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Documenting LGBT American Indian Organizing

Regarded as the first organization of its kind, Gay American Indians (GAI) was established in San Francisco in 1975 at the height of gay liberation. Founded by Barbara Cameron (1954-2002) and Randy Burns, GAI initially was a social club for queer American Indians who often felt unwelcome in the LGBTQ community due to prejudice and in American Indian organizations due to homophobia. The group went on to reclaim tribal traditions honoring two-spirit people who embraced mixed gender identities and roles.

The archives of the GLBT Historical Society hold a small number of collections of organizational records and personal papers documenting GAI and other two-spirit groups and individuals. Among the most significant:

  • The Randy Burns Papers, with a sampling of materials from 1968 through 2002 reflecting Burns’ activism as well the work of GAI and other LGBTQ American Indian organizations across North America. Topics include initiatives to uncover two-spirit history and to respond to the AIDS crisis in American Indian communities.
  • The Gay American Indian Records, consisting primarily of materials related to academic conferences in the 1990s where two-spirit activists asserted their own histories and identities in opposition to perspectives anthropologists had imposed on them.

In addition, our Periodicals Collection includes a handful of scarce newsletters and zines reflecting American Indian experience, culture and organizing: B.A.A.I.T-S: Newsletter of the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (2000); Buffalo Hide (1993); Seasons: The Native American AIDS Prevention Center Quarterly (1989-1991); and Two-Spirit News (1996).

To learn more about the GLBT Historical Society’s collections on American Indians, search our online archives catalog. We’re committed to further documenting the history and culture of two-spirit people in Northern California; if you have materials you might wish to donate, email our managing archivist, Joanna Black.

Gerard Koskovich is communications director at the GLBT Historical Society.

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