The series consists primarily of newsletters, flyers and brochures published by various lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender local and national organizations and documents local and national issues confronted by the community.
The records document the organization and activities of the Gay Lesbian Advocates Defenders (GLAD), a nonprofit legal organization dedicated to defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and people with HIV, primarily in New England. The collection primarily consists of correspondence, topical files, reports, meeting minutes, legal research, litigation and amicus files, publications, volunteer and training manuals, and news clippings created or maintained by GLAD. The records document all aspects of the organization, including its history, structure, and activities from its founding in 1978 to the present. The collection provides a rich resource for the study of GLAD, anti-discrimination efforts, and the legal issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and people with HIV in the United States.
Materials in this series pertain to Bragdon v. Abbott, which was the first court case concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to be heard by the United States Supreme Court, as well as the first case involving HIV to be heard by the court. The case originated in Bangor, Maine in 1994, when dentist Randon Bragdon refused to treat Sidney Abbott at his practice after Abbott disclosed that she was HIV positive. GLAD filed suit on Abbott's behalf in federal district court in Maine in 1995, asserting that Abbott's HIV positive status qualified as a disability, and that Bragdon's refusal of service qualified as discrimination under the ADA. GLAD won this case, known as Abbott v. Bragdon, after which Bragdon's attorneys appealed the decision at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, where GLAD also won. Bragdon ultimately appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 in Abbott's favor in 1998. Materials documenting the case include correspondence, news clippings, memos, background research materials, notes, depositions, briefs, summary judgements, court decisions, and reports.
The series consists of records documenting GLAD's administration. It is divided into four sections: Board of Directors; Executive Director; Finance; and Office Administration. The board records consist primarily of minutes, committee records and "packets" which contain documents provided to the board summarizing the work of GLAD's various committees and departments. The packets provide an overview of various administrative, legal, financial, outreach and organizational matters before GLAD at any given moment. Executive Director files contain correspondence, topical files, notes, memoranda, articles, and reports. The early records of the executive director contain documentation and information that would later (circa 1990) be filed under Development and Public Affairs Education.
The series documents the public affairs and education activities of GLAD, both before and after the establishment of a formal Public Affairs Education department circa 1990. Of particular interest are GLAD's annual reports and a near-complete run of GLAD Briefs, GLAD's public outreach newsletter, which has been published continually since 1979. The series also contains records documenting strategic planning and public affairs administration; a large number of GLAD publications, used primarily for public education; news clippings primarily related to GLAD's cases and issues of interest to GLAD; materials relating to the InfoLine and Lawyer Referral Service. The series also contains a substantial number of files documenting anti-gay and lesbian voter inititatives in Maine and efforts to block them.
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