Historical Note
Robert Ashworth is a politically active member of the gay and lesbian
community in Bellingham, WA. During the 1970s and 1980s, Ashworth compiled a
collection of papers documenting the activities of the Union of Sexual
Minorities Center (USMC) of Western Washington University. The USMC was a
student association at Western Washington University, created "to actively
promote and defend human and civil rights for all sexual minorities."*
The center provided outreach and support to
gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender students at Western Washington State College
(now Western Washington University). Through various conferences and symposia,
the USMC advocated for fair and equal treatment of all individuals, regardless
of sexual preference. In 1976, the coordinators of one symposium were
interviewed on the "Radio Impact Show" on KGMI, a local Bellingham radio
station.
The USMC has since been renamed the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender
Alliance (LGBTA), which remains an active advocacy organization at Western
Washington University. The Robert Ashworth collection on the Union of Sexual
Minorities Center is a rich resource for the study of gender and sexuality, and
gay and lesbian political activity in the Pacific Northwest region.
* Source: Union of Sexual Minorities Center bylaws (1977-1978), in the
Robert Ashworth collection on the Union of Sexual Minorities Center, available
at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.
Content Description
The Robert Ashworth collection on the Union of Sexual Minorities
Center (USMC) of Western Washington University consists of the administrative
records, program and activity materials, and publications of a student
association in Bellingham, Washington.
Administrative records span the dates 1979-1984 and include the USMC's
bylaws and handbook, as well as a proposal by USMC members to the university
community encouraging their support for the organization. These records provide
some significant information about the USMC, including its intent to provide
support for all sexual minorities and advocate for equal treatment of all
individuals, regardless of sexual preference.
Program and activity records date from 1976-1977 and contain writings
generated through USMC advocacy and educational projects such as the
"Autobiographies of Gay People" and "What to Do When You Meet a Gay Person:
Hints for Heterosexuals." Programs and activity records also contain an
audiocassette recording of interviews with the organizers of a gay pride
symposium that were aired on the KGMI "Radio Impact Show." The collection also
contains information from various regional conferences and symposiums either
organized by or attended by members of the USMC.
Publications span the dates 1975-1984 and consist of a variety of
ephemera including announcements, flyers, and posters advertising events of the
USMC and affiliated organizations. The materials also include a number of
issues of Proud, the official newsletter of the
USMC, and select copies of The Other Side, another
GLBT community newsletter from Bellingham.