LGBT Oral History 065: LGBT Center History Group Interview

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Center of Central PA (Harrisburg) began to form in the late 90s. To receive fundraising though the National Lesbian and Gay Community Funding Partnership of New York, the founding group was led approximately 600 need-based assessment surveys around Central Pennsylvania. The study covered the eight-county region of Central Pennsylvania. In 1999, the group received a matching grant from the foundation – one out of the two states in the country to get that funding. From this funding, the LGBT group in Harrisburg was able to gain a community center. In this interview, Louie Marven, Ben Dunlap, Marlene Kanuck and Elizabeth Mullaugh speak on their experiences as board members of the LGBT Center in Harrisburg and each describe the functions and communal efforts made by the group, including starting Gay-Straight Alliances in Pennsylvania high schools.