Gay Men's Press was a

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

of books based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1979, the imprint was run until 2000 by its founders, then until 2006 by Millivres Prowler.

Overview

Launched in 1979 by Aubrey Walter, David Fernbach, and Richard Dipple, GMP, as it became known, was a pioneer publisher for the

gay community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individua ...

, releasing at least 300 titles. The book business had been unwelcoming to

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

writers, publishing only those works of a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

nature deemed suitable for mainstream readers. Authors such as David Rees, Tom Wakefield, and Mike Seabrook could now reach an audience with fiction about contemporary gay life. Gay Men's Press also published a range of non-fiction books, including acclaimed titles such as ''Homosexuality in Renaissance England'' by

Alan Bray Alan Bray (13 October 1948 – 25 November 2001) was a British historian and gay rights activist. He was a Roman Catholic and had a particular interest in Christianity's relationship to homosexuality. Early life Bray was born in Hunslet, Leeds, ...

and '' Mother Clap's Molly House'' by Rictor Norton, as well as meeting the

AIDS epidemic The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

of the 1980s with a number of self-help books. Its Gay Modern Classics series provided a format for reissuing many earlier works by homosexual authors, and a Gay Verse series was made possible by a grant from the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(before its abolition by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

). Art and photography was a regular part of the list, later separated out as Editions Aubrey Walter. In 1983 Gay Men's Press published the children's book ''

Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin ''Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin'', originally ''Mette bor hos Morten og Erik'', is a black-and-white picture book by the Danish author Susanne Bösche, published in 1981 in Danish and in 1983 by Gay Men's Press. It was perhaps the first Eng ...

''. This prompted the introduction of the Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which forbade the " promotion of homosexuality" by local government, after the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', a tabloid newspaper, reported that a copy of the book was provided in the library of a school run by the left-wing, Labour-controlled

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was the local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. From 1965 to 1986 it was an ad hoc committee of the Greater London Co ...

. In 1997, the publication published ''Dares to Speak''. With the death of Richard Dipple in 1991, and increasing mainstream competition, GMP experienced financial problems, leading to the Gay Men's Press imprint being transferred in 2000 to Millivres Prowler, who closed the list in 2006 because of dwindling sales, caused in part by a lack of exposure in the big chain

bookstores Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

Valancourt Books Valancourt Books is an independent American publishing house founded by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle in 2005. The company specializes in "the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction", in particular gay titles, Gothic novels a ...

, an independent American publishing house founded in 2005, has reprinted many works last reissued in the 1980s in GMP's Gay Modern Classics series.

Notes and references

External links

Full list of GMP publications
1979 establishments in the United Kingdom 2006 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Gay culture in the United Kingdom Gay male literature Gay men's organizations LGBTQ book publishing companies LGBTQ literature in the United Kingdom Defunct LGBTQ organisations in the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1979 Publishing companies disestablished in 2006 {{UK-publish-company-stub