The sol-gel process is a solution synthesis technique which provides a low temperature chemical route for the preparation of rigid transparent matrix materials. The luminescent organic dye molecules, rhodamine 6G and coumarin 540A have been incorporated, via the sol-gel method, into aluminosilicate and organically modified silicate host matrices. Synthesis, laser oscillation and photostability for these systems are reported. The improved photostability of these materials with respect to comparable polymeric host materials is discussed.