LGBT-011 - Deetz

Members at a PA Rural Gay Caucus Meeting in Wilkes Barre, PA. Photo by Thomas F. Schmidt of Fay L. Broody Studies.

Janet Cooper (left) and Sam Deetz (right), members of the PA Rural Gay Caucus, in  late 1975 or early 1976.

Sam Deetz at Gay Education Day, also known as Gay Lobby Day, organized by the PA Rural Gay Caucus and in Harrisburg, PA during March 1976. Photo taken by Bari Weaver.

Samuel Deetz was born in Quakertown, PA on April 21, 1951 and was one of eight children. His father was a minister, so his family moved from place to place throughout his childhood, until they came back to Central PA where Deetz finished high school. While living at home after high school, Deetz started working as an accountant, which led him to continue a career in accounting.

Deetz became active in the LGBTQ+ community in his mid-twenties in the 1970s. He, with help from Mark Seagal, founded the Susquehanna Valley Gays United (SVGU) in the summer of 1975. He was a member of the PA Rural Gay Caucus from its inception in 1975 until 1978, where he was co-chair for the first Gay Lobby (Education) Day in March 1976 and became the convener of the Legislative Committee. He was invited to become a member of the PA Governor’s Council for Sexual Minorites in 1976, where he became a facilitator between the Rural Gay Caucus and the Council, as well as the Council and the PA State Police Department. He also was treasurer for the Pennsylvania for Social Justice Political Action Committee (PAC) from 1982 to 1985.

Deetz passed away in 2019.

This collection highlights Deetz’s activism in various LGBTQ+ groups in Central PA. Deetz was an accountant by trade which enabled him to hold treasurer positions in most of the organizations highlighted in this collection.

Thank you letter Kathy Blackburn from Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge for the accommendations provided for Pride '78, a statewide gay rights conference. 

Photograph of members of PA Rural Gay Caucus with their banner at the 1976 Philadelphia Gay Pride Parade. Identified people from left to right: Richard Hoffman (with GSC Berks flag), Joe Burns, Jerry Brennan, and Sam Deetz. Photograph by Bari Lee Weaver.