The Gay Peoples Union Collection

The Gay Peoples Union Collection at the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. "...The Gay Peoples Union (GPU) was the most important gay and lesbian rights organization in Milwaukee during the 1970s. Beginning as a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the group gradually became a resource for the entire Milwaukee community. Taking distance from the radical politics of the New Left, GPU adopted a politically moderate approach to social change, emphasizing education and legal reform. It actively embraced mainstream and alternative media outlets in order to educate the general public about homosexuality. GPU also took a leadership role in building an infrastructure for the emerging local gay and lesbian community. It established Milwaukee's first gay and lesbian community center, operated a telephone counseling service and a venereal disease examination center, and organized a legal defense committee to assist gays and lesbians with paying for legal representation. The organization faded in importance by the early 1980s, although it continues to exist today."