Health

The GSH Newsletter is an outreach feature of the Gay Switchboard of Harrisburg. Notable articles in this issue are:

• "Gay by Birthright" (p. 1)
• "Switchboard Elections" (p. 4)
• "Co-Director Mr. Buns" (p. 4)
• "1981 Flea Mkts. Nets $125.38" (p. 4)
• "Rabbit - November 14" (p. 5)

Pamphlet and organizational document that explains the Gay Switchboard of Harrisburg’s mission, background, funding, call-in categories, and call statistics.

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:

• Gay Health Column (p.5)
• After a Year of Activism (p.6)
• Rural Caucus Meeting (p.7)
• Philadelphia Bill Defeated (p.7)
• Phila. Gay News Begins Publishing (p.7)
• GUL Holds Election of Officers (p.8)
• GUL Co-Sponsors Phila. Conference (p.8)
• Date Set For Gay Lobby Day (p.8)
• Dyke Cooper Comes to Town (p.9)
• Of Interest to Gay Women (W.O.W.) (p.9)
• Plant-Nite at Marietta Avenue (p.19)
• State Police Investigating Blackmail Racket (p.20)
• New Peer Counseling Program Begins (p.20)
• Constructing Gay Pride or Bari's Five Steps to Sainthood (p.23)

Joy (Ufema) Counsel was raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania. After completing high school, Joy began studies to become a nurse at the Altoona Hospital, and later completed a nursing program at Harrisburg Area Community College. Joy worked in numerous hospitals and medical facilities in New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Throughout her career as a nurse, Joy developed an affinity for caring for patients who were terminally ill. Her work in the area of death and dying received considerable media attention.

As a result, she was interviewed on 60 Minutes, a TV movie titled A Matter of Life and Death (1981) was made about her work, she authored numerous publications, and she participated in many speaking engagements across the country. In her interview, Joy discusses her work and experiences during the height of her recognition. She goes on to discuss the AIDS hospice she operated in York, Pennsylvania — elaborating on some of her most memorable patients and her experiences running a non-profit. Joy talks about her family’s reaction to her homosexuality, and her experiences as a lesbian in Central Pennsylvania. In the interview Joy goes on to discuss both challenges and the progress she sees as being significant to the LGBT community. Finally, Joy discusses the role of spirituality in her life.