Important People

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was made up of passionate activists whose work built the foundation for its successes. These individuals' stories tell us the broader narrative of the Caucus, and we gain a better understanding of the organization's challenges and triumphs through their experiences. Here are some of the key players that worked to advance LGBT rights in Central PA through and with the Caucus (and we recognize that this list is by no means exhaustive and many more were influential in the fight for gay rights in Pennsylvania).

Governor Milton Shapp

Source: Gay Era.

Milton J. Shapp was Pennsylvania’s 40th Governor serving from January 19th, 1971 to January 16th, 1979. He was an outspoken, Jewish democrat originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Born Milton Shapiro, he changed his last name to Shapp over concerns of antisemitism. Governor Shapp continuously involved himself in political and social issues but began his career founding a cable television equipment company which he later sold in 1966. According to the National Governor’s Association, during John F. Kennedy’s presidency, Governor Shapp wrote him a memo that was said to be the inspiration for the establishment of the Peace Corps. Before his successful election into office, many, including his predecessor David L. Lawrence, believed Shapp to be unqualified for the job, considering he had never held official political office previously. Shapp ran an unsuccessful campaign for President of the United States in 1976.

Governor Shapp proved a notable official, establishing not only the Pennsylvania State Lottery but also the Pennsylvania Council for Sexual Minorities. This Council for Sexual Minorities, one of the first governmental organizations of its kind, was established by Governor Shapp in 1974 with the objective to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, and later Governor Dick Thornburgh used this council at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic for instituting policies and research into prevention and awareness. The Rural Gay Caucus was established from the Council in order to bring to light more issues of the rural gay community instead of focusing solely on larger cities, such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

“Milton Jerrold Shapp.” National Governors Association, 2022. https://www.nga.org/governor/milton-jerrold-shapp/.
University of Pittsburgh. “Center for LGBT Health Research: Center History.” Center for LGBT Health Research | University of Pittsburgh Center for LGBT Health Research, 2022. https://pre.lgbthlres.pitt.edu/center-history/.

Sam Deetz

Sam Deetz on Gay Lobby Day, Dickinson College Archives and Special collections.

Samuel Deetz was born in Quakertown, Pennsylvania in 1951. He became a strong advocate in the Susquehanna Valley Gays United (SGVU), and also instrumental in organizing and arranging meetings in order for other gay and lesbians groups to blossom within their own communities. He was one of the founding members of the PA Rural Gay Caucus and was instrumental in organizing the first Gay Education Day in Harrisburg.

Anthony Silvestre

Anthony Silvestre. LGBT-074 Anthony Silvestre Collection. LGBT History Project, Archives & Special Collections at Waidner-Spahr Library, Dickinson College.

Anthony Silvestre was born in 1946 in the Bronx, New York. He was introduced to the gay rights movement while studying at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, and Penn State. He was elected president of Homophiles of Penn State, and went on to serve as chair for the Pennsylvania Council on Sexual Minorities, as well as a leader in the PA Rural Gay Caucus. Some of the causes he has been passionate about include serving LGBTQ+ youth, which he accomplished while working with the state department of Children and Youth Services, and HIV/AIDS activism, which led him to serve in one of the first community advisory boards on HIV.
In the PA Rural Gay Caucus, he helped to organize Gay Lobby Day. He worked with Spencer Cox, head of the Philadelphia Branch of the ACLU, recalling the “discretion” he employed in their lobbying efforts. He observes of his experience with Gay Lobby Day that “no matter how rural or conservative the district, the members of the legislature [...] were always very responsive and supportive.” He attributes this responsiveness to the national social context of the 70s, in which “there was a lot of movement in the country and even in the state, in support of various commissions and issues related to feminism and even gay rights so we didn’t surprise them [members of the legislature].”

With his background in LGBT activism in PA colleges, Silvestre noted a connection between the Rural Gay Caucus and college LGBTQ+ organizations. He recalls that many of these groups were “inspired” by the Governor’s Council and Rural Gay Caucus to form in their own groups on campuses. “Many members of the council themselves,” he asserts, were faculty members and through this position were able to provide crucial support and assistance to these organizations. Their connection to the state government gave them leverage to campaign the State Department of Education to issue protections for LGBTQ+ students and faculty members.
LGBT Oral History 107. LGBT History Project, Archives & Special Collections at Waidner-Spahr Library, Dickinson College.

Joe Burns

Bari Weaver (left), Sam Deetz (middle), and Joseph W. Burns (right) at dinner - circa 1988. LGBT-001 Joseph W. Burns Collection. LGBT History Project, Archives & Special Collections at Waidner-Spahr Library, Dickinson College.

Joe Burns has been active in LGBTQ+ marches, organizations, and protests from the 60s through to the 80s and 90s. Through his involvement in such Rural Gay Caucus groups as the Gay Coordinating Society of Berks County and Le-Hi-Ho, he participated in an attempt to pass a gay rights ordinance for the Lehigh Valley area through the Human Rights Commission. Unfortunately, it appeared that the area was not yet ready for such a measure, and this attempt failed. As Burns recalls, the city solicitor made a judgment that gay rights were “not legal in the state” and “exceed[ed] the authority” of the Human Rights Commission.

He emphasizes the importance of intersectionality within the LGBTQ+ movement and respecting the voices of women and people of color, and speaks at length about how his experiences in central Rural Gay Caucus activism, especially in the Gay Coordinating Society of Berks County, deepened his admiration for female leaders in the community. He recalls being guided by a maxim repeated by Dixie White, president of Pennsylvania NOW: “Don’t put in today’s world what you don’t want in tomorrow’s world.” As for the Coordinating Society of Berks County, Burns notes that it was unusually gender-balanced for its time, observing that “at times, there were more women than there were men, and that was pretty rare, in those days.” His memories reveal that although there was an awkwardness produced by the differences between gay men and lesbians, including lesbians’ more pronounced differentiation into the categories “butch” or “femme,” but ultimately it appears that these differences were productive, leading to learning opportunities for both groups.
LGBT Oral History 12A: Joseph W. Burns. LGBT History Project, Archives & Special Collections at Waidner-Spahr Library, Dickinson College.

Mary Nancarrow

Mary Nancarrow at the First Community Recognition Banquet hosted at Miss Garbo's Tea Room in Carlisle, PA in 1992. LGBT-007 Dan Miller Collection. Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.

Mary Nancarrow was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus and was very active in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. She was born in Penbrook, Harrisburg in 1951. She attended Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg Universtiy), before returning to Harrisburg in the 1970s. She cited her first experience being discriminated against as when her landlord in Shippensburg informed her that she was no longer welcome because of her relationship with her partner. She stated that life in rural Pennsylvania was a perpetual state of “being in the closet,” because one would face social persecution if they showed any indication that they were gay. From this, she explained, emerged the creation of the Rural Gay Caucus, which would try to raise awareness of the gay community as well as provide a space to collect stories from those facing discrimination which they hoped would influence the Human Relations Act. Mary later went on to join the staff of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and became president of the Pennsylvania state chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

LGBT Oral History 84A: Mary Nancarrow. LGBT History Project, Archives & Special Collections at Waidner-Spahr Library, Dickinson College.