Acknowledgements

The Tucson Gay Museum a.k.a. Tucson LGBT Museum and Tucson LGBTQ Museum is dedicated to all those of the Tucson LGBT Community that have come before,

are here now, and will take our places in the future of Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.

The Tucson Gay Museum®© expresses its perpetual gratitude to the many organizations and individuals who have and or continue to assist, advise, make available, provide(d) services, provided interviews, donated collections, and or share(d) articles, photo's, videos, memorabilia, archives, collections, artifacts, memorabilia, technology, and other items. Many heartfelt thanks to: The Library of Congress, National Archives, U.S. Navy, The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation, U.S. Army, Smithsonian, San Francisco GLBT Museum, U.S. Air Force, Getty Museum, the Harvey Milk Collection, Archivo Histórico Nacional-Spain, Tucson Trust, Tucson Gay Historical Society, Arizona Historical Society, Archivo General de la Nación-Mexico, The New Paper, Arizona Pioneers Society, Tucson Historical Society, Seattle Gay News, Look Magazine, Wikipedia,Tucson LGBT Historical Society, Puerto Peñasco Chamber of Commerce, State of Arizona Archives - Phoenix, Arizona Gay Newsletter, Pima County Library, Office Max, Pima County Law Library, Tucson GLBT Chamber of Commerce, Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Tucson Observer, Clarion, Tombstone Epitaph, Vector, New York Times, National Weather Service, Pride of Arizona, National Women's History Museum, The Post, Office of the Surgeon General, Movietone News, Harvey Milk, Arizona State Museum,Old Pueblo Trust, Gibson's Office Supply, University of Arizona Library, Jonathan Marks Foundation, Tucson Shanti Foundation, Federal Bureau of Investigations, City of Tucson, I.A.T.S.E. Local 415M, Beth, Central Intelligence Agency, Old Tucson Studios, Jack Stockslager, Wingspan, University Of Arizona Law Library, Hohokam Indians of the Tucson Basin, Microsoft Corporation, Los Angeles Times, Tucson Gas & Electric Company Archives, Police Chief Magazine, Tucson Knight Owls, Tucson Water of Life Metropolitan Church, Public Broadcasting Service, Margo Leigh, San Xavier del Bac Mission Archives, Tucson Citizen, Kreiss Trust, Moose,Tucson Gay News, Arizona Cine, Center For Disease Control, Davis-Monthan Field Register, Ma Finley, American Broadcasting Corporation, Monte-Jon Gilmer, Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, Flo, City of Tucson Archives, Pima County Recorders Office, Bill Morrow, Speedway Studio, Tucson Histories & Mysteries, Daily Wildcat, Skeeter, The Loft Cinema, Evon Photography, Center For Desert Archaeology, Beacon Foundation, University of Arizona Special Collections, Gary Neil Clark, Tucson Gay Historical Society, Facebook, Peg Price, Andy Warhol Museum, Tucson Weekly, Cindy, Ernie Perez, Columbia Broadcasting System, Cornerstone Church, National Archives and Records Administration, Tucson Aids Project, You Tube, Desert Magazine, Bookmans Tucson, Maurice Grossman, National Broadcasting Corporation, Fausto, The Walker Estate, Phoenix LGBT Museum, Arizona Daily Star, Wayne Blankenship, Old Pueblo Archeology, Evergreen Cemetery, Tucson LGBT Magazine, Sisters of Sonora, Tucson Gay News, Pima County Court System, Journal Of Arizona History, Western Express, Desert Leathermen, Happy Days, POZ Magazine, Life Magazine, Jerry Curl Memorial Foundation, Dawn Miller, Candi Trowbridge, Phoenix Gay Museum, 1 In 10, EON Youth Group, Snap-It Photography & Video, Steve Risley, Partners, Kevin Hillman, the Colorado Kid, Armory Park Historical Archives, Lance Penny, The Garcia Estate, Tucson Insiders, Old Pueblo Project, Puppet Muzik, Tony Bucci, Look Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, Bill F. Finley, Terry Blue Productions Studios, Pueblo Studios, Rene, George Rederus, Bob Ellis, So Fonda Cox, Granny, John Hasse, U.S. Census Bureau, Michael Bennett, Wall Street Journal, Vanna, Professor Douglas Nielson, Rage Monthly Magazine, Pima County Sheriffs Department, Steve Hall, Indian Agency Archives Washington D.C., Bella Azbug Library, Joseph Johnston Collection, Mark Norwoodsen, Black History Museum, Sheldon Estate, Doc Hayes, Gertrude Stein Collection, Steven Ochoa lll, Dr. Eleazar Garcia M.D., Stonewall National Museum & Archives, Janee Starr, Jose Salcedo, Don Stewart, Philip Arthur Walsted, Don, Les Elliot, Victor A. Jr., Larry Moore, James Gordon, Arizona Archeological and Historical Society, Jack, Mendoza Trust, Beyond Video, Paul, State of Sonora Mexico, Chinese Historical Association, Romero Ruins Archives, Dennis Davis Memorial Foundation, Wild Billy D, National Park Service, Fort Lowell Military Archives, Esteban Oscuna, Mark D., Mendez Collection, Roberto, Out History, Marcy S., The Directory, Larry C., Hoover Library, Ray Red Spider, Ernie Freuler, Oscar Jiménez, Ricky B., Mr. Cool, Stan (Stan The Man) Phalp, Mandy Bartow, OUTWEST TV Tucson, Access Tucson, EMI Music, Tucson Tilly, Casa De Los Niños, Rainbow Marriage, Kathy G., Mrs. Loretta Wilson Foundation,The Conway Estate, Samantha Gardner, Steve Quintanilla, DJ Raynman, Briones Estate, Professor 'A', Phil, Bobbi S., Dinah Frost, Luis  Castañeda-Christina De Alexis, Jessie C., Scott Blades, TIHAN, David Zinke, Alex Lopez, Lucinda Holliday, Di Vi, Dr. Jonathan B. Hartman, Paco Valez, Puertas Abiertas, William 'Billy' Cronce, Louis Carlos Greer, Anne Celeste Schmitt, Seattle Gay News, Western Express Historical Foundation, Guide Star Project, Kauffman Estate, Victoria Reyes, Kaye Brown, Sheldon Collection, countless others who wished to remain anonymous, and literally hundreds of others who made this historical effort possible.       

The Final Reunion Of The Boys In Memory of José, Butch, Richard, Estevan, Carl, Aurelio, Jimmy, Lorenzo, Dennis, Thomas,  Pinky, Santos, Freddie, Quickie, and The Others ....R.I.P.

The LGBT materials archiving effort which spanned almost fifty (50) years and would later result in the opening of the World's First All Virtual LGBT (Gay) Museum began out in a Tucson dirt street neighborhood by some 'freedom loving and enlightened local boys' in 1967 under the backdrop of the War In Viet Nam (1), Rock & Roll Developing Into Heavy Metal, Sexual Liberation Free Sex, LSD and Dr. Timothy O'Leary, Tuning In Dropping Out And Turning On, The Word Homosexual Being Replaced By The Word Gay, Race Riots in the United States, Rebellion Against The Established Order (1) (2), Anti Vietnam War Protests and Bombings at university's including the University of Arizona (1) (2) (3), Police Suppression of Citizens Rights And Police Brutality, and probably more adults wearing Stetson Western Hats in Tucson than there were Golf Courses located across the entire United States.

  By the early 1970's a Historical Trust had been set up and turned over to a large West Coast Institutions Trust Department to perpetuate the original concept museum effort at a future time when the then young men thought the social conditions, citizens civil rights, and most importantly technology might be right to reveal such a LGBT Historical Collection to the World. 'It Will Never Be About Us, It Will Be About The Collections," was the unanimous feeling of the boys when they first originally made their pact to gather and save Gay Related Items. As time passed they inherited and collected scrapbooks, private and other historical collections, phone books, newspapers, manuscripts, photos and negatives, 8mm movies, 4 and 8 track audio cassettes, audio and video cassettes, collections, event programs, memorabilia, and numerous other items of both Tucson and beyond's Gay and Straight History with some items dating back to the 1699 arrival of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino by horseback without the use of a saddle. In September of 2011 the opening of the Tucson LGBT Museum was first announced to the World in an exclusive article by the Tucson Observer Publication located in Tucson, Arizona. Soon the remaining founders realized the use of ever growing letter and possibly numerical combinations to identify the museum and its collections would not be sustainable, and the name was changed back to its original idea the boys had in 1967, and those three (3) letters of the alphabet that so many over the years had been bullied, injured, or died while being called by their attackers, or while they proudly chanted while fighting for their basic civil and human rights..."Gay."

What followed was the completion of the initial effort to digitize the Museum's Archives Collections which had started and continued on a 14 hour per day, 365 days per year highly dedicated and focused fast track schedule. Over time some of the museum's founders moved away from the area for their various reasons, got married having children and grandchildren, died in the service of their country, succumbed to the AIDS/HIV Epidemic of the early 1980's, went through the aging process, and their numbers including those remaining in Tucson dwindled from their passing.

The Tucson Gay Historical Society was envisioned in the 1960's by the boys and was often used as the secret password for their project. It was organized to be a grassroots individual effort with everyone in the LGBT community along with their allies being a 'Good Will Ambassador' to promote the existence of the Tucson Gay Museum to future generations in Tucson, across the United States, and around the World.

Visit The Tucson Gay Historical Society Here

Publication of names, photos, exhibits, manuscripts, artifacts, memorabilia of any person or organization in the TUCSON GAY MUSEUM a.k.a. Tucson LGBT Museum and Tucson LGBTQ Museum is not to be construed as indication of the sexual orientation of such person(s), organization(s), advertisers, or any employees thereof.