Out in Central Pennsylvania: The History of an LGBTQ Community

Authors William Burton and Barry Loveland will join us for a lecture on their book, Out in Central Pennsylvania: A History of the LGBTQ Community. They will highlight the creation of the first LGBTQ+ newspaper in central Pennsylvania, published in Lancaster, the double-bombing of The Closet, the first LGBTQ+ bookstore in central Pennsylvania, located in Lancaster, the efforts for passage of a sexual orientation non-discrimination ordinance in Lancaster, and other compelling stories.

Outside of major metropolitan areas, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights has had its own unique and rich history – one that is quite different from the national narrative set in New York and California.

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 our quality of life in a region that often rejected them. 

William Burton is the author of Out in Central Pennsylvania, and is a writer living in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He has a master’s degree in History from the University of Massachusetts and his thesis was in LGBT history. He is currently a contributor to The Provincetown Banner newspaper and The Gay and Lesbian Review magazine.

Barry Loveland is a cofounder and chair of the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project and is retired after a 32-year career with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. He has B.S. in Building Sciences from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Historic Preservation.

The program is free and open to the public but requires advance registration.