The fourth issue in the Queer Materials series “G/L PEN,” documents the history of the Gay/Lesbian Postal Employees Network founded in the Twin Cities in 1992. Including newsletters, photographs, flyers, correspondence, and more, this issue shares a tightly curated snippet of G/L PEN’s postal activism and its growth into an organization with chapters across the nation. This issue of Queer Materials marks an expansion from a focus on Iowa to a focus on Minnesota as the series seeks to traverse the Midwest through queer archives in the region.

From the title page– Queer Materials is an invitation to experience a snippet of LGBTQ archival materials found in throughout the Midwest. Curated from archives within the region, the goal of Queer Materials is to place a folder of archival materials into the hands of those who care to learn, know, and hold onto the Midwest’s queer past. I believe access and use of archival materials is a primary way to find evidence of the minutiae of queer life in Midwest and the truth that our community has always existed in this place. I encourage you to visit the broader collection(s) these materials are reproduced from to sift through our shared history.