Lambda Archives of San Diego

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Lambda Archives of San Diego

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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 and 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.

09/01/2026

📣 Big news from Lambda Archives!

We're so excited to welcome Jen LaBarbera back home as our Interim Executive Director!

Jen isn't new to Lambda; they served as our Head Archivist before going on to lead at San Diego Pride and Creating Change/National LGBTQ Task Force. Now, they're back to help guide us through this transition with the steady hand and deep community roots we know and trust.

Paraphrasing Jen's words: "At the risk of sounding overly sentimental, returning to Lambda Archives really does feel like coming home."

Join us in welcoming Jen back!

🔗See the full announcement and message from Jen here: https://mailchi.mp/lambdaarchives/coming-home-announcing-interim-ed

08/20/2026

Join us in celebrating Gabrielle Garcia (they/he/she), Lambda’s Head Archivist, as they head out for the next chapter on their archival journey. Gabby has been with Lambda Archives on and off since 2019, first as a volunteer, then as a project assistant, and then as Head Archivist after finishing their MLIS in 2024. They’ve been an incredible asset to the Archives and an excellent supervisor to over 25 volunteers and interns during their time with us, and will be deeply missed. We’re so excited for their next chapter as they move up to the Bay Area, where they’ll be starting a position as the Assistant Director of the Digital Transgender Archive - still part of the LGBTQIA+ archives world! Good luck, Gabrielle, and thank you for everything! 💜✨

Read Gabrielle's parting words as our Head Archivist here: https://mailchi.mp/lambdaarchives/season-of-change-gabrielle-garcia

07/01/2026

Our July newsletter just dropped, and it's a big one. 📬✨

We're celebrating the completion of our California State Library-funded project: 773 items digitized, all centering Trans + BIPOC history across San Diego and Tijuana. 🏳️‍⚧️✊🏾 Photographs, protest signs, zines, oral histories, periodicals like Bandera Gay, Frontera Gay, and Habari, pulled from across our collections and made freely searchable for the first time. 📂🔍

This is what Pride actually looks like to us: not just a parade, but a paper trail. Proof that we were here. 🗂️💜

And speaking of the parade 👀 we want YOU marching with us. Join the Lambda Archives contingent at San Diego Pride this year, no experience needed, just bring yourself and your pride. 🌈🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️

Read the full newsletter here:

https://mailchi.mp/lambdaarchives/this-pride-were-not-asking-permission-to-exist

Sign-up to join our Parade contingent here:

https://forms.gle/RqBHdup2tcw92uh76

06/30/2026

🌈 We're heading to the library tomorrow!

Join Lambda Archives at the 3rd Annual Rainbow Revolution, hosted by , as we celebrate Pride at the library. We'll be sharing Pride history and the stories that make our community's past worth preserving, because knowing where we've been is how we keep moving forward.

📅 Tuesday, June 30
🕔 5:00 PM
📍 215 W. Washington St., San Diego

Free and open to all ages, no registration required. Come say hi, meet community partners, catch pop-up drag performances, and celebrate Pride the nerdy way: with history. ✊🏽📚

06/28/2026

Yesterday, Tijuana celebrated Pride 🏳️‍🌈🇲🇽

Frontera Gay was a q***r binational publication that launched in 1990, connecting activists and community members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Founded by activist Max Mejía, it was one of the only outlets documenting LGBTQ+ life in the Tijuana-San Diego region at a time when that documentation was urgently needed. The publication covered local community life, reported on police violence and harassment, and helped expose the cover-up of AIDS-related deaths in Tijuana during one of the most critical periods in our region's history.

This is exactly the kind of record that doesn't survive without intentional preservation work. Through our Intersectional Archives: Trans & BIPOC Foundations digitization project, the majority of Frontera Gay issues are now digitized and available for free public viewing.

Check out the full issues here:

https://bit.ly/FronteraGay

(Best viewed on desktop)

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Ayer, Tijuana celebró el Orgullo 🏳️‍🌈🇲🇽

Frontera Gay fue una publicación q***r binacional que surgió en 1990, conectando a activistas y miembros de la comunidad a ambos lados de la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos. Fundada por el activista Max Mejía, fue uno de los pocos espacios que documentaron la vida LGBTQ+ en la región Tijuana-San Diego en un momento en que esa documentación era urgentemente necesaria. La publicación cubría la vida comunitaria local, reportaba sobre la violencia policial y el hostigamiento, y ayudó a exponer el encubrimiento de muertes relacionadas con el SIDA en Tijuana durante uno de los períodos más críticos de la historia de nuestra región.

Este es exactamente el tipo de registro que no sobrevive sin un trabajo intencional de preservación. A través de nuestro proyecto de digitalización Intersectional Archives: Trans & BIPOC Foundations, la mayoría de los números de Frontera Gay están ahora digitalizados y disponibles para consulta pública y gratuita.

Consulta los números completos aqui:

https://bit.ly/FronteraGay

06/27/2026

Lambda's Head Archivist, Gabrielle (they/he/she), is in Chicago this weekend representing Lambda Archives at the ALA 2026 Annual Conference & Exhibition. Their poster, “Reinvigorating a LGBTQ Community Archives' Library in Times of Censorship: Programming and Systems Upgrades,” is being presented today at the Diversity Fair Poster Session.

In a year when q***r history is under active threat, bans on books and bodies are multiplying, and the word "diversity" has become a target, our work showing up on a national stage feels more urgent than ever. What we do at Lambda isn't archival for archival's sake. It's proof that our communities existed, organized, loved, and fought back, and that we WILL keep doing all of those things.

The American Library Association turns 150 this year. We're honored to bring San Diego's story, and the San Diego-Tijuana region's story, into this space!

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)

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🏳️‍🌈 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)

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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Water4Life Ministry
PO Box 23361

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