 6 series:
- Series 1. Administrative records, 1984-2004
- Series 2. Program files, 1983-2003
- Series 3. Events, 1989-2005
- Series 4. Research materials, 1977-2002
- Series 5. Visual materials, 1987-2004
- Series 6. Awards and commendations, 1998-2004
Issues of the following newsletters were removed from the collection and added to cataloged serials in the Department of Special
Collections and Archives. Complete holdings information is available through the UC Irvine Libraries catalog
ANTPAC :
- The Center Connection
- The Log Cabin Club of Orange County
- Laguna Outreach
Related materials can be found in the following collections in the Department of Special Collections and Archives:
- Brad Brafford Papers. MS-R146.
- Orange County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Timeline Research Files. MS-R105.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County -- Archives.
AIDS (disease) -- California -- Orange County -- History -- Sources.
Bisexuals -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Community centers -- California -- Orange County -- History.
Gays -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Lesbians -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 21st century.
Transgender people -- California -- Orange County -- Archives.
Video recordings -- California -- Orange County -- 21st century.