Out in Central Pennsylvania: The History of an LGBTQ Community (Keystone Books)

Outside of major metropolitan areas, the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights has had its own unique and rich history—one that is quite different from the national narrative set in New York and California. __Out in Central Pennsylvania__ highlights one facet of this lesser-known but equally important story, immersing readers in the LGBTQ community building and social networking that has taken place in the small cities and towns in the heart of Pennsylvania from the 1960s to the present day. Drawing from oral histories and the archives of the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project, this book recounts the innovative ways that LGBTQ central Pennsylvanians organized to demand civil rights and to improve their quality of life in a region that often rejected them. Full of compelling stories of individuals seeking community and grappling with inequity, harassment, and discrimination, and featuring a distinctive trove of historical photographs, __Out in Central Pennsylvania__ is a local story with national implications. It brings rural and small-town queer life out into the open and explores how LGBTQ identity and social advocacy networks can form outside of a large urban environment. COVER front 1 Series Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Foreword: LGBTQ in Central PA: A Missing Chapter in Pennsylvania History 8 Notes to Foreword 244 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 Notes to Introduction 244 Chapter 1: Discovery 22 Notes to Chapter 1 244 Chapter 2: Sparks! 50 Notes to Chapter 2 245 Chapter 3: Awakening 78 Notes to Chapter 3 246 Chapter 4: Convergence 96 Notes to Chapter 4 247 Chapter 5: Turbulence 124 Notes to Chapter 5 248 Chapter 6: Battles 150 Notes to Chapter 6 249 Chapter 7: Pride 186 Notes to Chapter 7 250 Chapter 8: Fruition 206 Notes to Chapter 8 251 Conclusion 238 Notes to Conclusion 252 Notes 244 Selected Bibliography 254 Index 256 "Examines the rise and development of an LGBTQ community in the heart of Central Pennsylvania, and how gay identity and social and advocacy networks form outside of a large urban environment"-- Provided by publisher