Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho)

Joseph W. Burns started to donate these materials in 2013 as the first contribution of historical documents to the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project. These materials reflect his involvement in, and document, LGBTQ+ activism in Central PA.

This collection contains materials from 1968 – 2015, but the bulk of the materials focus on LGBTQ+ activism from 1970 – 1980. There are 14 Series which highlight LGBTQ+ activist organizations, legislation, publications, photographs, personal/miscellaneous items, media, and artifacts, as well as Subject Files regarding people, organizations, or issues related to LGBTQ+ activism. Materials include documents, photos, a cassette tape, and multiple artifacts.

This collection documents the earliest known organizational history of the LGBTQ+ community in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region. The Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization ("Le-Hi-Ho") held its first meeting on June 22, 1969. The goal of the group was to provide social opportunities outside of the bar scene for members of the LGBT community in the Lehigh Valley. The society published monthly newsletters featuring the information relevant to the community, including social events and field trips, activist opportunities and reporting on the national and regional gay liberation movement, and eventually HIV and AIDS. Thanks in part to Le-Hi-Ho’s success and the establishment of other organizations to support the LGBTQ+ community, the organization faltered and disbanded by the early 1990s. The newsletter was continued as the “Lambda Valley Monthly” beginning in the fall of 1985.

The items in this collection are shared through a collaboration between the Lehigh Valley LGBT Community Archive and the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project. For more information on Lehigh Valley LGBT Community Archives, visit  https://archive.org/details/early-lehigh-valley-lgbt   

Materials include newsletters, meeting minutes, press releases, and promotional materials. View the collection on the Internet Archive.

Joseph "Joe" W. Burns is an LGBT activist who actively participated in LGBT organizations, marches, and protests especially throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s. In this interview, Joe discusses his involvement in several of those LGBT and women’s rights organizations, including Berks County, Allentown NOW, the Gay Line, and Le-Hi-Ho, of which he was a founding member. He also recalls his involvement in attempting to have a gay rights ordinance passed through the Human Rights Commission and Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus for the Lehigh Valley area, which unfortunately failed. Additionally, in this interview Joe considers the importance of talking and listening to women in order to promote inclusive activism. In terms of his personal life, Joe briefly talks about his relationships with two of his lovers, both which sadly ended in divorce. In the future, Joe hopes to learn about what happened to the Le-Hi-Ho library and his fellow activists from Berks County.

From the time Joseph "Joe" W. Burns came out as gay at around 27 years of age, he was involved in gay activism. He was a part of many organizations that have helped to move gay rights forward, including the Mattachine Society and Le-Hi-Ho. He donated his entire library of gay-related books to Le-Hi-Ho before retiring from his activism career, and he donated books to the LGBT archives at the Waidner-Spahr Library at Dickinson College as well. This interview focuses on his memories of activism in the early years of the Gay Liberation Movement just before and just after the Stonewall riots of 1969. He finishes this interview with an emotional recollection of the Christopher Liberation Day Parade in 1970.

Founded in December of 1974, the Gay Coordinating Society of Berks County, Reading, PA (GCS Berks) was a LGBTQ+ activist organization in the Berks County area and a fundamental part of the Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus. The newsletter was a way to inform members and community members about LGBTQ+ issues.

Noteworthy in this issue:

• GCS Berks Art Alliance establishes National Gay Art Alliance and plans National Gay Art Show (p. 7)

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.” 

In these minutes, the Rural Gay Caucus announces two upcoming events, the appearance of Dr. Frank Kameny, a gay activist, and a hay-ride coordinated by GCS Berks. The minutes also announce the location of the next meeting for both the general caucus and the communication committee.

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In this letter, Joseph Burns tells members of the departure of Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho) from the group due to division among the group. He also goes on to talk about the protentional for growth and change within the caucus, starting with the next meeting, where they will decide if the caucus stays an organization or dissolves.

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In this letter, the Caucus is writing to the Majoyr of Allentown, PA in support of the adding sexual orientation preferences as a protection clause in the Human Rights Ordinance.

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In this letter, it is told that Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho) has decided to reaffiliate with the PA Rural Gay Caucus.

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In this letter, Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho) withdraws their support and recall their liaison from the PA Rural Gay Caucus due to breakdown of cooperation among members.

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.” The report was used as outreach to the Central PA LGBTQ+ community. In this report, the Caucus mentions the location of the February meeting and provides the meeting minites from the previous January meeting.

Meeting minutes of note are: 

• Deputy State Attorney General addressed the Caucus and discussed the "Sodomy Repeal Bill," as well as the concern about PA Senate Bill 83, which would bar gay or lesbian individuals from certain employment positions
• Report on the Lebanon High School student who committed sucide and how the Caucus Education Committee was to proceed with outreach and support
• Report on the Telephone Tree that was established 
• Discussion of the status of other organizations that are part of the Rural Gay Caucus

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.” The newsletter was used as outreach to the Central PA LGBTQ community. In this report, the Caucus gives the location for the January meeting and provides the meeting minutes from December. Theses minutes include:

• Legislative Committe Report Communications Committee Report 
• Education Committee Report
• Summary of groups that make up the Rural Gay Caucus
• Notice about the Phone Tree that was put together

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus is an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities. The newsletter was used as outreach to the Central PA LGBTQ community. In this newsletter the PA Rural Gay Caucus metions:

• the withdrawl of Le-Hi-Ho from the Caucus
• the strucutre of the Caucus was disucssed
• elections were held when multiple chairpersons resigned
• the tragic news of a young LGBTQ teenager's suicide

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus is an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities. The report/newsletter was used as outreach to the Central PA LGBTQ community. In this report, the PA Rural Gay Caucus provides a calendar of upcoming events, topics discussed at the November meeting, and PA Senate Bills 196 and 743.

Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.

The Gay Era was a newspaper that reported news of interest from around the United States, with a specific focus on the news surrounding the gay community in Central PA, and provided a central forum for gay communities that were spread out across Central PA. Noteworthy news in this issues:

• "Rural Caucus" (p. 2)
• "Coming Out" (p. 5)
• "Dyke Cooper" (p. 6)
• "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (p. 8)
• "Rural Gay Resource List" (p. 15)

The Gay Era was a newspaper that reported news of interest from around the United States, with a specific focus on the news surrounding the gay community in Central PA, and provided a central forum for gay communities that were spread out across Central PA. Notable news in this issues:

• In the News (p.3)
• Rural Caucus Report (p.6)
• "James Dean: Was He or Wasn't He?" (p.5)
• Stonewall Remembered (p.10)