GLAD Launches 30th Anniversary Website and Podcast Series on LGBT Legal History

First up: “Bryant, Byrne, and the BPL – The Sick, The Bad, The Ugly”

January 15, 2008 -- Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders today launched its 30th anniversary website (www.glad.org/30years), featuring the first in a series of podcasts on cutting edge lawsuits from the group’s archives.

Each month during 2008 GLAD will highlight a precedent-setting case that helped change the lives of LGBT people throughout the country.  Through online histories, archival materials, press clippings, videos, historical photos, monthly case profiles, and live events, GLAD will pay tribute to people whose courage and determination have advanced the fight for equal justice under law. And in monthly podcasts listeners can hear stories from that fight in the voices of the history-makers.

The first podcast, “Byrant, Byrne and the BPL – The Sick, The Bad, The Ugly” revisits the events surrounding a 1978 bathroom sting operation at the Boston Public Library, including protests, court cases, and the founding of GLAD.  Of 103 men arrested in the sting, only one was convicted -- and the conviction was later overturned.  GLAD founder John Ward worked on many of the criminal cases resulting from the arrests, and GLAD itself filed a civil suit (Doe v. McNiff) against the city on behalf of one of the men arrested.

The podcasts will be rolled out on the 15th of every month. Listeners can download podcasts and subscribe to the entire series at http://www.glad.org/30years/podcasts.html.

GLAD thanks The History Project for use of archival material that will appear on the website throughout the year.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)  is New England’s leading legal organization dedicated to eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity & expression.