During the period in early 1971 I maintained ties with the folks on the fifth floor of Mifflin Hall, as did Carl, though I’m not sure whether Perry and Terry visited there as often as we did.

I still thought of myself as part of the Penn State community, even though I was no longer a student. Happily, Pattee Library allowed State College residents to check out books, so one could frequently find me either in the periodicals room or the stacks.

In Mifflin Hall I’d visit with Tom Hanlon and his roommate (whose name, alas, I’ve forgotten) and Denny and Bullet Bob and a couple others.

I always got a copy of The Daily Collegian, the campus newspaper.

I had assumed that that was where I first heard about the first HoPS meeting, but as I peruse the online archives, I don’t see a mention of it there, so the only other way I could have heard about the Homophiles of Penn State would have been if there were posters plastered around campus. I must have seen them.

I can give only a rough date for that first meeting, because according to the online histories, the university granted a charter for the organization on April 22, 1971. Another site claims it was “recognized” by the university in March of 1971. I’ve thought about it, and I tend to think late April was the first meeting, but that’s only a guess.

I was not a joiner, but I was intrigued by the idea, and whatever poster I saw must have indicated that membership and attendance were open not only to students but to the community at large, and its aim was “to change attitudes towards homosexuality through legal reform, pubic education, and individual counseling.”

So I went.

I remember a few things about that first meeting. 

There were perhaps between 15 to 20 people there, mostly guys, but a couple gals as well. We were sitting around in a semi-circle so we could all see each other, and at the head of the semi-circle were the three founders of the organization, Bruce Miller, Diane Novack, and a fellow named Joe.

I got to know Bruce reasonably well in the weeks and months afterwards, and he was a pleasant, amiable fellow (I’m trying to avoid saying “nice guy”). I got to know Diane less well, as she was more driven in her efforts to seek equality both for her sex and for the gay community, but she was easy to talk to.

I think it was Diane who set the agenda and was the driving force, at least initially, for HoPS, as it seemed to derive much of its mojo from the women’s movement. Even the faculty advisor, Ursula Müller (or Ushi as we called her), was active in the women’s movement.

As for Joe, well, he had longish hair and a perpetually sullen look on his face that said “don’t come near me!” So I didn’t. In the ensuing weeks and months, I saw him often, and he had a circle of friends that he spoke to, and he didn’t seem to be interested in expanding that circle.

There was another fellow there, a guy with red hair, and I’m sorry to say, I no longer remember his name, given the important role that he was about to play in my life. I’m going to call him Duane as I’m pretty sure his name did begin with a D (Dennis, perhaps?). As I would soon discover, he was actually part of a trio of friends— But I’m getting ahead of myself again.

I hate to throw all these names at you at once, but I’m afraid there’s one more. One that longtime readers of this blog have heard before.

It was on this occasion that I first met Ron Funk.