Lambda

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Lambda, Inc. was a gay rights organization founded in Birmingham in 1977. Between 1978 and 1988 the group operated a community center, published the Alabama Forum newsletter and lobbied the City of Birmingham on behalf of the gay and lesbian community.

The group was never on secure financial footing. When its tax-free status was challenged by the Internal Revenue Service it reorganized, in 1983, as an educational group and ceased its lobbying efforts. A political action committee, PRO-PAC was launched shortly after the group's reorganization. Also in the mid-1980s the Forum newsletter became a self-sufficient statewide publication.

In the late 1980s Lambda took the lead in educating the public about AIDS/HIV and the need for preventive and social services to counter the spread of the disease and its dangers to the community at large. Lambda was an early sponsor of Birmingham AIDS Outreach as well as several other initiatives which survived its decline as an active group. Among those are the Birmingham Pride Committee, Metropolitan Community Church.

References

  • Bailey, Robert W. (1999) "The Political Organization of Sexual Identity in Birmingham, Alabama", chapter 7 of Gay Politics, Urban Politics: Identity and Economics in the Urban Setting. (pp. 179-214) New York, New York: Columbia University Press ISBN 0231096623