The Gay Academic Union (GAU) was a group of LGBT academics who aimed at making the academia more amenable to the LGBT community in the United States.
[4] Members included Martin Duberman,[5] Bertha Harris, Karla Jay, Jonathan Dunn-Rankin, John D'Emilio, Joan Nestle, Jonathan Ned Katz, Barbara Gittings,[4] George Whitmore, Andrea Dworkin, Dawn M. Atkins and Michael Lynch.
[4] Martin Duberman remembers that lesbians were often discriminated against by other white male homosexuals.
Co-founders Joan Nestle, Deborah Edel, Sahli Cavallo, Pamela Oline, and Julia Stanley wanted to ensure that the stories of the lesbian community were protected for future generations.
By 1975, many radicals had left the group and conferences were moved to Los Angeles, although Wayne R. Dynes and others stayed in New York.