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VCU Gay Alliance of Students collection 0.5 Linear Feet

Gay Alliance of Students

The collection was compiled by the donor, Walter Foery, a founding member of the VCU Gay Students Alliance organization. The items date from 1974 through 1976 and include correspondence, court documents, newspaper clippings, and magazines. The materials in the collection help document the founding of the student organization at VCU, their efforts to be recognized by VCU as any other student organization, and the lawsuit initiated by the students. The case, Gay Alliance of Students v. Matthews was one of the first LGBTQ+ student organizing cases to reach the federal appellate level. The ruling effectively changed existing law in the five states within the jurisdiction of the Fourth District Circuit: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

  1. Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library

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