This series documents the diversity of education outreach and programs initiated and endorsed by Billy DeFrank. Scholars interested in documenting AIDS research and HIV educational campaigns will find this series extremely valuable. This series consists of reference, research, and educational resources from conferences such as the Ryan White C.A.R.E. Act Title I Manual (U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Materials also include information on planning committees and task force coalitions such as the Lesbian Connection, Gay and Lesbian Directory for the Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators, and papers from The Lambda Association organization. The materials represented provide a snap-shot of the grassroots activism connecting it to the San Francisco LGBTQ+ community through photographs, political ephemera, press clippings, and other printed materials. The photographs document events such as the San José Rally and Gay Pride March and related campaigns. Included is an autographed picture of Joan Baez, a well known folk singer and prominent activist in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights.

The Billy DeFrank Center's activism is connected to the larger gay rights movement, which has a long history throughout California. LGBTQ+ social and political networking arrived on the Hollywood scene in the late 1940s through the prominent homophile organization that came be known as "The Mattachine Society". This reform movement was a dynamic concept and the brainchild of Harry Hay, an actor and music instructor. Hay is credited for framing this society as the "International Bachelors Fraternal Orders for Peace and Social Dignity". The consciousness of this group permeated Southern California and spread to the San Francisco Bay area. Eventually, chapters sprouted up nationwide, advocating legislative reform in the east coast and specifically in Washington D.C. By the 1970s the U.S. Civil Service amended the American Psychological Association definition of homosexuality, no longer delineated as a mental illness.