Q Archives: A Pittsburgh Queer History

Since 1973, Pittsburgh LGBTQ publications have served as a community resource connecting and building a community for queer Pittsburghers and preserving a history that is often overlooked. Many look back on these print publications with fond memories of how they found themselves, their friends & families, and celebrated their queer identities. But virtually NONE of these publications and their archives of photos are available to easily view by the general public and very few copies remain of the publications from the 70’s and 80’s. Let’s change that!


Thanks to a generous and trusting contribution from Tony and Ed Molnar-Strejcek, QBurgh  has received a large archive of EVERY ISSUE of Pittsburgh Gay News (1973), Gay Life Pittsburgh (1977), and Pittsburgh's Out (1979 - 2012, in varying formats). 30 boxes and tubs of over 500 issues! View a sample of the collection here!

In addition to the archive of newspapers and magazines, several boxes of photographs from important, historic, LGBTQ Pittsburgh events, people, and places were included. Photos from:

- The March on Washington
- The Lambda Awards & Galas
- The Summer LGBTQ Picnics (Memorial Day, 4th of July, & Labor Day)
- The earliest Pittsburgh Prides
- Mr. Pittsburgh
- Mr. Buns
- Mr. & Ms. Pittsburgh Leather
- Three Rivers Cruises
- Pegasus
- Drag Queens
- The Steel City Softball League
- New York, New York
- Players
- The Holiday
- Auntie Mame's
- Jazi's
- And many, many, many more!

These photographs and magazines need to be preserved to celebrate the queer history of Pittsburgh and made available for easy viewing to the general public.

Introducing the Q Archives, a queer history preservation project of QBurgh.


The Q Archives will be an easily accessible web portal on the QBurgh website to easily view and search through these historic magazines and photographs. The archive will be available to anyone with an internet connection at any time, not just at occasional events and exhibits or to those with access to curated collections or academia. We have put together a small sample of what the Q Archives has to offer!



What will this GoFundMe pay for?

To make this collection available to everyone is a massive and expensive undertaking. This GoFundMe will provide the necessary funds to:

- Sort and catalogue the collection.
- The equipment to digitize.
- The labor to scan and digitize the archive.
- Develop and create the web platform to view the materials.
- Research to properly identify and label people, places and events.
- Monthly fees to properly store and maintain the collection in climate controlled, dry storage in the proper bins to maintain the integrity of the over 40-year-old material. 


When completely digitize, the Q Archives will be the most comprehensive exhibition of the queer history of Pittsburgh available online at any time to the general public.

Please consider contributing to our GoFundMe! Thank you!