Pride in the Face of Adversity: How the Herald Examiner Covered the LGBTQIA Community in Los Angeles

As a mainstream news outlet in the 20th Century, it's probably not surprising that the Los Angeles Herald Express (later Herald Examiner) newspaper gave little coverage to the LGBTQIA community. The Herald's image archive, now maintained at the Los Angeles Public Library, seemingly reflected the newspaper's attitude towards the city's LGBTQIA residents which in turn was more than likely a reflection of popular views at the time.

Photos relating to the LGBTQIA community are almost non-existent in the Herald collection prior to the 1970s. The few that have turned up focus exclusively on men being held in jail after having been arrested for "masquerading" in women's clothing with terms like "fairies" written on the back of the photos in grease pencil. As public activism increased in the 1970s and 1980s, so did stories relating to issues and events. However, handwritten derogatory comments continued to appear on the backs of photos and negative envelopes depicting Gay Pride parades, AIDS awareness, and other fights for equal rights.

What's striking about the LGBTQIA photos in the Herald collection is that in the face of constant adversity during the decades, the people depicted in them universally display pride, confidence, and a sense of self, whether they're behind bars, marching in a parade, or in court fight for marriage equality (in 1979). In celebration of LGBTQIA Pride Month, here is a sampling of images from the library's Herald Examiner Collection.