The Rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol is elegantly elaborate — marble, brass, bronze, statues, chandeliers. But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.
In my life, I’ve been to more than 90 countries around the world, and to this day, my least favorite place on Earth remains Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And yet, here I am — on deadline, riding Amtrak to Harrisburg. Why? History calls.
To understand how I first ended up in Harrisburg in 1974, you need to know a bit of my backstory. If you’re not familiar, here’s the short version:
I was 18 in 1969 and inside the Stonewall Inn the night it was raided. I’m the guy who wrote “Tomorrow Night Stonewall” on the street. I was a member of New York’s Gay Liberation Front, and I launched a campaign against the TV networks, disrupting live national broadcasts — including the ”CBS Evening News” with a guy named Walter Cronkite.
So, how did interrupting “CBS Evening News” in New York lead me to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania?
After that disruption, for the first time ever, TV talk shows began inviting a few of us who were openly LGBTQ+ onto their programs. That campaign cracked open the media closet and gave us a platform to tell our stories. Feeling bold, I wrote to the governor of Pennsylvania at the time, Milton Shapp, asking for a meeting. To my shock, he said yes. This was during a time when no U.S. governor had ever met with a gay activist. They usually ran the other way.
But Gov. Shapp didn’t. He became the first sitting governor to meet with an openly gay activist. At our meeting, he asked what he could do for me. I gave him everything I could think of:
“You can issue an executive order banning discrimination against the LGBT community in state employment. You can create a commission to investigate the issues we face. And how about declaring Gay Pride Day in Pennsylvania?”
He smiled, walked me to the door, and said, “Caught you on the Cronkite show.”
That was the beginning of discovering an ally — Gov. Milton Shapp, the first in the nation.
On April 23, 1975, Gov. Shapp did issue that executive order banning discrimination against the LGBT community in state hiring — the first of its kind in the U.S. We went on to establish the Governor’s Council for Sexual Minorities, the first official state commission to examine LGBTQ+ issues, and even appointed LGBTQ+ liaisons in various state departments, another national first. And yes, he issued that Gay Pride proclamation too.
Between our meeting in 1974 and the executive order in 1975, there were dozens of phone calls, strategy sessions, and lobbying efforts. Not one state representative or senator would stand with us. Most kicked me out of their offices — and not very politely.
On the 50th anniversary of that executive order, I’ll be standing in that elegant Capitol Rotunda, delivering the keynote address to commemorate those groundbreaking achievements. And guess what? Two of the speakers will be out state representatives. The audience will be filled with state leaders — all proudly showing their support for our community.
Gov. Shapp was my political mentor. He taught me how to use the system to create change. And tomorrow, I’ll be speaking not just for myself, but for both of us.
Governor — you truly made history.
