''Gaysweek'' was an American weekly gay and lesbian newspaper based in New York City printed from 1977 until 1979. Considered the city's first mainstream weekly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, it was founded by Alan Bell in 1977 as an 8-page single-color tabloid and finished its run in 1979 as a 24-page two-color publication. It featured articles, letter, art and poetry. It was, at the time, only one of three weekly publications geared towards gay people. It was also the first mainstream gay publication published by an African-American (Alan Bell).

Background

''Gaysweek'' was New York City's first mainstream weekly

and

. It was founded by Alan Bell in 1977. ''Gaysweek'' began as an 8-page single-color tabloid and when it ceased publication in 1979 after 104 issues, it had grown to a 24-page two-color publication. Its monthly arts supplement, ''Gaysweek Arts and Letters,'' was edited by Byrne Fone. During its run, it was one of only three gay weeklies in the world and the only mainstream gay publication owned by an African-American. A portion of ''Gaysweek'' archives are housed at Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. Although it was eventually granted, ''Gaysweek''s application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for registration of the ''Gaysweek'' trademark, was opposed by Newsweek, Inc. because, according to attorneys for the publication, they are similar "both phonetically and in appearance." Newsweek later sued ''Gaysweek'' for trademark infringement. In 2002, the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston), Cathedral o ...

turned over a copy of the February 12, 1979 issue of ''Gaysweek'', in relation to a lawsuit, which included an article titled "Men & Boys" that described a meeting in Boston in which Father

Paul Shanley Paul Richard Shanley (January 25, 1931 – October 28, 2020) was an American Roman Catholic priest who became the center of a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts. Beginning in 1967, the archdiocese covered u ...

defended a relationship between a man and a boy. In 2015, Alan Bell was inducted into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame.

Notable writers

Eric Bentley Eric Russell Bentley (September 14, 1916 – August 5, 2020) was a British-born American theater critic, playwright, singer, editor, and translator. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the New ...

Perry Brass Perry Brass (born September 15, 1947) is an American author, journalist, playwright and essayist. He was an active member of the Gay Liberation Front, the first radical gay organization to be formed after the Stonewall Rebellion in New Yor ...

Robert Chesley Robert Chesley (March 22, 1943, Jersey City, New Jersey – December 5, 1990, San Francisco, California) was a playwright, theater critic and musical composer. Biography Chesley earned his B.A. in music from Reed College in 1965. Between 1965 ...

* Daniel Curzon *

Martin Duberman Martin Bauml Duberman (born August 6, 1930) is an American historian, biographer, playwright, and gay rights activist. Duberman is Professor of History Emeritus at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York City. Early life Duberman was born into ...

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'', winning both the Tony Award for Best ...

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures, Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked his ...

* Felice Picano *David Rothenberg *

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (January 13, 1940 – June 3, 2025) was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with ra ...

* George Whitmore

References

External links

September 1978 issue of ''Gaysweek''
at Pride Museum {{LGBTQ LGBTQ-related newspapers published in the United States Weekly newspapers published in the United States LGBTQ history in New York City Defunct weekly newspapers Defunct newspapers published in New York City LGBTQ culture in New York City Newspapers disestablished in 1979 Newspapers established in 1977 1977 establishments in New York City 1979 disestablishments in New York (state) 1977 in LGBTQ history

Background

Notable writers

See also

References

Further reading

External links