Events and Education
Cheryl Parham, 1987-1989 president of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore, was an activist who fought for civil rights and advocated for the LGBT community. In 1988 Baltimore City Council passed the legislation that Ms. Parham advocated for in the 1980s. City Ordinance 79 prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Learn more about Baltimore and LGBTQ community relations with this 1991 Baltimore Sun article: "Gay people drawn to Baltimore by its reputation for tolerance." Baltimore Sun.
In 1989, Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke formed a Task Force on Gay and Lesbian Issues in order identify and make recommendations regarding how the city government would implement anti-discriminatory practices.
Interested in learning more about the Baltimore City Justice Campaign and Baltimore's anti-discrimination policies? Check out the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights Records (R0168-OCR), University of Baltimore Special Collections & Archives.
The Maryland State AIDS Control Administration was created under Public Health Services in 1987. It became the AIDS Administration in 1988. In July 2009, the state agency was combined with the Community Health Administration to form Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration.
Paul Pasternak head of an outreach division at the state AIDS Administration is shown here providing educational resources in 1988.
The AIDSWalk is a walkathon fundraiser that raises money to combat the AIDS epidemic. The fundraising walk began in 1988 and was organized by the Health Education Resource Organization, or HERO.
Learn more about AIDSWALK with this 1993 Baltimore Sun article:
"Thousands join AIDSWALK Fund-raising event began in 1988."
Read about the Health Education Resource Organization (HERO) with Baltimore Heritage:
“Medical Arts Building and the Health Education Resource Organization (HERO)."
The AIDS Interfaith Network of Baltimore formed in 1985 as a multi-demoninational response to the AIDS epidemic with a focus on health and healing for the community. This document from the Baltimore Neighborhoods Incorporated Records at Special Collections & Archives summarizes the Network's position in support of creating a seperate hospice facility for individuals dying of AIDS in the Baltimore area. The document lists a number of reasons for a seperate hospice facility and provides a window into the discussion in the mid-1980s.
View the document in the reader to the right, or click on the link below to visit the individual item in a larger format.
Vickii Vox won MissGay Mid-Atlantic America in 1987 and Miss Gay Maryland America in 1988. Miss Gay America is a national pageant for drag queens that was established in 1972. You can learn more about Vickii Vox and the pageant with ourcommunityroots.com
Read More:
- Ordinance 79 (Council No. 187) An Ordinance Concerning Discriminatory Practices: for the purpose of prohibiting certain discriminatory practices against persons because of sexual orientation in employment, public accommodations, education, and health and welfare services (1988). Found in Ordinances and resolutions of the mayor of the City of Baltimore (1988). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Maryland Libraries.
- Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights Records (R0168-OCR), University of Baltimore Special Collections & Archives.
- Winston, Diane. (1991 April 14). "Gay people drawn to Baltimore by its reputation for tolerance." Baltimore Sun.
- Hirsch, Arthur. (1993 June 7) "Thousands join AIDSWALK Fund-raising event began in 1988." Baltimore Sun.
- Richard Oloizia, “Medical Arts Building and the Health Education Resource Organization (HERO),” Explore Baltimore Heritage, accessed June 2021.