LGBT Oral History 103: Mark Segal

Mark Segal is a gay rights activist, author, and journalist for the Philadelphia Gay News. In this interview, Mark discusses his political involvement in the gay rights movement in Pennsylvania in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Particularly, he focuses heavily on his work with Governor Milton Shapp, the first United States governor to publicly support the LGBT community. While discussing his life as a gay rights activist, Mark recounts many personal stories and memories such as disrupting popular television talk shows, working alongside Walter Cronkite, and signing up to become a Pennsylvania state trooper as an act of political resistance. Throughout, Mark stresses the important but often understated role Pennsylvania played in advancing civil rights for the LGBT community, while emphasizing that his state still has a long way to go.