Lambda Archives of San Diego

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Lambda Archives of San Diego

Our mission is to collect, preserve and share LGBTQ+ history in San Diego, Northern B.C. & Imperial. Call 619-260-1522 to confirm meeting dates and times.

Jess Jessop incorporated Le***an and Gay Archives of San Diego (later Le***an and Gay His- torical Society of San Diego, now Lambda Archives of San Diego) in 1987, starting the collection with materials that he and Doug Moore had gathered earlier. Lambda Archives of San Diego is now one of the best-maintained collections of LGBT history in the country. It houses the Fritz Klein Bisexual Archives a

nd a tremendous Pride collection. Lambda Archives of San Diego (LASD) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and is one of the larger collections of LGBT history in the country. The Board holds regular monthly meetings open to all members.

06/17/2026

Join us in sending Lambda’s Executive Director, Nicole Verdés (they/she), well wishes as they step into their next chapter after eleven incredible years of service to Lambda Archives. Nicole’s last day is June 30th, and we want to make sure they feel the love from this community before they go.

Under Nicole’s leadership, Lambda has grown in ways that have made us more rooted, more resourced, and more connected to the communities we serve. But more than any of that — Nicole fought for this work. They believed in it when it was hard, championed it when resources were scarce, and poured themselves into ensuring that LGBTQ+ San Diego history is preserved, accessible, and celebrated for generations to come.

We are beyond grateful. Thank you, Nicole. 💜🫶

Read Nicole’s full farewell statement here:

https://mailchi.mp/lambdaarchives/a-note-of-gratitude-before-i-go

06/09/2026

Pride season in San Diego is ALMOST HERE and Lambda Archives needs volunteers at our Pride booth! 🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

We’ll be tabling at the San Diego Pride Festival on Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19 (10 am – 4 pm both days), and we’re looking for folks to join us for 3-hour shifts.

Whether you’ve volunteered with us before or you’re just getting to know us — come represent decades years of LGBTQ+ history with us.

Check this link to sign up! ⬇️

https://bit.ly/LASDpf2026

06/05/2026

Last night, we joined partners and community members at the Owen Clinic for our Seven Days in June AIDS Memorial Quilt display and candlelight vigil, and we are so grateful for everyone who showed up.

Today marks 45 years since the CDC’s first report on what would become the AIDS crisis, June 5, 1981.

Thank you to our community partners for joining us: Diversionary Theatre, T4T Empowerment, San Diego Pride, Stepping Stone of San Diego, San Diego LGBT Community Center, North County LGBTQ+ Resource Center, San Diego HIV Planning Group, Colectivo Viva Vivo Binacional, Christie’s Place, Fellowship of Older G**s, POZabilities, and Long-term HIV/AIDS Survivors.

To everyone who came, shared a memory, or simply stood together in that space: thank you.

🕯️

06/04/2026

🏳️‍🌈 We are happy to announce Pride in our Neighborhoods / Orgullo en MNuestra Comunidad, an ARTS collaboration with transborder LGBTQ+ artists, activists, and experts taking place at the Front Gallery Arte + Cultura in San Ysidro Thursday June 25 from 5-7 pm. 📅

🗨 We'll get started with a bilingual panel discussion exploring q***r history across the San Diego-Tijuana borderlands region and finish up creating some art pieces together! 🎨

👥 Panel moderated by ARTS' People and Culture Coordinator Monica Banuelos will feature:

Liliana Hueso (Lenchas y Marimachas)
Nicole Verdés (Lambda Archives)
Nicolasa C (Lavanda C**T)
Oscar Soto Marbán (Archivo Histórico LGBTTTIQ+ Tijuana)

🔗 Register to save your spot in the art-making activity afterward. Supplies are limited.
www.givebutter.com/pride-in-our-neighborhoods (link in bio)

+++

🏳️‍🌈 Estamos felices de anunciar Orgullo en Nuestra Comunidad / Pride in our Neighborhoods, una colaboración de ARTS con artistas, activistas, y expertxs LGBTQ+ de la frontera, el próximo jueves 25 de junio de 5-7 pm en The Front Arte y Cultura.📅

🗨 Iniciaremos con un panel abordando la historia q***r de la región fronteriza de Tijuana - San Diego y terminaremos con un taller de arte colectivo.🎨

👥 El panel, moderado por Monica Bañuelos, People and Culture Coordinator de ARTS, incluye participaciones de:

Liliana Hueso (Lenchas y Marimachas)
Nicole Verdés (Lambda Archives)
Nicolasa C (Lavanda C**T)
Oscar Soto Marbán (Archivo Histórico LGBTTTIQ+ Tijuana)

🔗 Regístrate para guardar tu lugar en el taller de arte al terminar. Espacio limitado.
www.givebutter.com/pride-in-our-neighborhoods (enlace en la bio)

06/03/2026

New DATE and LOCATION for the Fifth Annual Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship Fund and Pride Kick-Off Event!

Join us this year, on July 7th at 6pm at the Clark Cabaret as we celebrate the fifth annual Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship Fund!

We’re proud to be distributing more scholarships this year than any other before - we hope you can join us to honor Larry’s legacy, celebrate the scholarship recipients, and kick-off Pride month here in San Diego with us!

Link to RSVP: https://bit.ly/LTBS2026

06/02/2026

From the poster collection at Lambda Archives: “THIS IS NOT THE AMERICAN WAY SAN DIEGO SAYS: STOP LA ROUCHE! VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 64!”

The “LaRouche bill” refers to California Proposition 64, a controversial 1986 ballot initiative promoted by political activist Lyndon LaRouche and his followers. The initiative aimed to legally classify AIDS and HIV as communicable diseases subject to strict public health control laws, which opponents and public health officials warned would lead to mass mandatory testing and quarantines. California voters overwhelmingly rejected the measure on November 4, 1986, with 71% voting against it. Major health organizations, including the California Medical Association, strongly opposed the initiative, stating that it was scientifically unjustified and a massive invasion of privacy.

06/01/2026

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

June marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising of June 28, 1969, when q***r and trans folks fought back against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, marking a significant moment in the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement. Pride began not as a celebration but as a riot, a refusal, a demand to exist freely and fully.

Here in San Diego, our community has been showing up in that same spirit for decades. While San Diego Pride now marches in July, the parade and festival were originally held in June, honoring that direct connection to Stonewall.

This flyer from 1978 gives us a glimpse into what Pride looked like in our city nearly fifty years ago: a rally with speakers from the ACLU, Las Hermanas, Metropolitan Community Church, the San Diego Le***an Organization, and more.

A coalition. A community. A movement.

That spirit is not only history. It is present tense. As our rights, our stories, and our very existence face renewed attacks, we march, we organize, we archive, and we celebrate with everything we have.

“No More Lies” was the 1978 San Diego Pride theme, with the full slogan being “No More Lies, Never Again.” It was a direct response to Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative - a failed ballot measure sponsored by state senator John Briggs that sought to ban gay and le***an people—as well as anyone who advocated for LGBTQ+ rights—from working in California’s public schools.

05/30/2026

🎉 WE HIT OUR GOAL AND WE HAVE A WINNER! 🎉

Congratulations to Theo Villalobos — you and a guest are heading to see Pattie Gonia at the Music Box in San Diego on June 6th, PLUS you’ll be taking home a handstitched Trans Pride Flag from 🏳️‍⚧️

Thanks to your incredible generosity, Lambda Archives has raised $8,000 to upgrade our server infrastructure.

We are so grateful to everyone who donated!

05/29/2026

🌈Join us in congratulating Lambda's board president, Joe Fejeran (he/him) in being recognized as this year's Community Service Spirit of Stonewall Awardee by San Diego Pride! Also sending a huge congratulations to all of the other awardees. Read about Joe and the other awardees here:

https://bit.ly/2026SpiritOfStonewallAwardees

05/27/2026

June is almost here, and we have so much going on to share with the community.
Here’s what’s happening at Lambda Archives:

🕯️ Seven Days in June. Join us and our community partners for an evening hosted by the Owen Clinic, where 10 AIDS Memorial Quilt panels will be on display, followed by a candlelight vigil at 7pm. RSVP at the link:

bit.ly/SevenDaysInJuneLASD

❤️ An AIDS Memorial Quilt panel displaying the names of San Diegans lost to the disease is on display at Lambda through June 7th to coincide with Diversionary’s showing of RENT - free HIV testing is also available in the Lambda offices before each show.

🏫 The Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship Fund Celebration and Pride Kick-Off has a new date and location. This year’s event will be at the Clark Cabaret on July 7th. More details at the 🔗

https://bit.ly/LTBS2026

🌈 Give OUT Day is June 4th, with early giving opening May 28th. Lambda Archives is participating in this national day of giving for LGBTQ+ nonprofits. Every gift, at any level, goes directly toward preserving and sharing our community’s history: oral histories, digitization projects, community exhibitions, and more. 🔗 Give OUT Day:

giveoutday.org/story/Lambda2026

Read the full newsletter here:

https://mailchi.mp/lambdaarchives/sevendaysinjune

Address

4545 Park Boulevard, Ste 104
San Diego, CA
92116

Telephone

+16192601522

Website

http://www.lambdaarchives.org/, https://linktr.ee/LambdaArchives

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