Pride Student Union Records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: HUA 2013-0607

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Florida State University Pride Student Union Records document the founding and development of Pride including its predecessor and auxiliary organizations. The collection contains administrative records, promotional materials, artwork, banners, newspapers, and journal and magazine clippings produced and collected by the organization since the late 1960s. The Pride Student Union is a student agency overseen by the FSU Student Government Association (SGA), and provides services and programs that address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual and intersex students. The organization was founded in 1969 as a political community group called the People's Coalition for Gay Rights, and went through five iterations before establishing itself as part of the SGA. There are also several auxiliary student groups and community organizations that grew out of the Pride Student Union, including the FSU Student Counseling Center, The Family Tree Community Center, and Seminole Allies & Safe Zones. The collection provides access to the voices of the LGBTQ+ community in Tallahassee, the State of Florida, as well as the surrounding Gulf States from the past fifty years.

Online Copies Available

Select materials from the Pride Student Union Records have been digitized and are available through the FSU Digital Library.

Dates

created: 1964-2015
Other: Majority of material found in 1970-2015
Other: Date acquired: 06/07/2013

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. Records subject to FERPA and any other applicable privacy laws have been restricted and are noted at the file level.

Conditions Governing Use

To request permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from the archives, please contact Heritage & University Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. Researchers must obtain separate permission from the copyright holders of material held within University Archives collections for which the institution does not hold copyright.

Biographical or Historical Information

In 1969, gay and lesbians in Tallahassee organized the People’s Coalition for Gay Rights, which later became the Alliance for Gay Awareness, as a response to the Stonewall Riots. The organization was primarily a political organization active in the gay rights movement of the 1970s. In 1973, staff of the University Mental Health Center (now the Student Counseling Center) formed Gay Peer Counseling to provide support and counseling for gays and lesbian students. It became the most active LGBTQ+ group on campus in the early 1970s. In 1978, the group evolved into the Gay Peer Volunteers (GPV), which provided students opportunities for services in the community outside of the counseling environment. To include all students directly served by this student organization, the Gay Peer Volunteers changed its name to the Gay/Lesbian Student Union (GLSU) in 1989, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Student Union (LGBSU) in 1994, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Student Union (LGBTSU) in 1998, and finally Pride Student Union in 2005.

There are several other auxiliary groups at FSU that have served the LGBTQ+ population. In 1984, Gay/Lesbian Support Services formed to continue and expand upon the goals and services of the preceding organizations. In the 1990s, a specialist in student counseling continued the mission of GPV by founding Gay and Lesbian Allies (GALA), which was later absorbed by Tallahassee LGBTQ+ community center, Family Tree. Safe Zone-Tallahassee was founded in 1997 as a response to FSU administration to fund an LGBTQ+ committee or office space. In 2012, Safe Zone was revamped into Seminole Allies & Safe Zones, and provides workshops to students, faculty, and staff.

Extent

32 boxes

21.00 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Meeting notes, reports, correspondence, programs, photographs, and clippings that document the activities of The Florida State University Pride Student Union.