The history of GAMMA that is described in these pages is based on public media (e.g., The Washington Post, The Washington Blade) as well as documents that have been held over the years by a number of long time members of GAMMA. These include copies of Newsletters published by GAMMA between 1978 and 1999, written correspondence exchanged with organizations and individuals over the years, and many other types of documents. If anyone reading these pages has additional material that should be included in our archive, please use our contact page to bring them to our attention.
Our story begins with the November 1977 fire at the Cinema Follies Theater. A full accounting of that event can be read at the link.
A description of the aftermath of that fire and the events that led up to our first meeting in January can be found at the link: The First Meeting. A description of the activities of the organization in it's first year is at GAMMA's First Year.
After meeting in private homes for a number of months, GAMMA found its first permanent meeting space in the library of St Alban's Episcopal Church. For information, including photos, of all of our permanent meeting spots click Meeting Sites.
From even its first year, GAMMA held a series of Anniversary Parties. A description of those parties including images of documents (programs, photos, etc.) can be found at that link.
GAMMA Newsletters were initially used to be handed out at meetings to give members the schedule of upcoming GAMMA meetings as well as the schedule for closely allied groups such as, GAMMA Wives, Fathers Who are Gay, Parents Who Are Gay. As the newsletter got more sophisticated it included original cartoons, original poetry, essays, etc. The cartoons began with the June, 1984 issue. The first cartoons appeared under the title "Dupont Circus"; the cartoonist's name is never mentioned in the newsletters but these cartoons are signed by "DC". Later the name of the cartoons is changed to "GAMMATOONS". While some appear to be original art work, many appear to be clip art with clever captions. At one point, the caption was published after newsletter contest challenge.