Gay Men's Press was a publisher of books based in London, United Kingdom. The company published from 1979 until 2006.[1]
Launched in 1979, the publisher was a welcome company for gay writers attempting to get published. The book business had been unwelcoming to such writers, publishing only works of a homosexual nature where they were felt to have a literary provenance.[1] The company published the children's book Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin in 1983. The book prompted the introduction of the Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988[2], which forbade the "promotion" of homosexuality by local government,[3] after the Daily Mail, a tabloid newspaper, reported that a copy of the book was provided in the library of a school run by the left-wing, Labour-controlled Inner London Education Authority.
The company closed in 2006 because of dwindling sales, caused in part by a lack of exposure in the big chain bookstores.[1]