This Black History Month, the GLBT Historical Society is highlighting a remarkable piece of Bay Area LGBTQ+ history from our Periodicals Collection, Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter.
Originally launched in 1982 as Black Lesbian Newsletter (later retitled Onyx), this San Francisco and Berkeley-based publication offered Black lesbian writers, artists, and organizers a vital space to speak for themselves at a time when their voices were often excluded from both mainstream media and predominantly white LGBTQ+ spaces. Published through 1984, the newsletter blended culture, politics, and community-building.
The issue displayed here, February–March 1984 (Vol. 3, No. 1), reflects the breadth and urgency of this work. It includes poetry, political reflections, book reviews, a community calendar, and classified listings alongside staff notes and calls for subscriptions and donations.
Standout pieces include “Journal Entry: Reminders” by Lucille Hunt (1984) and “Lesbianism Is a Reality” by Tania Abdulahad (1983), as well as a brief essay marking February as Black History Month.
This issue of Onyx is available as part of the GLBT Historical Society’s digital collections, thanks to digitization funding from the California State Library.
To explore this, and other Onyx issues—along with other collections—visit https://bit.ly/4akZ9mH
View this entire issue by following the QR code.
Community Treasures from the GLBT Historical Society Archives
Published on February 12, 2026
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