Gay Men's Press was a

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

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 LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and ...

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

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

writers, publishing only those works of a homosexual nature deemed suitable for mainstream readers. Authors such as

David Rees David or Dai Rees may refer to: Entertainment * David Rees (author) (1936–1993), British children's author * Dave Rees (born 1969), American drummer for SNFU and Wheat Chiefs * David Rees (cartoonist) (born 1972), American cartoonist and televis ...

, 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 Rictor Norton (born 1945) is an American writer on literary and cultural history, particularly queer history. He is based in London, England. Biography Norton was born in Friendship, New York, USA, on June 25, 1945. He gained a BA from Flo ...

, 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 Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

). 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 Societal attitudes toward homosexuality vary greatly across different cultures and historical periods, as do attitudes toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in general. All cultures have their own values regarding appropriate and ina ...

" 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 Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

-controlled

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

. 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, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

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 and Gothic and ho ...

, 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 {{UK-publish-company-stub