The Leroy Aarons papers are made up of materials concerning Aarons work on the Study of Sexual Orientation in the News (SOIN) Project, his work as a journalist, his work as a playwright and author, and his time as an educator at the University of Southern California (USC).

The collection holds drafts, research, notes, articles and clippings, programs, audiovisual recordings, and ephemera related to many of his books and plays, with particular focus on his book "Prayers for Bobby" and his play/radio show "Top Secret: the Battle for the Pentagon Papers."

There are documents and records surrounding Aarons work as a journalist, including an comprehensive collection of articles written by Aarons for the Washington Post; articles written for other publications; programs, correspondence, newsletters, and other documents related to Aarons' founding of and work with the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NGJLA); and grant documents, financial records, correspondence and e-mail, notes, published reports, organizational membership lists, publicity documents, survey and content audit forms, clipped and copied articles, lecture drafts, course syllabi, journalism teaching resources, subject files, 3.5 inch floppy disks, and other material, 1890 to 2003, documenting journalist Leroy Aarons' tenure as director of the University of Southern California Annenberg Journalism School's Project for the Study of Sexual Orientation in the News (SOIN), from 1999-2003.

The collection also includes photographs and documents of Aarons' childhood and family and photographs of Aarons and his life partner, as well as letters, photographs, articles, and ephemera from Aarons memorial.