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  • History of LGBTQ+ Bars
    • Bars of the 1950s & 1960s
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    • Harrisburg, PA
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    • York, PA
    • Bar Spotlights >
      • 400 N. 2nd Street, Harrisburg: Pre-Raids
      • Johnny Kobler's
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      • The Neptune Lounge
      • The Strawberry Inn
      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Bars of the 1970’s
      • Silhouette/D-Gem
      • Shadows
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      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Bars of the 1980’s
      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Bars of the 1990/2000’s
      • Village Tavern Night Club
      • Tally-Ho Tavern/ The Loft
      • Railroad House Bar
      • The Fiddler
      • Sundown Lounge
      • Altland’s Ranch
      • Town Tavern
      • 14 Karat Room
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    • What is the Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus? >
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Early LGBTQ+ ​Social Organizations

​Many LGBTQ+ people first met each other in social groups. The community they built would later mobilize for political organizing post-Stonewall and against the rise of HIV/AIDS. 

LGBTQ+ Nightlife

 "When I discovered bars, holy sh*t. That was one of the best things that ever happened to me."  
​
​
Robert Deibler (1)

Picture
Gay Era, February 1975. Courtesy of LGBT-001, DCA. (4)
One newspaper article described bars as the place to "experience the joys of Gay Sisterhood and Brotherhood." (2)  Ever since the 1930s, bars in Central PA served as havens for LGBTQ+ people.​

Unfortunately, in the 1960s and ‘70s, bar culture was "white male–dominated." (3) There was an expectation to wear conservative clothes and blend into straight crowds in order to avoid extra attention. In response, lesbian bars like the D-Gem opened. Many bars were still raided by police and shut down.

​​See a full timeline of these bars in our History of LGBTQ+ Bars in Central PA exhibit.

The "Legendary" Reading Picnics

Picture
Reading Spring Picnic Flyer, 1979, Courtesy of LGBT-001, Dickinson College Archives. (6)

Will Kratz and Vince Grimm hosted a series of picnics in Reading, PA from 1961 through 1979. ​Their picnics funded elaborate drag shows that reached over 600 people in attendance! (5)

​Crowds from across the East Coast came to the picnics to eat, drink, and watch drag performers, comedians, and variety acts.


LGBTQ+ residents of Central PA would often travel into the cities like Philadelphia and New York to find safety.

But the rural, isolated nature of Central PA also provided an escape for city-based LGBTQ+ people.

​At events like the Reading Picnics, it was possible to dress how you wished and be surrounded by LGBTQ+ people without fear of being caught.

But just socializing wasn't cutting it anymore.

​​"Sure, a lot of us are scared, but the system needs re-evaluating ​and its time to do it!" (7)​​​

Citations
  1. Bob Deibler, interviewed by Barry Loveland, 27, October, 2018, LGBT Oral History, LGBT History Project, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
  2. Gay Era, Newsletter, April 1977, LGBT-001 Joseph W. Burns Collection Periodicals Collection, LGBT History Project, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
  3. William Burton and Barry Loveland, Out in Central Pennsylvania: The History of an LGBTQ Community (University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press, 2020), 26.
  4. Gay Era, Newsletter, February 1975, LGBT-001 Joseph W. Burns Collection Periodicals Collection, LGBT History Project, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
  5. Burton and Loveland, Out in Central Pennsylvania, 35.
  6. Reading Spring Picnic Flyer, 1979, LGBT-001 Joseph W. Burns Collection, LGBT History Project, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
  7. Gay Era, Newsletter, February 1975, LGBT-001, LGBT History Project, Archives.
​​
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Harrisburg, PA 17110

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info@centralpalgbtcenter.org

© COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • The Long Road
    • Beginning >
      • Early Experiences
    • Philadelphia >
      • Philadelphia Part 2
    • Harrisburg >
      • Harrisburg Experiences
    • Lancaster >
      • Lancaster Experiences
    • York >
      • York Experiences
    • Allentown
    • Montgomery >
      • Montgomery Experiences
      • Montgomery Part 2
    • Work Continues >
      • Current Challenges
    • Acknowledgments
  • With Open Hearts & Open Arms
    • Gay LIfe in Pre-Castro Cuba/Homophobia/What's In a Name? Part 1
    • What's in a Name? Part 1 Continued/UMAP/Mattachine Society
    • Leftist Gays in the US/The Mariel Boatlift
    • The Mariel Boatlift Part 2/Resettlement Camps
    • Resettlement Continued/Press Coverage
    • Immigration/What's In a Name? Part 2
    • LGBTQ+ Organizing
    • The Mariel Generation/Life in PA
    • The Eromin Center/Impact of AIDS
    • AIDS in Cuba/LGBTQ+ Rights in Cuba
    • Acknowledgements
  • Stories of Discrimination
    • Hate Crimes >
      • Anita Bryant
      • Escalating Violence
      • Appalachian Trail
      • Bookstore Bombings
    • Employment Discrimination >
      • Blacklisted
      • "Moral Turpitude"
      • Elected
      • Traumatized and penalized
      • Other Stories of Employment Discrimination
    • Transgender Discrimination >
      • High School Experiences
      • Other Stories of Transgender Discrimination
    • Housing and Property Discrimination >
      • Vision of Hope MCC
    • Conclusion
  • We Believe?
    • Early Expereriences
    • Coming Out
    • LGBTQ+ Groups >
      • Religious Life
      • Social Life
      • Political Life
    • Faith and Identity
    • LGBTQ+ Clergy
    • Responses: Backlash
    • Responses: Acceptance
    • Looking Forward
  • Duty, Honor, Pride
    • Vietnam War Era >
      • Investigations
    • Post-Vietnam Experiences
    • "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy >
      • Personal Experiences
      • Criticisms
      • Repeal
    • Closing >
      • Citations
  • History of LGBTQ+ Bars
    • Bars of the 1950s & 1960s
    • Bars of the 1970s
    • Bars of the 1980s
    • Bars of the 1990s & 2000s
    • Harrisburg, PA
    • Lancaster, PA
    • York, PA
    • Bar Spotlights >
      • 400 N. 2nd Street, Harrisburg: Pre-Raids
      • Johnny Kobler's
      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Friendly Bars of the 1960s
      • The Neptune Lounge
      • The Strawberry Inn
      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Bars of the 1970’s
      • Silhouette/D-Gem
      • Shadows
      • The Archives
      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Bars of the 1980’s
      • Harrisburg LGBTQ+ Bars of the 1990/2000’s
      • Village Tavern Night Club
      • Tally-Ho Tavern/ The Loft
      • Railroad House Bar
      • The Fiddler
      • Sundown Lounge
      • Altland’s Ranch
      • Town Tavern
      • 14 Karat Room
  • Gender Identity and Gender Expression
    • Terminology
    • Early Years: Impersonation
    • Entertaining for a Cause
    • Gender During Gay LIberation
    • Medical Classification
    • Rise of Publications and Organizations
    • The 1990s
    • Advocacy and Visibility
    • Expansion of Organizations and Activities >
      • Oral Histories and Photos
    • Where We Are Now
  • LGBTQ+ Art and Artists
    • Jude Sharp
    • Paul Foltz
    • Inspired
    • Aries and the Gay Era
  • The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus
    • What is the Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus? >
      • PA Rural Gay Caucus Education Committee
    • Where were these groups located?
    • Gay Lobby Day
    • Important People
    • Pushback Against Opposition
    • What Happened to the Caucus?
  • Early LGBTQ+ Activism
    • Life Before Stonewall
    • Who's Who?
    • Richard Schlegel
    • Social Organizations
    • Effects of Stonewall on Central PA
    • Political Organizing
    • Rifts in the Movement
    • Read All About It!
  • Coming Out
    • Emily Newberry
    • Joanne Carrol
    • Amanda Hecker
    • Mara Kiesling
    • Maria Warren
    • Shaka Hudson
    • Lindsay Snowden
    • David Payne
    • Dr. Eric Selvy
    • Heidi Notario
    • Tammy de Sol
    • Cindy Lou Mitzel
    • LGBTQ+ Support Groups
  • Out on Campus
    • Acknowledgments
    • Bryn Mawr
    • HBCUs
    • Lafayette College
    • BCCC
    • Penn State
    • UPenn
    • Pitt
    • Lehigh University
    • Shippensburg University
    • HACC
  • Other Resources