Michael Dithers
: 250th Issue and a Look Back at 25 Years

by Michael Mahler


This issue of Erie Gay News is a personal milestone for a couple of reasons. In addition to being our 250th issue, it also happens to be coming out around the 25th anniversary of when I first became involved in the Erie LGBT community. A lot has changed over the years, and it is truly heartwarming to see all of the progress that we have made together!


Before late August/early September of 1991, I mostly socialized in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a medieval/renaissance group. I did a few newsletters for that organization, so I believe that I have been involved with a monthly newsletter for probably over half my entire lifetime. The SCA was quite accepting of LGBT people, but around that time, I realized that I really didn't know any LGBT people in my own zip code. I thought about starting a group, but I realized a better tactic was to go out and see what currently existed locally. (As a general rule, it usually is helpful to assess where things are before starting on a course of action.)


At that time, the only resource that I was aware of was Lizzie Bordon's Part II, the local bar. I set myself the goal of going out maybe once a week and just saying "Hi" to one person. (Small steps for change seem to work better for me than big plans.) As it so happened, Chris Young from Pittsburgh was up to start an Erie chapter of the League of Gay and Lesbian Voters, so I got involved with that, which later led to Bridges (an LGBT collaborative group that put on some dances and eventually started Erie Gay Community Newsletter.)


Some changes that have happened over the years: it used to be the case that there were some groups that wouldn't publicly list where they met or contact info. In those cases, Erie Gay News would act as an intermediary for receiving phone calls. It has probably been at least a decade or more since we last did that. 


I won't lie when I tell you I was a nervous wreck when I spoke on camera for the first time, in May of 1992. It wasn't the camera so much, it was coming out publicly. But nothing happened afterwards. Of course, I am lucky in having an accepting family and workplace. But the idea that one could be open and not suffer for it was liberating. Society was being changed!


And the change happened because individuals and groups worked for that change.


In 1995, some folks put together a float for the Erie Bicentennial Parade. It was rather controversial, even though it was a very plain float. The float was vandalized and rebuilt just days before the parade. Eighteen years later, NW PA Pride Alliance had a float in the Perry 200 parade and it was completely a non-issue. Oh, and Greg, who spearheaded the 1995 float, happened to walk by our float and remarked that we had so many people on it, and it was a great sign of progress.


All of this, and so many other advancements happened because of the acts, great and small, that so many different people and organizations have done over the years and continue to push. We have seen people and organizations come on the scene and also move on, but the important thing is that so many, from so many different demographics and walks of life, have given their time, their talent, and so much more to help each other out. We are all part of this great move forward, and we all should be quite justly proud of what we have done together!