LGBT Oral History

Daniel Maneval was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on October 3, 1947. In this interview, Daniel speaks frankly about his experiences growing up as an only child, about the homophobic violence he has experienced, and the gay organizations he has lead and participated in throughout his life. He specifically speaks on his experiences with his parent’s death and the independence he was forced to cultivate as a result. He first became involved with Susquehanna Valley Gays United and was a founding member of Homophiles of Williamsport. He also was a critical component to leading a protest against Anita Bryant, and participated in several Rural Gay Caucuses. He was forced to move out of his family home after homophobic gang-related attacks on his property, and experienced gay-bashing outside a bar in Williamsport. Daniel reflects on the differences he sees in the Williamsport LGBT community today. This interview provides an in-depth history of gay life in Williamsport from the 1950s to today.

Dr. Rachel Levine was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts on October 28th, 1957. With a great sense of humor Dr. Levine discusses her interesting life. She attended Belmont Hill School, where she excelled and engaged in athletic and creative activities. She graduated from Harvard College. She then earned her medical degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. She trained from 1983-1988: three years of pediatrics, a year as chief resident, and a year doing an adolescent medicine fellowship, specializing in eating disorders and the medical care of young people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. She was working at Mount Sinai and Lenox Hill while in practice for five more years, from 1988 to 1993. She moved from Manhattan to Central Pennsylvania in 1993, joining Penn State College of Medicine faculty at Hershey Medical Center where she was Director of Pediatrics and Adolescent medicine. She was married before getting her medical license and had a son and daughter in Hershey. She transitioned in her forties, while at Hershey, and she is grateful for their support throughout. Dr. Levine is currently the Acting Secretary of Health and Physician General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine.

David Leas was born in 1955 in Columbia, Pennsylvania. He comes from a working class family and described the sense of independence he got from his first job as busboy for the Accomac Inn. This job lead to a foray into the restaurant business, starting with opening the Railroad House in Marietta with his partner Marlon. David then went on to be an evening manager at Isaac’s and then transitioned into a higher up management job within the restaurant. Due to his pull at Isaac’s, he was able to convince the restaurant and other local restaurants to raise funds and collaborate with the Lancaster AIDS Project and SCAAN. David was also one of the original members of Gays United Lancaster and The Rural Gay Caucus, an organization formed in reaction to the urban focus of the Council of Sexual Minorities, formed by Governor Shapp. He also was one of the main driving forces behind the newsletter, Gay Era, often spearheading the publication of it. He remarks on how many of his friends, such as Bari Weaver, had to move due to the extreme harassment they faced for being openly gay. He then touches on the evolution of gay bars in the area and how he met his partner, Ben, who he has been living with in Elizabethtown for around twenty years.

Lorraine Kujawa was one of the co-founders of the Lavender Letter in Harrisburg during the late seventies and eighties. The Lavender Letter was created to provide events for the lesbian community to attend in Pennsylvania. She started the newsletter in order to bring the lesbian community together by highlighting events available in Harrisburg, Lancaster, and other parts of Central Pennsylvania. Additionally in the interview, Lorraine Kujawa compares the differences in the communities of Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she currently lives, and Central Pennsylvania, where she grew up, towards the LGBT community.

Colin Kreitzer was born in 1947 in Enola, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania with his parents and his younger sister. He attended West Chester College and moved to Harrisburg in 1977, where he began getting involved in the gay community through activism and social activities. In this interview Colin reviews his involvement in the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg, Dignity, Metropolitan Community Church, and volleyball. He also talks about the stigma of growing up as a closeted gay man, the bullying he experienced in primary and secondary school, and how he came to accept his sexuality and come out when he was in college. He discusses his past relationships and the struggles that he has experienced trying to forge healthy, emotional connections with others. Colin is also involved in Alcoholics Anonymous, and explains the values he has gained from the organization and the changes in his own character and behavior.

Suzanne Kohr, formerly Ott, was raised in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. She is now 60 years old, and resides in Newberrytown, Pennsylvania. Suzanne had two children with her first husband, and has been married to her second husband, Tom Kohr, for almost two decades. Suzanne was the second oldest of eight children. She had seven brothers; Steve, Danny, Alan and Brian are all still living —and John, Andrew and Greg have passed away. Suzanne was close to her youngest brother Andrew who died from AIDS complications in 1997. Sue discusses Andrew’s strained relationship with his parents and siblings, and the prejudice he faced. She goes on to discuss some of his significant relationships, and life after moving away from Shippensburg to Virginia. Sue elaborates on Andrew’s frustration over HIV/AIDS treatment available to him, and his treatment up until his death. Sue concludes by describing Andrew’s legacy, and her hopes for increased acceptance of homosexuality by society.

Nikki Knerr was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1945 and attended York College and Pennsylvania State University where she studied mass communications. In 1967, Nikki opened her first graphic design business which ran for 25 years in Camp Hill, before she retired to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. When the HIV/AIDS crisis emerged along with negative social stigma in the late 1980s, she organized the Unity Festival to raise funds and awareness for those infected, as well as for the greater LGBT community around Pennsylvania. In this interview, Nikki discusses the joyful moments and struggles of belonging to the gay community. She emphasizes the role gay bars such as D-Gem and Altland’s Ranch played in uniting LGBT individuals, as well as the compassion and perseverance demonstrated by the thousands of volunteers that participated in the Unity Festivals. In the interview, Nikki touches upon some of the amusing highlights involving the organization of the festivals. She marvels at the modern progress of LGBT rights and opportunities to unite in settings of merriment, yet admits that ostracism and societal barriers still exist in other spheres of life.

David Klinepeter, father of the late Daniel Klinepeter, gives insight as a parent of a member of the LGBT community. He also speaks about his experience losing his son to AIDS and his advocacy with AIDS Memorial Quilt: The Names Project.

Nancy Helm was born in Lancaster Pennsylvania and graduated from Manheim Township High School in 1981. After graduating she worked for a printing company and did other odd jobs before opening a hair salon with her partner. Not long after that she opened a book store across the street called The Closet. She opened the bookstore as an outlet for the gay community of Lancaster so they could meet and hang out and shop. But, the bookstore was eventually the target of anti-gay crime in the 1990s. It was bombed twice and received multiple threats, including from the KKK. In this emotional interview Nancy gives her story about how she dealt with this and how it affected her life as well as the life of the gay community.

Walter Heiliger was born in 1944 and grew up in rural Carroll County, Maryland, the second of three children. Walter, who describes himself as “severely hearing-impaired,” encountered difficulties in school and in connecting with others growing up, as he did not receive support for his hearing issues. Over the course of his career, Walter worked in a number of different positions at a variety of companies, including Head Ski Company and Black and Decker in Maryland and York Technical Institute and Freezing Equipment Sales in Pennsylvania. Now retired, he currently works part-time as a custodian at South York School District. Although he was aware that he was interested in men early on and had several relationships with men, he decided to marry a woman in an attempt to live a “normal” life. While the marriage was unfulfilling on many levels, Walter credits his wife for greatly improving his quality of life by getting him hearing aids and speech therapy, and it was through that marriage that Walter was able to have his three children. Walter came out in 1999, then in his mid-50s, and describes the varying levels of support he’s received from his family. Since coming out, he has slowly become more vocal in the LGBT community, joining PFLAG in Mechanicsburg for a time, attending programs for seniors through the LGBT Center, and working part-time at Altland’s Ranch in York. In this interview, Walter shares stories from his life, including his relationship with Bill, his most serious partner since coming out, who passed away in 2006. He also discusses the importance of reaching out to seniors in the LGBT community, as well as married men, and the idea of LGBT rights as a human rights issue rather than a political one.

Richard H. Hause was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1947, moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after he graduated from high school in 1965. After coming out to his family when he was eighteen, Richard began working for the State Government in the Department of Highways, and he eventually retired from the State Government in the Department of Public Welfare just eight years ago. While Richard discusses in his interview the difficulties of identifying as LGBT in both personal and professional spheres, he also illustrates the vibrancy of the gay community by citing memorable experiences both occurring in Harrisburg as well as in nearby communities such as Washington, D.C. He expresses his regular interest in LGBT activism, from supporting the Human Rights Campaign Fund to participating in the local Pride Festival every year to being an active member in the Dignity Chapter of Central Pennsylvania, one of the first LGBT organizations started in the area. Throughout his interview, Richard expresses the historical changes he has witnessed in the gay community both nationally and locally, and he emphasizes his distaste for organized religion, asserting its negative political influence on the gay rights movement.

Lori Hatch-Rivera was born in Rockville Central, New York on Long Island in 1958. After Lori’s family moved to South Florida, Lori enrolled into what is now Palm Beach Atlantic University and graduated in 1989 with a degree in history. After about ten years of teaching, Lori believed God was calling her to do ministry work and obtained her Master’s in Divinity at Florida Center for Theological Studies, and she is currently attending Lancaster Theological Seminary to fulfill her Doctorate in Ministry. She is the founder of an interfaith group located in Venice, Florida, and works closely with the LGBT Interfaith Coalition group and Equality PA. In this interview, Lori discusses familial issues surrounding her sexuality, her relationship with religion and the Metropolitan Community Church [MCC], as well as her social justice work within religious community in order to bring them greater awareness of LGBT identities. She also mentions future challenges for the LGBT community and her appreciation of Harrisburg’s tight-knit community. Today, she is married to her partner Darlene and is a Pastor at the MCC of Harrisburg.

Mary Margaret Hart and Lynn Daniels are a married lesbian couple living in Central Pennsylvania. Lynn was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931, while Mary was born in 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. Throughout the interview, Mary and Lynn discuss their childhoods, how they met, and the difficulties of raising a family together in Central Pennsylvania during the 1980s. Mary, a therapist, had previously been married and had two children with her first husband, John, before meeting Lynn while completing graduate school. The couple discusses raising their daughters, Rachel and Sheila, at a time and place without other lesbian parents as role models. The two stayed active in the gay community, and they recount the differences they’ve observed growing up two decades apart, as well as what they’ve observed of their daughter Sheila’s experience, who is also gay. The couple married in 2014 after being together for 35 years.

Jerre Freiberg was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His family has close ties to the Lutheran Church, and he has remained affiliated with the church throughout his life. Jerre attended Elizabethtown College for two years before leaving to join the Navy. He remained in the Navy for 22 years, retiring in 1986. After retiring for the Navy, Jerre continued to work as Lancaster County’s budget analyst, and later as the Director of Administrative Services for the Lancaster Guidance Center. Jerre was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1992, and he subsequently became involved in several Lancaster area HIV/AIDS groups and organizations. In this interview, Jerre discusses his naval career —and being in a same-sex relationship during his years in service.  He details his experiences as being HIV positive in Lancaster, including his own work advocating for other HIV positive persons, such as being the director of the Betty Finney House which assisted low-income persons with HIV with housing needs. Jerre elaborates on some of his relationships, both before and after his HIV diagnosis. Jerre goes on to discuss changes he has seen since the early days of the AIDS crisis, and some of the challenges those who are currently HIV positive still face, particularly issues concerning senior citizens. He concludes with a reflection on changes within the LGBT community throughout his life — such as same sex marriage legalization and equality efforts.

Cassidy Frazee was born in 1957 in Cedar Lake, Indiana. Cassidy grew up in Cedar Lake with her younger sister, father and mother. They had a Catholic upbringing, but Cassidy explains she was no longer interested in religious affairs by the time she reached sixth grade, when her questions revolving around Catholicism angered the adults at her Sunday school. Growing up in rural Indiana in the 1960s and 1970s, there were not many positive representations of LGBT people. So, although Cassidy explains she had always felt that she was a girl, she did not learn of the term ‘transsexual’—the term used to describe transgender at the time—until reading one of her mother’s psychology books. After going through two marriages and securing a career as a computer programmer, Cassidy come out as a woman in 2015, after beginning to see a gender therapist in 2012. In this interview, Cassidy gives a timeline all the way through her transition and the experience of going through hormone replacement therapy (HRT); to explain the effect that estrogen has had on her as a person. Cassidy also shares personal, spiritual and emotional experiences that have time and time again confirmed her gender identity.

Paul Foltz grew up in Steelton in a very Catholic household, a background to which he attributes his unawareness of his sexuality until later in his college years. It wasn’t until he went to England to complete his graduate-level theatre studies, though, that he encountered a strong and open LGBT community that was growing after the recent decriminalization of homosexual acts, which encouraged him to come out and become comfortable with himself. Upon his return to the U.S., he remained out and was generally met with acceptance. He became involved in Pennsylvania’s LGBT community in helping to establish the Harrisburg Men’s Chorus and Dignity Philadelphia, as well as directing a drag troupe to raise money for HIV support. In this interview, he discusses these events, as well as his work as a costume designer at Theatre Harrisburg and teaching at the Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts and at HACC, in addition to his experiences with being out and gay in central PA.

John Folby was born in Pittsburgh in 1947. He was the oldest of five children in an Irish-Italian Catholic family. He relocated to Harrisburg in 1975 with his partner. John continues to live with his partner in Harrisburg in a relationship lasting more than 44 years. John is well-known for his activism in the LGBT community of Central Pennsylvania. In his younger days, John was involved in a Catholic group for lesbians and gays known as Dignity, and assisted in the Gay Switchboard Hotline. He began a 25-year career in a state government civil service position running a medical drug program for persons with HIV/AIDS. He continues his service to the LGBT community through consulting for the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health which offers the Pennsylvania Mid-Atlantic AIDS Education Training Center. John’s work with HIV/AIDS has been recognized with numerous awards, and the John Folby Award for Excellence is named in his honor. He additionally volunteers for the LGBT Center of Central PA’s History project. In this interview, John not only discusses his extensive activism efforts, but also his family’s reluctance to address and accept his homosexuality, his relationship with his partner, and changes within the LGBT community within his lifetime. He also discusses his and his partner’s decision to have John adopt his partner in order to financially protect themselves and their assets when gay marriage was illegal in Pennsylvanian.

Kathy Fillman was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania to an Irish family that had their own business. Although she describes her childhood as idyllic, Kathy lived with her grandparents and three cousins due to her mother’s alcoholism and attended a Catholic private school until the seventh grade, when she started living with her mother again. Once Kathy graduated from high school at age 18, she immediately began working in order to leave her home where alcoholism and abuse were major issues. She worked a number of odd jobs, including being an employee at Pepperidge Farm, a manager at Hess and Atlantic Refining and Marketing Corporation, and an assistant at John Barnes. In this interview, Kathy describes reconnecting with and supporting her mother, now deceased, who battled cancer on numerous occasions. She also discusses her interest in spirituality and healing, her involvement in civil rights during her 20s and 30s, as well her positive experiences with the health care industry in appropriately dealing with her and her partner’s needs. Today, Kathy is recovering from several health issues but is optimistic about her own future as well as the future for younger generations of LGBT-identified individuals.

Melinda Eash, child psychologist and LBGT rights ally, discusses her upbringing near the New York Metropolitan Area and the influence of the church. As a young adult she attended Susquehanna University, where she made friends with a gay student whom she helped sequester in the girl’s dorm in secret as he was unsafe in the men’s dorm. After college, Eash worked with developmentally disabled adults, going on to get her Master’s degree and open her own practice working with youth as a certified psychologist. After encountering a gay patient, Eash realized she was under-educated in this area, and began teaching herself how to help LGBT youth. At this point she contacted and began going to a local LGBT youth group, becoming an integral ally and leader of Bi-GLYAH. The organization, later renamed Common Roads, expanded greatly in the following twenty years. In this interview, Eash describes the changes she’s seen in the realities for LGBT youth, the changes in the organization, and the work done by current and former members of the group.

Benjamin Dunlap was born in Lancaster County Pennsylvania on December 23, 1957. He was born to a family with a mother, father, and sister ten years older than him. Throughout his life he was highly involved with LGBT community life and in Lancaster County was one of the originators of the community center and Common Roads LGBT community awareness. He remained on the board for many years, but recently retired. He, however, is still highly involved. In this interview he talks about his childhood and how being gay influenced his life throughout school and beyond. He discusses his job atmosphere as an attorney and his marriage and life partnership to his husband, David. He also talks about different mentors he had growing up, especially Paul Kendall, a professor at Kutztown University. At the end he briefly discusses the changes he has witnessed towards gay life and the changes he would like to see regarding that and the community center.

MJ Dougherty was born on May 20, 1956 in Syracuse, New York. As a child of parents who traveled extensively for work, MJ had moved around quite a bit before settling into Williamsport, PA where she attended middle school and high school. Upon graduating from high school, MJ started her first job as a file clerk at Liberty Mutual Insurance. At the age of 24, MJ got married and was with her husband in Harrisburg for 19 years, but divorced as she addressed her true feelings as a lesbian woman. In this interview, MJ discusses the fact that at the day of her wedding she knew she was a lesbian, but that she wanted to follow the tradition of her Irish Catholic roots. She decided to free herself and claims that her marriage of 19 years is a testament to the lack of acceptance of LGBT in our society. She moved as far up the ladder as she could until she hit the glass ceiling. She quit and found a better job, at a fortune 100 company, Marsh and McLennan. MJ elaborates on her successful career path, which led her to a meeting at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. She had dinner with some of the 290+ members of her company the night before the first plane directly hit their floor on 9/11. She provides a detailed narrative of her harrowing escape in a moving. But her return to work was worse because she was outed while coming home and her boss was enraged at her. Although she met and exceeded the company’s goals she was given a poor evaluation, which she appealed. Because there was no anti-discrimination policy at the workplace, she could not even bring up the issue at the appeal hearings. She left the job and has had a few successes with job opportunities. Her partner that she married before the Supreme Court’s ruling left her a month ago and MJ has just taken a job in Chester. MJ is a new member of Lesbians over 50, but still not out at work at her current job. She will check her company’s orientation policy and follow up if it does not have one. She said she would be an activist. Her narrative concludes with her success at being able to look at her life from a positive vantage and her ability to move forward to new opportunities.

Chris Dietz was born on April 6, 1975 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He lived in Carlisle shortly after he was born, before moving to Perry County with his parents and younger sister. There, he attended West Perry School District and participated in many extracurricular activities. From high school, Chris was accepted to Penn State and studied engineering until he graduated. In this interview, Chris shares his experience with coming to terms with his sexuality at 30 years old as a life-long member of the United Church of Christ Christian church, and in turn how it has influenced his parents’ perception of him. He also expands on his achievements both as a manufacturer and a community leader. Chris worked as a mechanical engineer for a printing press until 2009, and now is a project manager at Alfa Laval, a manufacturing company for heat exchangers. Chris was appointed to Millersburg Borough Council in 2006, and has been a part of local politics ever since. Chris ran for state representative in 2012. The interview concludes with Chris’ thoughts on social change in the future for LGBT rights and transgender awareness.

Margaret “Peg” Dierkers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957 and attended a Catholic school as a child. She earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Ohio State University, and eventually enrolled in a doctoral program in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University. Peg relocated to the Harrisburg area, and soon began working for the South Central AIDS Assistance Network (SCAAN), which assisted individuals and families of those with HIV/AIDS. After leaving SCAAN in 1994, Peg has continued working for other social justice causes including the Domestic Violence Coalition. In this interview, Peg discusses her relationships with both male and female partners, raising her two daughters in the Harrisburg area while involved in a lesbian relationship, and her struggle to fit into the lesbian world after her marriage to a man. Peg goes on to discuss her family’s acceptance of her sexuality, and the importance of spirituality in her life. She describes her on-going participation in the LGBT Center of Central PA’s History Project, and the importance of the Center for the LGBT community of Harrisburg.

Tammy del Sol was born in 1963. In this oral history, she discusses her college experience at several institutions, playing racquetball, her father’s (now her own) dental practice, her close-knit family, her artistic side, her relationships with different girlfriends, and her continuing friendship with her ex Jen. Tammy also talks about her relationship with their three children who were conceived through several different sperm donors, all of whom were friends of the couple.  Tammy discusses the importance of the extended LGBT family that includes friendship and relationships with exes and how this network has helped her and her former partner raise their children. Tammy identifies as a “New Ager,” someone who enjoys many aspects of different religions, but who primarily is drawn to spiritualism. Though she has run a dental practice for 22 years, she would like to pursue other business ventures after the next five or six years, which may include screenwriting. Tammy also hopes that her business will become a “home” for people in the LGBT community who otherwise would not find a place where they could feel safe. The interview also touches on current politics and the future of social justice under the Trump administration.

Samuel Deetz was born in Quakertown (Pennsylvania), in 1951, on April 21 and was one of eight children. Sam’s father became a minister, which allowed his family to move from place to place over Sam’s young life. Sam’s family wanted him to continue into the Christian faith, but as Sam continued through Christian schools, he realized he was different. He became a strong advocate in the Susquehanna Valley Gays United (SVGU), worked along Harrisburg Pennsylvania Council members, Senators, and Representatives to form other gay and lesbian groups. He was also instrumental in organizing and arranging meetings in order for other gay and lesbians groups to blossom within their own communities. Sam was influential in creating a social media site and continues to keep blogs current and updated for well-known gay and lesbian advocates to share their experience, strength, and hope. He met the love of his life Jim, thirty-seven years ago, and because of the passing of the Marriage Equality Bill in Delaware was able to marry his best friend and confidante.