Stephen Hart ’76
Phillip Kautz ’83
A history of the LGBTQ+ community at Muhlenberg College illustrates how heteronormativity, the embedded assumption that everyone is heterosexual, can impact the social and academic climate on campus. Such an assumption allows little space for non-heterosexual students to feel they belong and are safe.
Similar to LGBTQ+ individuals across the nation during the majority of the 20th century, Muhlenberg students with diverse sexual identities had few options–remain closeted or come out, limit socializing to safe spaces or collectivize efforts in a show of solidarity.
It wasn’t until the first quarter of the 21st century that LGBTQ+ students began to achieve a lasting sense of place and belonging.
This microhistory is the result of a collaboration between Alexa Cinelli ‘27 and Roman Craig ‘27 and the members of the Muhlenberg Memories Project team in the spring of 2024. Through archival research, oral histories, and primary source research, we set out to accomplish the goal of narrating a history of the LGBTQ+ experiences of members of Muhlenberg’s community. We recognize that this history is not all-encompassing and the perspectives shared represent only the views of the participants.
We are grateful to the alumni and faculty who shared their stories with us.
With evidence from college archives and oral histories of LGBTQ+ alumni, this chapter of the Muhlenberg Memories Project tells a story of gays and lesbians in the 1970s. At its most fundamental, the decade was one of invisibility. There were no real safe places to call their own and little recognition of their voices.
In retrospect, the ‘70s did begin to tackle the often-taboo subject of human sexuality for the student body using various venues. Offered were faculty and guest lectures, a forum on sexual lifestyles, experimental theater plays, a film on lesbianism and film festivals, and campus regulations about student sexual behavior. While most of the content focused on heterosexual behavior, there were moments when homosexuality was alluded to or addressed directly, as in in erotic film festivals and science-based lectures on human sexuality.
Outside experts were on the campus calendar as well. For example, representing a national movement in support of gay rights, Barbara Gittings, a lesbian and active member of Gay Liberation and the ACLU, spoke on campus in February 1973 about homosexuality and the movement to secure equality for homosexuals and homosexuality.
There were also letters to the editor complaining about imprisoning people in stereotypes and censoring students and the choices of films they watch. Essentially, there were a lot of discussions about human sexuality that mostly glossed over the reality of gay and lesbian students’ sexuality.
Oral histories of gay alumni from the 1970s spoke of the campus as an island of heterosexuals. Gays were mostly invisible, closeted students. Alumnus Greg Lambert ’74 remembered how he felt: (video)“it was sort of invisible, like the whole society, homosexuality was invisible.”
There seemed to be little to no recognition of gay life on campus, with no activities or clubs, (video) according to Stephen Hart ‘76.
Whether there were whispers about an individual’s sexuality or a tasteless April Fool’s joke about homosexuality in the Muhlenberg Weekly, for gays and lesbians, their actual visibility and their voices were mostly absent.
Breaking the silence on homosexuality began with the support from Dr. Michael Hattersley (English) and Dr. George Custen (Communications). Together, they created a sense of connection for students to be recognized and to be supportive of each other. In October 1980, Muhlenberg Theater Association coordinated their production of Spring Awakening, a play about teen sexuality, with a campus-wide symposium on sex. Both events afforded students, faculty and staff the opportunities to learn about the complexities of human sexuality and, for many, to openly come to terms with their own sexual identity.
Dr. Hattersley, leading the workshop on “The Gay Person in Contemporary Society,” suggested gay students seek each other out for support, knowing that many lived in fear of exposure. He also encouraged a support organization for gay individuals at Muhlenberg.
In the fall of 1981, the Chaplain’s office sponsored a special Coffee and Fellowship series called “Male/Female in American Society: Towards a Humane View.” Intended to stimulate campus discussion, the series included many faculty speakers including Michael Hattersley’s “Straight/Gay: Towards a Dialogue.” Hattersley’s lecture highlighted the hardships gays have in society because of archaic, rigid sex roles and laws criminalizing their behavior. He recommended abolishing criminalization as the first step toward acceptance of gays.
The campus response played out in letters to the editor of the Muhlenberg Weekly, with writers using the pen name “The Moral Minority” taking a biblical approach condemning homosexuality as a lifestyle and recommending homosexuals change. Other letters were supportive of homosexuality and, in turn, condemned the Moral Minority.
Alumni Phillip Kautz ‘83 shared the sense of invisibility, (video) “There wasn’t really anything remotely like visibility, unless it was sort of gossip about someone, just to point– say point the finger at somebody from the straight community”.
And, despite a decade of educational and cultural efforts at facilitating awareness of human sexuality, the information did not seem to become part of institutional knowledge.
As Kautz recollects, there was “a lot of ignorance and lack of awareness amongst the broader community about anything gay-related, gay issues.”
Following experiences in a London study abroad program where he experienced the openness and support of a gay student organization, Kautz returned to Muhlenberg and with Michelle Arnone ‘83, spearheaded the establishment of the Gay Student Union, the first known club established by and for gay students and allies.
In Spring 1982, the Gay Student Union (GSU) and its constitution was approved by Student Council. Supported and advised by Dr. Michael Hattersley and Dr. George Custen, the GSU was designed as a support system for gay students and as an open forum to educate the Muhlenberg community. Even with the welcoming of the GSU and the faculty support, membership led to bullying and harassment by others.
Despite scarce evidence about interest in and engagement with the Gay Student Union after 1985, the Muhlenberg Weekly offered instances of concern about and interest in LGBT issues. In January 1985, Professor Daniel Tate, in his address honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. urged students to seek equality for all including lesbians and gay men. The Weekly also included letters against and for respecting gay students.
By early 1986 and into the ‘90s, several years after the global AIDS epidemic began, the college turned its attention to preparing students with AIDS guidelines particularly about transmission of the disease and practicing safe sex.
(video) Professor Curtis Dretsch recalled how the college addressed AIDS. Accompanying the guidelines came the growing suspicion that gays were spreading the disease, despite factual statements and scientific arguments to the contrary. Even with the urgent call to heed the guidelines’ instructions, the December 1987 Weekly reported that the AIDS Awareness Survey revealed how students were woefully ignorant about the disease.
While much of the college newspaper focused on the AIDS epidemic, it also reported, to a lesser extent, arguments about sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace, a play about sexual abuse called No Easy Answers, sexual abuse of children and rape in relationships.
Another much argued topic was the issue of pornography: a debate on its merits, censorship and pornography and its effects of relationships. There were controversies over abortion, rallies for and against abortion, and many letters to the editor about perspectives on abortion, gays in the military, and the installation of coed dorms. The newspaper showed a robust concern about issues of sexuality through student debates, invited lectures, and performances such as skits, educational game show programming like the Groinecology Game Show, and films.
Unfortunately, this was a period when, for many, it still felt unsafe to come out. (video) Jill Poretta ‘93 and Michelle DiMattis ‘93 spoke about the climate on campus. Mike Doyle ‘94 and Brett Kobler ‘94 recalled the tense atmosphere during their years at Muhlenberg. (video) One notable incident highlighted the tension.
In the spring of 1995, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian Awareness Days (BGLAD) for March 20-24 was sponsored by Housing and Residence Life, the Multicultural Center, the Chaplain’s Office, and the Counseling Center.
In fall 1995, with a new school year, staffer Bob Pileggi ‘95 and Hillel Jewish Life Director Patti Mittleman introduced the Rainbow Space to campus as a safe space for bisexuals, gays, and lesbians and their allies. Programming was educational and supportive, while its location and date and meeting time were kept confidential. To know when to meet, students had to call either Bob or Patti for further information.
Pileggi was a strong voice on campus who expressed offense with students’ use of profanity describing gay men. He worked diligently to promote acceptance and support of bisexual, gay, and lesbian students. Pileggi was co-director for the AIDS Outreach program to spread awareness and offer help to those in the community.
On April 30, 1997, the national news reported Ellen DeGeneres’s coming out as a lesbian. The news rippled across the Muhlenberg campus with students celebrating her momentous decision to be public about her sexuality. In October 1997 National Coming Out Day, the Muhlenberg Weekly asked people to come out and support the day in the Rainbow Space.
They also mentioned the campus celebration of Ellen’s coming out on the national scene. Around this period, there was a notable shift in terms used in the newspaper. Instead of calling people homosexuals, their more discriminatory terms included gay, lesbian and bi-sexual, as a sign of a maturing campus.
During the same semester, to heighten the awareness of and devastation caused by AIDS, Reverend Don King and involved students brought portions of the AIDS quilt to Muhlenberg’s Chapel, its second display at the college, with the hope the display would add gravity to the lives lost to epidemic.
By spring 1999, the Muhlenberg Weekly featured ads and news articles about guest lectures about gay parenting, student awareness and engagement with gay, lesbian and bisexual students. Student Sue Van Blarcom, writing for the Weekly, penned “Straight but not narrow” to illustrate the continued biases against homosexuals and to express her views on being open-minded about sexuality and differences. In addition, local author Mary Borhek, speaking at BGLAD! Coffee Fellowship, spoke about tolerance from a personal perspective. Coinciding with Valentine’s Day, the Weekly ran an article about National Condom Week with tips for using condoms appropriately.
During the following week, from the chapel to the Red Door Cafe to Lithgow Auditorium, LGBT students and allies celebrated BGLAD Week during February 21-29, 1999 with the Career Development talking about “gay friendly” companies, a keynote speaker sharing the legal battle of a gay couple, the Gallucis, journey to adopting a child, an information table about local resources, and much more.
In the fall, on October 21, 1999, BGLAD formalized their efforts to be a recognized club known as the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian Advocates (BGLA). As a formal club with student council support, the BGLA promoted education about the presence and rights of homosexual students as well as offered a social space to discuss issues and enjoy each other’s company.
In contradiction to the Weekly article about the supportive BGLA, there was an adjacent article about obscene writing in the Trexler Library directed against homosexuals. Discouraged by the obscenities, a gay student wrote a letter to the editor about the impact of hateful graffiti on young people, writings that also exist in the residence halls and bathrooms.
The turn of the century brought increased awareness of LGBT issues through BGLA programming in spring 2000 with gay activist Michaelangelo Signorile speaking about involuntary outing of gay individuals. The documentary about hate-related murders, including that of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepherd, was presented to illustrate how hate is learned.
Another talk sponsored by BGLA was philosopher and author Edward Stein talking about the gay gene and gay rights. In November 2000, AIDS educator, author and actor Scott Fried spoke about AIDS, Love, and Staying Alive.
The College archives show the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) formalized its organization in November 2000. This organization is owed great credit in the first decade of the new century for increasing the awareness of and engagement with LGBT students, their allies, and college staff.
Their activities illustrated progressive approaches to educating the college community combining LGBT awareness with holidays, special celebrations, art shows, guest speakers, guest vendors, and nationally recognized activists. GSA members also exemplified leadership skills in advocating for LGBT students with lengthy campaigns for gender neutral housing and gender neutral public restrooms.
In November 2001, GSA sponsored a talk by major league baseball player and author of “Behind the Mask: My Double Life in Baseball,” Dave Pallone, who left baseball to speak about living as a gay man. Pallone commended the supportive programs of GSA including “Coming Out Against Homophobia.”
A few years later, in preparation for the November 2003 Queer Week, the GSA requested and received funding from Student Council. As an annual celebration, Queer Week, while less well attended, was full of activities, concluding the Progressive Halloween Party in the recently opened, off-campus Pride House.
First documented in 2003 as special interest housing, Pride House, located at 2214 Chew Street, eventually became the hub of activities for GSA and, later, SQUad and MTAC members to socialize, celebrate Progressive Halloween, Gay and Proud discussions about stereotypes, honor National Day of Silence and to simply feel safe within its four walls. As GSA membership grew to its 386 members in 2008, they found needed space for lectures and special events elsewhere on campus.
And as GSA became SQUad, their e-board chose the Pride House for their housing in 2016-17 while members of MTAC and SQUad found the Multicultural Center a welcoming space.
On a personal level, Frankie Grande ‘05 shared his experience as a young person coming out to his Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers his sophomore year. (video) “They’re the people that will have your back no matter what. And there was a gay, an out gay fraternity brother at the time, which made me feel even more comfortable telling my pledge brothers like, ‘Hey, I’m gay.’”
The mid 2000s brought engaging speakers like Kate Bornstein, activist and author, who spoke to the campus audience about gender identity. Renowned professor and author Joshua Gamson’s lecture, “Freaks Talk Back: Television and Sexual Nonconformity,” illustrated how gay identity in popular culture was superficial and a far cry from what a gay person is. Guest columnist, student Adrian Shanker ‘09, penned a letter to the college claiming the college has failed to recognize gender identity.
The GSA held a ceremony in recognition of the National Day of Silence at the Pride House so that people could openly talk about their feelings in a safe environment. In keeping with open discussions at the Pride House, the Gay and Straight Alliance held the “Gay and Proud Discussion Day” to talk about various issues for the GLBT community on campus.
Led by Anita Kelly, Director of Counseling Services, the purpose was to address ways to weaken stereotypes. Four months later, in another attempt to dismantle homophobia and related stereotypes, the GSA sponsored the Pennsylvania Diversity Network’s photo exhibit of 100 Same-Sex Couples Facing Inequality.
The college participated in World AIDS Day to increase awareness of the effect of HIV/AIDS on the public. Also in news was the appointment of Anita Kelly, the Director of Counseling Services to the GLBT Concerns and being a liaison between GLBT students and the administration.
On March 15, 2007, Student Council unanimously voted in favor of a Gender Neutral Housing Proposal drafted by Adrian Shanker, co-President of the GSA. The intent was for the college’s nondiscrimination policy which includes gender identity to align with housing selections and student safety. It was not until the 2011-2012 academic year that Jan Schumacher, Residential Services Director, announced that changes for housing would include an option for gender neutral housing.
The Multicultural Center was formally established in 2007 under the leadership of Dr. Ethel Drayton-Craig, who served as its first director. The aim was to support student organizations including the GSA and other affinity groups to provide a safe place to socialize and socialize.
GSA’s 386 members sponsored The Sex Store which, while controversial, was a huge success in its efforts to promote sex positive ideals on campus and to raise funds for events that increase awareness of LGBT issues. Anti hate rally held on October 12, 2008 was held in memory of Matthew Shepherd to remind students of the impact of learned hate simply because an individual is different.
Queer Fest 2009 was an enormous success with a Drag Ball, the transgender activist speaker S. Bear Bergman, a Sextival to focus on sexual health, and inventive games.
Ever the educator and campus performer, the theater and dance department’s spring 2009 collaboration of Caw, was an invocation and celebration of southern storytelling that included gay cultural expressions and featured a character called Xanthara. The production illustrated who a person caught between the binary of male and female like Xanthara, could be considered abnormal because the male/female binary doesn’t apply to them.
Peer Health Advocates at Muhlenberg (PHAM) organized as a new student organization dedicated to working with and connecting existing departments and organizations on campus to lead the “community in adopting health promoting behaviors by sustaining a health culture on campus.”
PHAM serves as an extension of the Health Care Center and the Public Health program and is a collaboration between academic and student life. The Career Center hosted Riley Folds, the founder of the nonprofit OUT for Work, who presented a workshop about coming out at work.
According to Ross Handler ‘14, the climate on campus had become (video)more widely accepting of openly LGBTQ+ individuals.
It appears that at some point between 2009 and 2013, GSA transformed into the organization known as SQuAd: Students for Queer Advocacy. In fall 2013, SQuAd sponsored several events including a joint effort with MTA for a bus trip to Stonewall, a Sex Toy Event, and a guest speaker Kale Crist’s workshop called DilDo’s and DilDon’ts: A Sex Toy Workshop.
Jackson Katz, media scholar, gave a lecture called “Bad Boys and Bystanders,” about gender violence and domestic violence. The Muhlenberg Theater production of a Winter’s Tale disentangles the more oppressive roles of marriage through gender-swapping characters. Queer Folk-Pop Duo Anna/Kate performed at Muhlenberg in the Red Doors Cafe focusing on vulnerability and openly loving who one loves.
The energy of SQuAd members continued in spring 2014 with their hosting of an event in Pride House for SQuAd and Moravian College’s LGBT organization on February 18.
SQuAd sponsored events during Queer Week, March 24th through March 28th including Jennifer Finney Boylan, Colby College professor, author and LGBTQ activist spoke at Muhlenberg during Queer Week. Also on the lineup of events was an invitation to a drag show on Lehigh University’s campus, a Day of Silence to draw attention to the bullying and harassment of LGBTQ people, and the screening of “Milk” about the renowned gay activist and politician Harvey Milk.
During the summer of 2014, Muhlenberg Trans Advocacy Coalition (MTAC) was founded. While SQuAd fulfilled social needs of the LGBTQ community, MTAC went further, (video) according to co-founder Connor Tabak ‘16.
The 2015 Homecoming was notable because of the decision to create a gender inclusive homecoming court instead of the traditional king and queen. Also of interest to gender inclusive ideas, the Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance Department presented “Moving Stories” through a showcase of dance works including modern works that investigate gender norms.
The Muhlenberg Weekly’s editor Gregort Kantor ‘18 wrote about the relevance of the newspaper to the campus community. Using the issue of gender neutral bathrooms, Kantor illustrated the importance of comprehensive coverage of important issues.
Spring 2016 Weekly articles tackled more gender inclusive issues such as taking issue with grammar and introducing gender pronouns. Later in the semester, a March 2016 Weekly article addressed the idea of opening Mr. Muhlenberg contest to all genders, bouncing the pros and cons of such a change. And turning to issues of sexual assault, two notable speakers came to campus.
Creator of #WhyIStayed, Beverly Gooden, visited Muhlenberg to discuss perceptions around and the prevention of domestic violence. Gooden pointed out domestic violence impacts gay or bisexual men, lesbian women, immigrant men and women, and disproportionately black women.
In 2019, the Weekly reported the news about gender neutral bathrooms cropping up across campus as a way to address equity and inclusion for personal needs for all identities. In the same issue, Em Panetta -20 wrote “I Have to Pee” to argue for more gender-neutral restrooms. In response to Panetta’s article, Dean Allison (Gulati) Williams underscored the points Panetta made and offered additional information about the Gender Inclusive Working Group.
An October 2019 editorial lauded the existence of groups that help students feel safe. “Thriving, student-led organizations such as Comunidad Latinx, the Unchained Theatre Collective, Muhlenberg Trans Advocacy Coalition (MTAC), the Muhlenberg Disability Advocacy Group (MDAG) and so many more provide support networks for marginalized folks who might not feel so safe anywhere else on campus.” The piece called for Muhlenberg to be a place for everyone to flourish.
Also in the same month, the article about the Fall Foundation Leadership Fair mentioned two groups, Voices of Strength, which focuses on domestic and gender-based violence, and Peer Health Advocates at Muhlenberg (PHAM), in which members act as peer educators on campus. The Fair’s intent was about students being trained to be campus leaders with credible resources.
Later that month, the Multicultural Center hosted the “QTPOC [Queer and Trans People of Color], MTAC [Muhlenberg Trans Advocacy Coalition] and S.Qu.Ad [Students for Queer Advocacy] Spooktacular,” an event celebrating LGBTQ pride and raising money for Point of Pride.
Uniting both students and faculty, the Women and Gender Studies Summit was an opportunity to sit down and discuss their work pertaining to women’s, gender and sexuality studies. Faculty and students from clubs like the Feminist Collective (FemCo), Voices of Strength and MTAC also came out to participate in the dialogue.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic and the resumption of fully in-person classes, there seems to have been an increase in the number of students identifying as LGBTQ+, but active membership in organizations such as SQuAd and MTAC has decreased.
From the perspective of Roman Craig ‘27, “The history of the LGBTQ+ community at Muhlenberg College demonstrates a tremendous growth in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ students on campus through educational programs and community-based activities.”
As a member of the Board of Trustees, Mike Doyle ‘94 lauds the campus for the (video) positive and supportive changes made in recent decades, becoming a safe place for non-binary students to explore their identities. The activism and courage of students through the past fifty years have engendered policy changes at the administrative level that create a greater sense of space and belonging for LGBTQ+ members of the Muhlenberg community.
Roman Craig ’27
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