Name/TitleBadge: Boston lambda
About this objectRound pin badge with cream background bearing the name 'BOSTON' combined with the lambda symbol, all in purple. Obtained by the donor at a demonstration in Boston, Massachusetts in 1974 or 1975.
Date Made1974-75
Period1970s
Place MadeUSA, Massachusetts
Medium and MaterialsInorganic, metal and plastic
MeasurementsDia: 38 mm
Subject and Association KeywordsLGBTQ+
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_symbols:
In 1970, graphic designer Tom Doerr selected the lower-case Greek letter lambda (λ) to be the symbol of the New York chapter of the Gay Activists Alliance. The alliance's literature states that Doerr chose the symbol specifically for its denotative meaning in the context of chemistry and physics: "a complete exchange of energy–that moment or span of time witness to absolute activity". The lambda became associated with Gay Liberation, and in December 1974, it was officially declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. The gay rights organization Lambda Legal and the American Lambda Literary Foundation derive their names from this symbol.
Object TypeBadge
Object numberGWL-2023-20-7
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved