Feminism

Joseph "Joe" W. Burns is an LGBT activist who actively participated in LGBT organizations, marches, and protests especially throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s. In this interview, Joe discusses his involvement in several of those LGBT and women’s rights organizations, including Berks County, Allentown NOW, the Gay Line, and Le-Hi-Ho, of which he was a founding member. He also recalls his involvement in attempting to have a gay rights ordinance passed through the Human Rights Commission and Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus for the Lehigh Valley area, which unfortunately failed. Additionally, in this interview Joe considers the importance of talking and listening to women in order to promote inclusive activism. In terms of his personal life, Joe briefly talks about his relationships with two of his lovers, both which sadly ended in divorce. In the future, Joe hopes to learn about what happened to the Le-Hi-Ho library and his fellow activists from Berks County.

Delma Welch was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Cardiff, Maryland as a Catholic with her three brothers and one sister. Delma began going to NOW [National Organization for Women] meetings in 1975 after becoming interested in feminism from an early age. After being in a relationship with a man for 23 years, she met her future wife at the YWCA and ended her marriage. Originally a stay at home mother, Delma has since held several jobs throughout her life, including her current position at the Margaret Moul Home. Today, she lives in York, Pennsylvania with her partner of 25 years, Peg Welch. In this interview, Delma discusses her involvement in many civil rights organizations and marches starting in the 70s, issues with coming out to her family, and marriage to Peg—once in Canada and once more in Pennsylvania, when gay marriage became legalized in the state. She also briefly expresses the importance of lesbian and woman-only spaces and her positive experiences dealing with the legal system as a lesbian woman in a same-sex relationship.

Mary Nancarrow grew up in a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the 1950s and 1960s with divorced parents and two siblings. After graduating from Shippensburg University, she became prominent in the women’s movement and the LGBT movement in Central Pennsylvania, serving on the Governor’s Council for Sexual Minorities and the Rural Gay Caucus. Mary was also heavily involved in the National Organization for Women [NOW] and was elected NOW Pennsylvania President, working to pass marital rape legislation, funding and campaigning for political races, and fundraising money for the NOW PAC. After her presidency, she helped to plan the National March for LGBT Rights in Washington D.C. and volunteered for the Harrisburg Gay and Lesbian Switchboard. Today, Mary lives in Harrisburg and sings in the Women’s Chorus. In this interview, Mary discusses her childhood and early relationship to religion as well as her involvement with the anti-Vietnam War movement throughout high school and college. She also describes her contributions to Shippensburg Gays United, feminism within the gay rights movement, and the experience of coming out to her parents and friends. Mary concludes the interview by acknowledging the incredible extent to which the LGBT community has changed over her lifetime and expresses her hope to see ongoing growth in civil rights in the future.

Bobbi Carmitchell was born in Willow Street, Pennsylvania.  She spent most of her professional career as a full-time musician, but currently has added contracting work in stained glass and woodworking art. Bobbi describes her journey in the musical world – from the Wood and Wind trio, to playing with her sister, and then onto to a solo career – and how that journey has shaped her identity as a lesbian.  She details how her early years with Wind and Wood, and the influence of women musicians enabled by Olivia Records, helped her to come out.  She expresses amazement at how coming out today has become a non-issue for so many women.  She describes several stories over the years that demonstrate her difficulty in balancing a life as an out lesbian with the desire to appeal to a broader audience, including how she is currently choosing to frame a novel she hopes to finish soon.  Bobbi emphasizes that her parents were fully supportive of her, and yet relates stories of their difficulties with her sexuality.  She details her involvement with the Central Pennsylvania Women’s Music Festival and Women’s Circle which highlight tensions within the LGBT community.  A strong feminist identity and involvement in women’s issues has powerfully shaped who Bobbi is.

Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s. This issue features the anouncemnet that the Wind and Wood reunion concert scheduled for September 14 was cancelled.

Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.

Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.

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. Notable news in this issues:

• Gay Health Column (p.5)
• After a Year of Activism (p.6)
• Rural Caucus Meeting (p.7)
• Philadelphia Bill Defeated (p.7)
• Phila. Gay News Begins Publishing (p.7)
• GUL Holds Election of Officers (p.8)
• GUL Co-Sponsors Phila. Conference (p.8)
• Date Set For Gay Lobby Day (p.8)
• Dyke Cooper Comes to Town (p.9)
• Of Interest to Gay Women (W.O.W.) (p.9)
• Plant-Nite at Marietta Avenue (p.19)
• State Police Investigating Blackmail Racket (p.20)
• New Peer Counseling Program Begins (p.20)
• Constructing Gay Pride or Bari's Five Steps to Sainthood (p.23)