Barbour, who lives in Warwick with her wife and daughter, created the group in response to several reports of harassment of LGBTQ+ youth in the area. Her organization’s mission is simple: to create a safer America. If you’re trying to get it right, you might want to contact Danielle Barbour, founder of Safe Space America. “Fifteen years ago, people were not reaching out to a community center for that, but they want to get it right.
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“We’ve had the New Paltz Police Department reach out to us in regard to writing guidance on how to work with those of transgender experience,” he says. (She later changed her position in the years prior to her 2016 campaign.) Jeff Rindler (left), executive director of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in Kingston, says he’s witnessed this shift firsthand: While it’s hard to believe today, Hillary Clinton actually campaigned for the presidency with an anti-same-sex marriage stance as late as 2008. Public opinion on the subject has done an about-face. Sansivero says both events were well attended.īy all accounts, the LGBTQ+ community has made great strides in the last decade.
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At the event, panelists spoke about common problems transgender patients face and proper procedures when treating them. The group also collaborated with the Mount’s Nursing Student Union to organize a panel presentation on transgender healthcare for nursing students. The event is part of a nationwide display of solidarity with LGBTQ+ individuals who are silenced by intolerance and discrimination. “Our biggest event was the Day of Silence and the Night of Noise,” says Ofca. President Ali Ofca, a 21-year-old criminology major, and Treasurer Arik Sansivero, a 19-year-old psychology major with a focus in forensics, are leading the group in 2017-2018, after spending last year reinvigorating the club’s campus presence. After struggling through gaps in leadership and periods of dormancy, the club returned during the 2016-2017 academic year. Mount Saint Mary College may not be the first school you associate with LGBTQ+ rights, but the Allies Club on campus is working to change that. “I think for too long people have gotten used to gay and lesbian events only being nightlife events that happen in a bar,” Hengst says, “and there’s a lot more community that exists outside the confines of a bar.”Īli Ofca ( left) and Arik Sansivero ( right) are leading the Allies Club and working to increase the LGBTQ+ presence at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. Hengst and Decker have worked to fill this void. “That event - there aren’t many like it in the gay and lesbian community anywhere.” However, he emphasizes that Out On The Farm is a black sheep in terms of social gatherings. “The region’s always had a very robust LGBTQ community,” says Hengst. Nearly 300 people came out for the event at Sprout Creek Farm. Last October they partnered with the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center for Out On The Farm, an evening where families can play with animals, eat, drink, listen to live music, socialize, and connect. Other changes, such as the diversification of the LGBTQ+ community, are unique and have even been fostered by Big Gay Hudson Valley.Īs Big Gay Hudson Valley grew, so did its strategies for connecting the community. Some developments are universal, such as the advent of social networking sites, to which he attributes the disappearance of gay bars and gay bookstores in the region. Hengst, who attended the Culinary Institute of America in the 1990s, has witnessed a great deal of change in the Hudson Valley’s LGBTQ+ community. Now, thousands of residents attend Big Gay Hudson Valley’s (BGHV) events each year.
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As their side project grew from a Facebook group into a blog into a website, the couple realized they had bridged a gap in local culture.
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president was elected, and Stephan Hengst and Patrick Decker founded Big Gay Hudson Valley.Īfter growing frustrated by poor coordination in the LGBTQ+ community, Hengst and Decker created a Facebook group to increase communication and reduce overlap in event planning. economy collapsed, Heath Ledger gave his iconic performance as The Joker, the first black U.S. Ten years ago, Michael Phelps broke Mark Spitz’s record in Beijing, the U.S. We spoke with residents to see if our region offers an example or an exception to the union’s state of affairs. PHOTO COURTESY OF BIG GAY HUDSON VALLEY By Steve Fowler | Featuring Photography by Michael PolitoĪfter making heartening progress over the last decade, the LGBTQ + community now finds itself uneasy on a national level.