Gay and Lesbian Education Fund records

The Gay and Lesbian Education Fund was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1980. Originally called the Gay Activists Alliance Education Fund, an offshoot of the Gay Activists Alliance, the organization's mission was to secure full rights and privileges for gays by educating heterosexual American citizens about gay concerns. The founding members of the organization were Harvey Yampolsky, Mayo Lee, Delores Cole, Alberto Bastida, Aundrea Scott, Vince Turner, Alexa Freeman, Michael Waters and Tom Ainora. GALEF located its registered office at 1469 Church St. NW. Melvin Boozer, one of the incorporators of GALEF's by-laws and president of the Gay Activists Alliance, was the initial registered agent at this address. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, GALEF took part in and supported various projects to help further their ideals. A few of these projects were aimed at the college student population at campuses such as George Washington, Georgetown and American University.

In the early 1990s, the organization was involved in a highly visible and controversial Metro advertising campaign. The campaign was intended to create awareness that homosexuals were also people with families. The controversy was centered on how the ads were presented with the use of derogatory terminology used perhaps for shock value and to demonstrate the hurt people may feel when those terms are used to refer to them.

By the mid-1990s, GALEF was continuing its practice of supporting individuals or groups with projects that helped further the crusade for equal rights for gays.