"A Look Back, A history of the LGBTQ+ Community in Erie, PA" had its second run at The Blasco Library from June 1st through June 30th. This local LGBTQ+ history display was first exhibited during Pride month of 2019. The exhibit was refreshed and expanded. It was located on the second floor of the library, close to the LGBTQ+ juried art exhibit.

"A Look Back, A history of the LGBTQ+ Community in Erie, PA" is set for a second run. This local LGBTQ+ history display was first exhibited during Pride month of 2019. It will be exhibited for a second time at The Blasco Library from June 1st through June 30th. The exhibit has been refreshed and expanded and can be seen on the second floor, close to the LGBTQ+ juried art exhibit. This June, don't miss "A Look Back: A History of the LGBTQ+ Community on Erie, PA."

The local LGBTQIA+ History Project, recently displayed at 419 Artifacts, as well as The Long Road to LGBT Equality in PA, a touring project by the LGBT Center in Harrisburg, will both be on display at Blasco Public Library, 160 E Front St, Erie PA for the month of August. The exhibits will be on the first floor, near the circulation desk.

On Saturday, June 1, 2019, Erie LGBTQIA+ History Project held an opening reception for their A Look Back: A History of the LGBTQ+ Community in Erie exhibit at 419 Artifacts, 419 State St, Erie PA. The exhibit runs through June 30, and will also be on display at Pride Fest in Perry Square on June 29. 419 Artifacts is open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 1 to 4 PM.

This was one of the documents written for an exhibit of local LGBT history called A Look Back: LGBTQ+ Community in Erie for the month of June, 2019 at 419 Artifacts, 419 State St, Erie, PA. that had an opening reception on June 1. This was a project of Erie LGBTQIA+ History Project. The LGBTQ+ community in Erie have long been at the forefront of fighting for equal rights and fair treatment for all citizens. Even when they could not be open about their own fight for equal treatment, Erie's community participated in Civil Rights rallies, protests against the Vietnam War, and supported passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. After Stonewall in 1969, and once State Supreme Court decisions in 1972 and 1980 struck down anti-sodomy laws, the nationwide community began to confront discrimination against them more forcefully.

This was one of the documents written for an exhibit of local LGBT history called A Look Back: LGBTQ+ Community in Erie for the month of June, 2019 at 419 Artifacts, 419 State St, Erie, PA. that had an opening reception on June 1. This was a project of Erie LGBTQIA+ History Project. Erie's LGBT community first became aware of HIV/AIDS around 1981. It hadn't really hit Erie by that point. Because it was much more difficult to be out, and because the Reagan administration didn't even use the word AIDS until 1985, after his friend Rock Hudson had died from the disease. In 1985, WSEE did a 4-part series on AIDS & the Gay Community. It was probably the first local news series to look at the local LGBT community. No one used their full name or face, and the series kept the subject of AIDS and the gay community intertwined, even though it was known then that the disease was no just hitting gay people, and that lesbians were low risk. The fear that they might be perceived as being carriers of AIDS probably suppressed many area gay men from being open about their sexuality.

The first known local article on the new gay liberation movement was published in the local alternative newspaper Sunshine-Aura in 1972, by a gay man who signed the article "Pink Panther". In 1974, Harry Miller and a woman spoke on a WQLN-FM talk show that included an audience call in. The response was so strong that the station allowed the show to run for four hours. This was a first for the subject for area radio. Only first names were used. There was also a series on "Gay Life in Erie" in the Erie Daily Times in 1977. Everyone interviewed used first names only or pseudonyms. In the early 1980's, the Erie Gay Task Force published a newsletter for a few years. In the mid to late 80's, Personal & Affirming Lifestyles (P&ALS) published a newsletter. That group met at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul. From the late 80's to the early/mid 90's, local group Womynspace also published a newsletter.

It was a very different social time and political climate for gays in Erie in the 1950's and 1960's. The threat of being exposed or arrested was very real to many people and gay bashing were as common place as they often are today. Heterosexual owners of many bars did what they could to accommodate gays with certain areas, certain days and times - but when push came to shove, they usually backed down for their own economic reasons.

Until the mid-1970's the LGBTQ+ community was mostly centered around the stolen hours at a gay bar or the cruising area around Griswold Park. A need was seen by several members of the community to organize in numbers to create change, offer support, affiliation, education and advice as well as additional social opportunities.