"Gaysweek."

Was New York City's first mainstream weekly lesbian and gay newspaper.It was founded by Alan Bell in 1977.Gaysweek began as an 8-page single-colored tabloid and when it ceased publication in 1979 after 104 issues,it had grown to a 24-page two-color publication.Its monthly arts supplement,"Gaysweek  Arts and Letters,"was edited by Byrne Fone.During its run,Gaysweek was one of only three gay weeklies in the world and the only mainstream gay publication owned by An African American.A portion of Gaysweek archieves are housed at Cornell University Library,Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.Althrough it was eventually granted Gaysweek's application to the U.S.Patent and Trademark  Office for registration of the Gaysweek trademark,was opposed by Newsweek,Inc.because,according to attorneys for the publication,they are similar "both phonetically and in apperance.Gaysweek made news brirfly in 2002, when the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston,in  relation to a lawsuit filled against it by the attorney of a man who accused Boston-based Father Paul Shanley of repeated rape,turned over a copy of the February 12,1979,issue of Gaysweek which included an article titled "men &boys"that described a meeting in Boston in which Paul defended a realtionship between a man and a boy.