This digital collection documents the earliest known organizational history of the LGBTQ+ community in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region. Organizations represented include the Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (“Le-Hi-Ho”), the Lambda Center, the Pennsylvania Lesbian/Gay Support Network, and Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC). Materials include newsletters, meeting minutes, press releases, and promotional materials.
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, visit http://trexler.muhlenberg.edu/library/specialcollections and https://archives.dickinson.edu/lgbt.
Lehigh Valley Homophile Society ("Le-Hi-Ho")
The Lehigh Valley Homophile Society ("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 (1969-1985) 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 ceased by the early 1990s.
Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC)
Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC) existed from 1977 until 1979 with the express purpose of advocating for an amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The organization existed for over a year, until a ruling that the city government had no right to exceed the powers of the State Human Rights Commission.
CCBC was comprised of activists representing several local organization, including chapters of the National Organization for Women, Le-Hi-Ho, and the Rural Gay Caucus. Activities included demonstrations and rallies.
Pennsylvania Lesbian/Gay Support Network (PALGSN)
In June 1978, at a meeting of the Rural Gay Caucus, members voted to create a distinct organization, temporarily named the “Pennsylvania Gay Support Network.” Its purposes were defined as political action, outreach, information dissemination, a statewide switchboard, addressing the needs of the gay community, and maintaining a telephone tree. The Rural Gay Caucus was dissolved, and by November 1978 the word “Lesbian” had been added to the new organization’s official name.
The Northeast PA Region of PALGSN comprised Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming, Luzerne, Pike, Monroe, Carbon, Northampton, Lehigh, Berks, and Schuylkill counties.
The Lehigh Valley Homophile Society ("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 (1969-1985) 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 ceased by the early 1990s.
This collection is held by the Allentown Public Library (APL) and may be accessed by contacting the APL Reference Desk at (610) 820-2400. Selected materials have been digitized and made available above.
