{"value"=>"<p>The American Library Association's Task Force on Gay Liberation was founded by Israel Fishman in 1970 as part of the Social Responsibilities Round Table. The organization later changed its name to the Gay Task Force (ALA GTF). Although Barbara Gittings was not a librarian, she actively participated in the task force for sixteen years, fifteen of which she served as coordinator. Under Gittings' leadership, the task force challenged stereotypes and promoted positive images of gay men and lesbians through the creation, publication, and dissemination of library materials. They presented programs at the American Library Association's annual conferences, created the Gay Book Awards, and published gay bibliographies.</p> <p>This subseries is arranged into three sections: Correspondence, Bibliographies, and Subject files. Correspondence is from Task Force members, external organizations and authors, and from people requesting bibliographies. The majority of the material in this series is related to the research and production of gay bibliographies, and includes drafts, notes, and the final bibliographies. The subject files concern conferences, including the 1977 performance of Lahusen's skit, \"Flaming Fundamentalist Meets Football Faggot\" with papier-mâché hand puppets of Anita Byrant and David Kopay; gay book awards; Gittings' history of the Task Force entitled \"Gays in Library Land;\" the McConnell discrimination case; and changes to the cataloging of gay materials.</p>"}