Bi, Gay, Lesbian Youth Association of Harrisburg (Bi-GLYAH)

Crossroads Magazine was a bi-monthly local LGBTQ+ magazine created, edited, and published by Dr. Eric Selvey. The goal of Crossroads was to bring together the LGBTQ+ community of Central Pennsylvania by creating a space to showcase the efforts and talents of local LGBTQ+ organizations, people, and events, with all articles being voluntary contributions. Crossroads was published from June 1996 – October 1997.

In this National Coming Out Day Issue:

• The AIDS Quilt Returns to D.C. - Susquehanna Valley Names Highlights
• The Renaissance Man
• Organizational Spotlight - Bi-GLYAH
• Community Scrapbook

The LGBT Center of Central PA, housed in Harrisburg, PA, provides services, programs, and community space for the LGBT community in the region. These materials represent these initiatives, including the Common Roads program for youth and young adults, its predecessor BiGLYAH, and FAB (Fall Achievement Benefit). This collection also contains materials regarding the founding of the Center, publications produced by the Center and other regional LGBT initiatives (such as Central Alternative, Out and About in Central PA, and the @ The Center newsletter), news clippings regarding local LGBT issues, and other documentation of LGBT organizations and programming in Central PA.

Sharon Mahar Potter was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, commuting to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the first time when she was offered a position to build the early intervention system for disabled children in the city. Profoundly moved by a young gay man’s speech in a meeting of the House Education Committee, Sharon established the Bi, Gay, Lesbian Youth Association of Harrisburg [BGLYA], later going on to receive a Master’s degree in Human Sexuality, working as the sexuality consultant for the Office of Developmental Programs of Pennsylvania, and then finally moving to California, where she resides today. In this interview, she recalls many successes and triumphs with her students in BGLYA that include issues such as gay marriage, suicide, HIV/AIDS, and homelessness. She won the Fall Achievement Benefit [FAB] award for her work in the gay community and established a scholarship with Melinda Eash for LGBT graduating high school seniors. Sharon emphasizes the variety of support options for the LGBT community today compared to those available in the past, praising the work of the Center in its development and efforts.

Sharon Mahar Potter was born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Scranton, PA. She began commuting to Harrisburg, PA for the first time when she was offered a position to build the early intervention system for disabled children in the city. Profoundly moved by a young gay man’s speech in a meeting of the House Education Committee, Sharon helped to establish and served as a leader for the Bi, Gay, Lesbian Youth Association of Harrisburg (Bi-GLYAH).

This collection holds items from Potter’s time as the organizer of Bi-GLYAH. Items include photographs of Bi-GLYAH youths at events and a stuffed Frog created during a Bi-GLYAH fundraising event.

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.