What is the Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus?
"PA Rural Gay Caucus at Philadelphia Pride Parade - 1976". Gift of Sam Deetz, 2013. LGBT-011 Sam Deetz Collection, Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.
Creation of the Caucus
The title of the television documentary and this 1966 primary brochure heralded Shapp as “The Man Against the Machine.”
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-309
By the mid-1970s, Pennsylvania had a large number of LGBTQ+ organizations located in small cities and towns and on college campuses. Governor Milton Shapp was a strong supporter of gay rights, and established one of the first government organizations whose goal was to end the discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. “The Governor’s Task Force on Sexual Minorities” was formed in 1974 by Governor Shapp and was made up of government officials and LGBTQ+ people from across Pennsylvania to advise state agencies on improving public policy for LGBTQ+ people.
Activists in these smaller groups often felt isolated and unable to make substantial progress on their own, and felt they were overlooked. It was quickly established that the concerns and needs of gay people in large urban areas (Philadelphia and Pittsburg) were much different than those living in rural areas (anywhere outside Philadelphia or Alleghenany County). Thus, in 1975, the Rural Gay Caucus was formed. Their purpose was to inform the committee on issues LGBTQ+ people faced in rural areas in Pennsylvania.
Activists in these smaller groups often felt isolated and unable to make substantial progress on their own, and felt they were overlooked. It was quickly established that the concerns and needs of gay people in large urban areas (Philadelphia and Pittsburg) were much different than those living in rural areas (anywhere outside Philadelphia or Alleghenany County). Thus, in 1975, the Rural Gay Caucus was formed. Their purpose was to inform the committee on issues LGBTQ+ people faced in rural areas in Pennsylvania.
Sam Deetz talking about the creation of the Rural Gay Caucus, LGBT Oral History – Deetz, Sam – 025, Dickinson College Archives Special Collections.
The Caucus first convened on October 18, 1975. The organization's purpose was to identify problems faced by gay men and women in Pennsylvania and to discuss potential solutions to these issues. At the 1975 conference, the Caucus identified four main problems:
The Caucus was successful in protecting state employees from discrimination, but overall struggled with lack of funding and lack of research. Shapp left office in 1979. Pennsylvania state governors after Shapp had little to no interest in continuing the council and became inactive. The committee and caucus was used briefly for AIDS policies and research.
- Lack of information for LGBTQ people of Pennsylvania about themselves and the gay rights movement
- Solution: Fostering awareness of the Caucus, the Gay rights movement, and issues faced by the LGBTQ community through media and publications, and by working with libraries, schools, and churches
- Lack of gay social interaction
- Solution: Creating discussion groups (both within the gay community and with the straight community), publishing newsletters, providing entertainment within the gay community
- Lack of gay community
- Solution: Lessening isolation through social interaction, tapping into resources from cities and interacting with LGBTQ organizations
- Lack of awareness and acceptance among parents of LGBTQ youths
- Solution: Educating parents on the LGBTQ community and creating parent groups to promote interaction and acceptance
The Caucus was successful in protecting state employees from discrimination, but overall struggled with lack of funding and lack of research. Shapp left office in 1979. Pennsylvania state governors after Shapp had little to no interest in continuing the council and became inactive. The committee and caucus was used briefly for AIDS policies and research.
The Rural Gay Caucus and the Women's Liberation Movement
"PA Rural Gay Caucus Meeting, Wilkes Barre, PA - April 10, 1976". Gift of Sam Deetz, 2013. LGBT-011 Sam Deetz Collection, Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.
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The caucus was very aware of being an inclusive movement in order to efficiently lobby for their rights. Mary Nancarrow, one of the Caucus's founders, acknowledged that other movements such as the women's, civil rights, and anti-war movement played pivotal roles in the organizing of LGBTQ movements and organizations. She recalls how the Caucus combatted the gender disparity:
"We constructed the Rural Gay Caucus so as to avoid some of the problems that the big cities were having in the lesbian and gay rights movement: being fractured along gender lines. The men were not very appreciative of the women, and the women were always tangling with the chauvinistic attitudes of the men, so we instituted gender parity in the Rural Gay Caucus, so that we had co-chairs, one man and one woman." -Mary Nancarrow, 2015 |
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William "Miss Tina" Horn discusses the Women's Liberation Movement and attending the first meeting with Governor Shapp.... |
LGBT Oral History – Horn, William “Miss Tina” - 133. Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.
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