LGBT History Project: LGBT-049 Julia ''Julie'' Lobur Collection

Julia “Julie” Lobur was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania in 1955 and moved to Harrisburg in 1970. She received her bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and received a master’s degree in Computer Science in 2003. Lobur briefly served in the military in 1983, eventually being discharged for being a lesbian, but it was also where she met her wife Marla.

For Lobur, her introduction to the LGBTQ+ community was influenced by the Commerce Diner. Located across the street from the then 400 Club, a LGBTQ+ bar of the time, and adjacent to State Street in Harrisburg, PA, the Commerce Diner catered to LGBTQ+ clientele in the 1970s. The diner eventually closed, and the building was demolished in the late 1980s.

Lobur currently works as a computer architect for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is an adjunct professor of computer science for Penn State. She resides in Central PA today.