Gay groups on campus like HOPS (Homophiles of Penn State), which had fought hard for recognition in the ‘70s, had disbanded because of a lack of membership. In town, gay bars which had been thriving began to struggle, then fail. In 1986, as the Nittany Lions won the college football National Championship, the Penn State women’s basketball coach bragged to the Chicago Sun Times that she forbade lesbian athletes in her program.

It was against this backdrop in 1984, that Chumley’s was born. Liz Pierce and husband Joe Schrantz opened our little pub right in the center of town and across the street from the University. They served soups and sandwiches and cold beer to a professorial crowd. Chumley’s filled a void.

There were certain peculiarities. In those days, most gay bars in small towns were hidden. Secret doors, back alleys. Off the beaten path. But Chumley’s was front and center. Definitely small and dark, but still, on the main drag in the very center of town. You’ll hear people who went to Chumley’s in those early days tell of pacing the block for half the night, hoping nobody would see them enter. “Cha Cha’s” was code for Chumley’s, if you wanted to leave another bar to be with your gay friends.

In 1993, more than 10,000 people visited campus to witness the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It was a reckoning for the local community, acknowledgement of loss that Chumley’s had already felt keenly, intimately. Chumleys’ Manager, Jimmy Hanosek, was navigating these dark times, cultivating the sense of family, the diversity, and the esprit de corps that are our signature. Jimmy (AKA the BFQ) managed with wit, a heart of gold, and a penchant for cleaning that go unparalleled. If the walls could talk, they’d share a pretty spectacular snapshot of the evolution of what it meant to be gay in small town America.

In 2007, former Penn State and NBA basketball star John Amaechi came out publicly as gay, the first NBA player ever to do so. In the Spring of 2008, State College Mayor Bill Welch presided over the first publicly held same-sex commitment ceremony ever to be performed by a public official in Centre County. Four gay and lesbian couples promised to support each other, with a crowd of over 700 people there to celebrate with them. In 2015, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. That same year, Penn State began offering Partner Benefits to gay couples. In 2019, throngs of people, gay and straight, in cities and towns all over America, celebrated the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

The tide was turning and all of these milestones along with a carefully cultivated culture of acceptance on campus have helped us to become more diverse too. Live music, a carefully curated cocktail menu, and a food menu with an international flair have brought in a broader crowd, and social media has made things a whole lot more connected for LGBTQA people. Our community is now firmly in the driver’s seat in shaping the future for Central Pennsylvania.

In 2020, facing the challenge of a worldwide pandemic, new ownership made a commitment to give Chumley’s some serious love, a facelift, and a tip of the hat in recognition of our storied history. We’re more diverse than ever, a true fusion of local and remote.

Over the decades, amidst seismic change, Chumley’s has been home. Our customers made it that way, and help us keep it that way. We hear it all the time, when people move on to the bigger world: “I still haven’t found another Chumley’s.”