Gay Men's Press

Gay Men's Press was a publisher 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, releasing at least 300 titles. The book business had been unwelcoming to LGBT writers, publishing only those works of a homosexual 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 and '' Mother Clap's Molly House'' by Rictor Norton, as well as meeting the AIDS epidemic 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 (before its abolition by Margaret Thatcher). 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''. This prompted the introduction of the Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which forbade the " promotion of homosexuality" by local government, The article notes the then-current notoriety of the book. after the ''Daily Mail'', 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.

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.

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

External Links

Full list of GMP publications

Notes and references

1979 establishments in the United Kingdom
2006 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Gay male literature
Gay men's organizations
LGBT book publishing companies
LGBT literature in the United Kingdom
Defunct LGBT organisations in the United Kingdom
Publishing companies established in 1979
Publishing companies disestablished in 2006

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