Center Blog

We are thrilled to celebrate the historic federal court ruling overturning California’s Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. We still have a long way to go in the battle for true marriage equality, but the significance of this federal ruling is encouraging. Perry v. Schwarzenegger is an ambitious legal strategy to challenge the federal government to treat our families equally.

The fight in California is far from over, and the battle in New York is still underway, but we must not lose sight of this momentous occasion.
Never before has a federal court declared so clearly that marriage discrimination is irrational and unconstitutional.

Judge Walker’s decision cites both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses from the 14th Amendment as the reasons why Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. This is an important moment for our community as a federal court has cited the constitution as a protection of our relationships. But Judge Walker does not stop there. He probes in depth the facts that the supporters of Proposition 8 attempted to use to strip LGBT people of the basic right to marry. To his credit, Judge Walker systematically proves how absurd and unfounded those purported facts are establishing in a critical legal opinion the unassailable, constitutional rights of the LGBT community. His decision rests on the lack of any rational basis for California to have a law banning same-sex marriage.

We at the Center work for a day where LGBT New Yorkers can enjoy the same rights and protections as our straight counterparts. This ruling helps set the stage for future victories. As this fight continues, there will be ups and downs for our movement, but it is important to celebrate as a community when we have a victory such as this!

Please accept our sincere congratulations to the LGBT people and our allies who helped make equality more of a reality for all couples and families.

Glennda Testone

Consider me inspired! I’ve seen the New York City Pride Parade many times, but I’ve never marched. This year, I was fortunate to march with the Center and be in the thick of it. All of my questions were answered and I was completely won over by our community’s collective commitment to the LGBT movement. The sheer beauty, resilience and vibrant diversity of our community filled me with pride and deep appreciation. Along the march, I met young people who never stopped dancing, parents pushing strollers and never running out of patience, HIV+ activists, LGBT immigrants celebrating pride for the first time, transgender participants, friends, colleagues and family. I want to thank the Center staff and board members, interns and volunteers who shared their pride with me and with our entire community. My friend and mentor, Joan Garry, made this video that will give you a snapshot of the glorious day. Enjoy! And thank you, Joan.

Click here to read more about the parade.

Update, April 5th

Today, April 5th, The Census Bureau had its first-ever official unveiling of PSAs for the LGBT Community at our Center. If you missed the unveiling, you can watch this video below.

You may have noticed 2010 Census promotion material everywhere around New York City; on phone booths, buses, public spaces, in newspapers and on television. It is important to our city that everyone fills out the Census so that New York City gets its fair share of funding from the federal government to improve schools, healthcare, fight crime, repair roads, and support other critical city services for all New Yorkers. The 2010 Census matters to everyone, but particularly the LGBT community. Dr. Gary Gates of the Williams explains that “Americans have many misconceptions about the LGBT community that Census data have allowed us to correct. For example, among those in same-sex couples: one in six lives in a rural area, one in four is a person of color, one in five is raising children (two in five among people of color).”

At the Center, 300,000 people visit us a year. The Center uses government funding to provide life-saving services to the LGBT population in New York. Through government funding from federal, state and city sources we are able to provide substance abuse treatment to LGBT New Yorker’s, a safe space for LGBT youth in need as well as a host of other programming.

Currently the census has set up a booth at the Center to assist our community fill out the forms. We applaud that effort to make sure our community is included. However, the census doesn’t track LGBT identity as part of what they collect, and we feel it is incredibly important that they start. We invite you to view this great video from New York City’s TV25 for information about why it is important and specifically why it important to the Center.

Glennda Testone

When you walk through the doors OF THE LGBT CENTER as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning person, you will find a safe space, acceptance and support Every week in fact, 6,000 people come through those doors, THAT’S 300,000 VISITS PER YEAR. PEOPLE come looking for information, resources and community. For some, walking through our doors is the first time they feel safe and supported. Our goal is to make sure it’s not the last. To make sure that wherever they are in New York City, that they have rights and protections that are equal to their straight counterparts. That’s why I am so excited to host this stakeholder meeting with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to discuss the First-Ever Study of Housing Discrimination Again LGBT Members in Rental and Sale of Housing.

We see the Center as a beacon of inclusion and acceptance for a broader society, but we can’t do it alone, and so we are so thrilled to be partnering with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Senators Charles Shumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Jerold Nadler, and Council Members Rosie Mendez, Danny Dromm, Jimmy Van Bramer and Erik Martin Dilan to bring you this forum. I wish I could say that they was no problem, that LGBT people had as much access to housing as everyone else in this city, but I sit on the Mayor’s commission for LGBT Homeless and Runaway Youth, and I have heard the struggles of our young people AS THEY make their way in this city and TRY TO get their basic needs met. I have a dear friend, who is a butch lesbian who just last week told me about the second apartment she and her flamboyantly, fabulously gay friend lost because the landlord “did not want to rent to gay people,” so said the broker. It made me really sad to know that even in New York City, our community faces these challenges, and it made me really proud to work at the LGBT Center where at least for a little while everyday, we can provide a home for our community.

Glennda Testone

Cross posted from Joe. My. God.:  

National Equality March founder Cleve Jones spoke long and passionately to an enthusiastic overflow crowd at NYC’s LGBT Center last night. Numerous well-known activists were in attendance, including Brendan Fay, Gilbert Baker, Lt. Dan Choi, Brandon Brock, and Jeff Campagna, but the only real dissent came from Gay City News’ Andy Humm (pictured above on the right, Father Tony on the left). Humm demanded to know what the concrete goals of the March were, leading Jones to repeat his earlier call for “full civil equality in all 50 states.”

Mentioning complaints about the March’s short lead time, Jones criticized earlier March On Washington events (which had many notable problems), prompting the organizer of the 1987 MOW to lengthily defend its tactics. Jones responded by citing Facebook and other tools of the digital age as obviating the need for yearlong planning. Father Tony provides the video clip below of Jones opening his speech.

Labels: activism, Andy Humm, Cleve Jones, LGBT Community Center, National Equality March

See original post at http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/09/cleve-jones-at-nyc-lgbt-center.html

From the Center’s Youth Enrichment Services (YES) Program:

VIGIL ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2009
The LGBT Community Center in Tel Aviv (Municipal GLBT Community Center, The City of Tel Aviv-Yafo) was confronted with a dreadful attack this past weekend. On

Saturday night, a masked individual entered the LGBT center and opened fire, killing two young people and wounding another fifteen. The attack came in the middle of an LGBT youth support group gathering and many victims are in their teens. Current reports indicate police may have a lead on the individual.

What can we do?

Attend activities on Wednesday — Support our LGBT family by joining the
activities on Wednesday that start at YES at 5:30. See below for details.

Send an email — We would like to express our sincerest condolences to the LGBT Community Center in Tel Aviv, and ask you to do the same. Thoughts and condolences can be sent to CenterLink at CenterLink@LGBTcenters.org and we will forward those to the Center.

Make a card — As a way to support or LGBT family in Tel Aviv, consider making a card. As the youth in the hospital may be there for a while, it would really help to lift their spirits to receive mail from you.

This may bring up a lot of emotions for you. Please see a staff member or drop-in
counselor to talk about how you are feeling.

Schedule for Wednesday, August 5—you can join for any or all of the events!
5:30 — Meet at YES for poster/sign making and processing what happened.
6:30 — Leaving YES to walk down together to Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, 57 Bethune Street.
7:00 — Vigil starts at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, 57 Bethune Street.

More information at Center Calendar.

Check out this episode of GRITtv with Laura Flanders about progressive politics and the LGBT movement–including the Center’s role!  The Center’s former Executive Director, Richard Burns, discusses the LGBT movement with three other leaders.  The segment ends with footage of last week’s Trans Day of Action, which was endorsed by the Center and included a Gender Identity Project contingent.  Watch it now:

From GRITtv with Laura Flanders:  Progressive Politics and the LGBT Movement:

What can the progressive movement learn from the LGBT community? On the 40^th anniversary of Stonewall there has been a good deal of reflection and soul searching on the role of the struggle for gay rights within the larger civil rights movement. Yesterday when Barack Obama met with gay couples in the White House he said, “It’s not for me to tell you to be patient any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African-Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half-century ago. We’ve been in office six months now. I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration.” That could be applied to a number of issues, not only those affecting the LGBT community.

Richard Burns, Chief Operating Officer of the Arcus Foundation, Naomi Clark of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Richard Kim, Associate Editor at The Nation, and independent journalist Nancy Goldstein on the role of LGBT politics within the progressive movement.

This just in: we’re announcing the winners of Project Pushback, our marriage equality contest (our joint project with the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center).  Congratulations to Family Values, the Grand Prize winner and Blaire Wedding Project, the People’s Choice winner!

Grand Prize Winner:
Family Values by Andrew Putschoegl

People’s Choice Winner:
Blaire Wedding Project by Samantha Lavin and Lori Brener

Family Values was selected by the Project Pushback judges, from the 11 finalists, as the Grand Prize winner, earning creator Andrew Putschoegl the $2,500 grand prize! The $1,000 People’s Choice Award winner was Blaire Wedding Project, created by Samantha Lavin and Lori Brener.

Congratulations to Lisa R. who won the drawing for the Sony HD video camera.

Watch all of the entries here.

Learn more about Project Pushback.

Project Pushback, our marriage equality video project with the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, was featured on KNBC-LA (see the video below) and in an Advocate article.  Don’t forget to vote for your favorite video at equalityvideo.org!

KNBC-LA
Advocate
Project Pushback

I was going to write about Pride, how it looks for LGBT families in New York City – the gatherings in parks, the marches, and our 21st annual Center Kids, Center Families Pride Picnic on June 27 (this year, featuring entertainment from “Shrek: The Musical“!) – but today, I can’t help but be distracted from the spirit of celebration by the heartbreaking murder of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita this weekend.

For the past six years, New York’s LGBT Community Center has been the central organizing point for a coalition-building, movement-building project called Causes in Common: Reproductive Justice and LGBT Liberation, which makes the connections between the shared work and struggle for choice and privacy, yes, but also for access to comprehensive, competent  reproductive health services, for autonomy in matters of sexuality and reproduction, for safety, affordability, privacy, and access, all in the context of a social justice and human rights framework.  Our network now includes over 140 LGBT and reproductive health and rights advocacy organizations, and Dr. Tiller’s killing impacts every one of us.

In many regions of the country, doctors willing to perform abortions are virtually nonexistent. In every region of the country, abortion providers and the patients they serve are picketed and threatened with violence, including here in the biggest city in the liberal northeast. And those of us who are students of history or old enough to remember know that elimination of services won’t eliminate the determination of desperate women to end pregnancies – they will just resort to dangerous, often deadly means to do so.

And it’s not just about abortion, or “choice” vs. “life”, or some other hopelessly reductionist frame. It’s about external forces – government, ideology, religion, fanaticism – walking into our bedrooms, our doctors’ offices, our emergency rooms and clinics, our relationships and families, our lives – and taking over, deciding for us who gets to have children and who doesn’t and when we can have them, who receives services and who doesn’t, the methods we are permitted to employ to create our families, which families count as legitimate and which do not, which lives matter and which ones don’t.

Dr. Tiller’s assassination is a blow to all of us who advocate for the right to create and define and value our families, in an atmosphere of safety and security. Before we celebrate, we mourn.

Terry Boggis, Director, Center Kids, Center Families

Tonight in NYC: Vigil to Remember Dr. George Tiller (nownyc.org)

More information on Center Kids, Center Families is at gaycenter.org/families