Lehigh Valley Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC)

This collection documents the earliest known organizational history of the LGBTQ+ community in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region. Lehigh Valley Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC, later Lehigh Valley Citizens Concerned for the Gay Community, CCGC) was formed in 1977. This group was named in response to an anti-gay group called Citizens Organized for Decency, and was formed to advocate for the addition of the words “sexual and affectional preferences” to the protective clauses of the Human Relations Ordinance in Allentown, PA. Materials include newsletters, meeting minutes, press releases, and promotional materials.

The items in this collection are shared through a collaboration between the Lehigh Valley LGBT Community Archive and the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project. For more information on Lehigh Valley LGBT Community Archives, visit https://trexler.muhlenberg.edu/library/specialcollections/collections/#lgbt

Materials include newsletters, meeting minutes, press releases, and promotional materials. View the collection on the Internet Archive.

Joseph W. Burns started to donate these materials in 2013 as the first contribution of historical documents to the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project. These materials reflect his involvement in, and document, LGBTQ+ activism in Central PA.

This collection contains materials from 1968 – 2015, but the bulk of the materials focus on LGBTQ+ activism from 1970 – 1980. There are 14 Series which highlight LGBTQ+ activist organizations, legislation, publications, photographs, personal/miscellaneous items, media, and artifacts, as well as Subject Files regarding people, organizations, or issues related to LGBTQ+ activism. Materials include documents, photos, a cassette tape, and multiple artifacts.

A list of Gay Pride Slogans created by Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC).

The Gay Era was a newspaper that reported news of interest from around the United States, with a specific focus on the news surrounding the gay community in Central PA, and provided a central forum for gay communities that were spread out across Central PA. Noteworthy news in this issues:

• "State Gay Support Group Formed" (p. 3)
• "Voter Registration Starts in Pennsylvania" (p. 5)
• "March Planned in Allentown" (p. 6)
• "Anita to Appear at Bloomsburg Fair" (p. 6)

This issue is missing some articles that appear to have been cut out at some point.

The Gay Era was a newspaper that reported news of interest from around the United States, with a specific focus on the news surrounding the gay community in Central PA, and provided a central forum for gay communities that were spread out across Central PA. Noteworthy news in this issues:

• "Allentwon Battle Continues: Gays Banned from City Forums" (p. 2)
• "Observations by David Leas" (p. 8)
• "Anita Display Removed in Misunderstanding" (p. 20)
• "Coming Out as an Old Man" (p. 24)