Ricky Paul traces his activist leanings to the late seventies and the Energy Crisis of 1977. Ricky’s father owned a gas station and was struggling to raise five children in a Family Business setting. When word of gas shortages spread, Lane chose to stage a protest by riding a horse and buggy from Palmyra to Cherry Hill, NJ. He also hung then Dept. of Energy Secretary, James Schlesinger, in effigy.
Fast forward to 1989 and the AIDS pandemic was looming ever stronger. A recently college graduated Ricky and composer/writer Michael Ogborn hopped on a bus to Harrisburg to protest then Governor Casey’s lack of allocated funds to fight AIDS. Shortly thereafter, Ricky regularly protested
and fought for domestic partnership and other rights issues. In 1996, Ricky began a nine year relationship with Safeguards, facilitating support groups including the groundbreaking QueerSomethings, the first gender, age, and HIV status mixed support group, co-facilitated by PJ Walkling.