Center Blog

Guest Post by Donald Conrad

The Center hosted the Fire Island Share-a-Thon, the long-running annual meet-and-greet for those looking to nab a summer beach house share on the island..  Over twenty agents were on hand offering great properties, including a major real estate company offering a range of properties on the island.  By 7pm the room was packed with enthusiastic people hoping to secure their ticket out of the city this summer.

As many know, fire destroyed several businesses last November, including the Pavilion, the island’s premier nightclub.  Just this month, property owners selected the architectural firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, whose recent high-profile commissions include the High Line and the redesign of Lincoln Center, to rebuild with an ambitious set of plans.  However, since construction cannot be completed until the 2013 season, they also announced that a temporary nightclub would be built for this season.

So how does this affect property rental for this season?  Most of the agents indicated that the fire would actually have little, if any, effect.  In fact, even with the economy, many agents said that they were ahead of last year in filling up vacancies.

And, what will the loss of so much of the business district have on the vacationing experience?  One agent offered the following assessment, “No matter what the circumstances, the boys will always party!”  Another said he has already heard of many house parties in the planning stages and that this season could actually be unique because house parties usually make it easier to get to know others on the island.

There was a range of offerings available to suit almost anyone’s needs and bank account.  So congratulations to those who locked down a deal – and for those who haven’t, don’t miss the next Share-a-Thon on Thursday, February 23^rd.

Guest Post By Jeff Adams

When I signed up to blog the Center’s January Second Tuesday Lecture Series featuring author Michael Schiavi disusing Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo, I knew two things about Russo. First, the Center’s library was co-named after him. Second, he wrote the book The Celluloid Closet, which I had read portions of and had seen the film.

What I did not know was that he also co-founded Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as well as ACT-UP. He was a constant, and key, fighter for the gay community from shortly after Stonewall until is death in 1990. The Celluloid Closet was a sizeable part of his activism as he documented the effect of the horrible way Hollywood portrayed gays was having on the gay community.

Schiavi’s biography looks at Russo’s life from his days growing up in East Harlem through his years researching and giving Celluloid Closet lectures and into the era of AIDS and his death.

Schiavi said that Russo was very out of place in East Harlem since he was “very intelligent, very articulate, often effeminate and shy. He suffered a lot at the hands of bullies.” It’s no surprise with that going on that he escaped into movies.

“There is no bigger film queen in history than Vito Russo,” said Schiavi.

Russo spent high school and college in New Jersey, but he escaped back to NYC as soon as he could after his graduation in 1968. The following year he witnessed the Stonewall Riots from a spot above the confrontation, in a tree. Schiavi said that violence scared Russo, but he wanted to see what was happening since gay people fighting back was unheard of at the time.

It was another incident, the raid on The Snake Pit, a West Village gay bar, on March 8, 1970, that brought Russo fully into activism. He joined up with the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) after talking with a GAA member at a vigil for a young man who was impaled on a fence trying to escape from a police station.

According to Schiavi, Russo loved the GAA because it was loud and theatrical, staging “zaps,” demonstrations that targeted homophobes. While at GAA, Russo created both a Cabaret Night, where singers could sing love songs to their own gender, and Film Night.

Film night showed mainstream movies, as well as gay cinema. Russo thought he could make movie night into a lecture tour discussing how Hollywood treated gay characters. The Celluloid Closet was born as a twenty-minute lecture he gave to college groups. He knew he needed more material than that though. The twenty minutes grew to more than three hours by the time of his death in 1990.

“Vito would see a film and know why his life on the street was hell because of how the gay characters were portrayed,” said Schiavi.

From the lectures, the first edition of the book was published in 1981. Between 1973 and 1981 he was all over the world giving the lecture. There was such a demand that the book went to a second printing. However, the book quickly became dated as the first news story about AIDS broke the same week The Celluloid Closet was released.

In the wake of AIDS, Russo watched gay portrayal at the moves deteriorate further, especially in teen movies which became increasingly homophobic. He pointed to an almost mandatory use of the word “faggot” that taught teens that it was okay to use that language and to hate.

In the wake of how society was reacting to AIDS, as well as his own diagnosis, Russo took on three projects. He co-founded GLAAD to battle how gays were represented in the media. He revised The Celluloid Closet to discuss how movies portrayed AIDS (that edition was released in 1987). Also in ’87 he joined with Larry Kramer and others in the formation of ACT UP.

For Russo, GLAAD was a way for all instances of homophobia in the media to be met with a loud response. Meanwhile, ACT UP was a way to get laws changed. According to Schiavi, Russo gave one of the most, if not the most, famous of the ACT UP speeches in October 1988 at the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, DC.

Words from that speech still resound today: “Someday, the AIDS crisis will be over. Remember that. And when that day comes — when that day has come and gone, there’ll be people alive on this earth — gay people and straight people, men and women, black and white, who will hear the story that once there was a terrible disease in this country and all over the world, and that a brave group of people stood up and fought and, in some cases, gave their lives, so that other people might live and be free.”

Schiavi showed a clip of Russo giving the FDA speech. It was emotional for some audience members as there were some of Russo’s friends, people who had worked with him at various organizations, and some who had heard him speak. It shows the impact Russo’s words and actions carry more than 20 years later.

LGBT people often avoid medical treatment because they have been treated poorly by health practitioners in the past or because they fear stigma and marginalization because of who they are. Many studies confirm the harsh treatment LGBT people experience in health care settings.

Lesbian Cancer Initiative (LCI) Coordinator Cristina Moldow, Gender Identity Project Community Prevention Coordinator Cristina Herrera, and LCI Intern Kaz Mitchell

At a recent joint City Council hearing held by the Committee on Civil Rights and Committee on Health, two Center staff members and an intern testified in favor of strong LGBT cultural competency training in New York City’s public hospitals. Gender Identity Project Community Prevention Coordinator Cristina Herrera, Lesbian Cancer Initiative (LCI) Coordinator Cristina Moldow, and LCI Intern Kaz Mitchell all urged the City Council to support and bolster efforts by New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) to require trainings that ensure all LGBT people are treated with the utmost respect in city hospitals, and develop robust standards to evaluate the progress of such endeavors.

As Herrera, Moldow and Mitchell all noted:

“LGBT people underutilize care largely due to fear of, and past experiences of discrimination and mistreatment.  A long-standing community history of violence and abuse has left many community members mistrusting, especially where physical contact is concerned. Oftentimes it’s difficult for people to find a medical provider who has experience working with LGBT patients, let alone a comfort level.”

Our Center advocates stressed the vital need for respectful, patient-centered and culturally competent healthcare services for the thousands of LGBT patients served by public hospitals and community health centers every year; they also offered the Center’s continued expertise and resources to help make this a reality.  The Center is pleased to help the city in its efforts to make New York City public hospitals safe, welcoming settings for all LGBT people.

This week our Director of Center Wellness Andres Hoyos, joined two Center clients in testifying before New York City Council’s Committee on Immigration. The legislative body was specifically looking into how NYC immigrants are treated in detention centers and considering two resolutions. 

One resolution “urges the United States Department of Homeland Security to investigate abuse allegations and take action to ensure the safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender immigrants in the custody of the United States Department of Homeland Security.” The other “calls upon the 112^th United States Congress to pass, and the President to sign, the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act (H.R. 933), to reform immigration detention procedures and help ensure more just detention policies and procedures.”

Hoyos pointed out the often brutal conditions facing LGBT immigrants in custody:

The LGBT immigrants that seek services at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center tell us stories of the abuse they have suffered at detention centers. Their complaints span from verbal abuse, to excessive force, to sexual assault by fellow detainees and prison officers. Denial of adequate medical care is also widespread and includes medical treatment for detainees living with HIV, and hormone therapy for transgender immigrant detainees. The lack of enforceable regulations providing required care to LGBT immigrant detainees is obvious. Both, the federal and the local administrations have failed to adequately address LGBT immigration detention conditions.

Two clients we have served at the Center also testified about the poor treatment they encountered in detention centers.

Cecilia Gentili is a transgender immigrant from Argentina who faced both physical and verbal abuse in correctional facilities before she was ultimately granted asylum after being in this country for 10 years.

In January 2001 I came to the US from Argentina escaping from oppression, discrimination and stigma against transgender people. At that time I had already developed an unhealthy mechanism to cope with all the abuse experienced in my country of origin: drugs.

The uncertainties about my legal situation in this country, the very low self-esteem, and the inability to deal with my past didn’t help and my problem escalated.

I was arrested for drug possession four times and each arrest  was a very painful experience. Police officers made fun of me and I was verbally abused in the precincts. One time, before facing the judge, I was forced to have sex with an officer. When I tried to report it to my lawyer, she totally overlooked it and talked me into “taking care of getting me released,” instead.

After my last arrest I was sent to Rikers Island, where things did not go any better. A transgender woman already in the process of transition, I was placed with men and experienced physical and verbal abuse by other inmates that was absolutely ignored by the guards. It seemed more like an amusement for them.  I also received no treatment for heroine withdrawals for several days.

During those days my legal situation came up and I was sent to the Immigration Detention Center on Varick Street in Manhattan. I was put in isolation. My emotions and mental state where severely compromised.

Luckily Ms. Gentili has been able to overcome the immense obstacles she faced, but many LGBT immigrants are not as fortunate.  She urged the the City Council committee not to forget her harrowing story.

Another Center client, David Williams relayed the poor conditions he encountered at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility (BFDF), in Batavia, New York

There was inadequate rationing of clothing and hygiene supplies; poor quality food; constant toilet privacy violations; ‘double bunking’ with newly sentenced or pending sentencing federal prisoners (who usually started violent fights); freezing cold water in the showers; no proper medical treatment or availability; and cell blocks that contained segregated prisoners who required round the clock transport back and forth to their cells.

During his testimony Andres Hoyos gave the committee his recommendations for fixing the current system:

1.    Provide funding for awareness campaigns that inform LGBT immigrants about their rights and connect them to services as soon as they arrive in the United States.

2.    Ensure that voices of LGBT immigrants are heard within the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA). Encourage the creation of a LGBT immigrant committee within the MOIA whose job will be to ensure that all literature created by the MOIA is inclusive of LGBT immigrants.

3.    Assist the Center in expanding funding opportunities that will address the need for continued emotional support services and advocacy for LGBT immigrants at the Center.

4.    Enact and enforce protocols that take in consideration and safeguard the emotional and physical well being of the LGBT immigrants.

5.    Establish collaborations with community based organizations and other agencies to expand the pool of options beyond detention centers. These options should ensure that immigrants stay within the geographical area where he/she is based and not removed out of state as is currently the case in many instances.

6.    Establish collaborations with community based organizations and other agencies to increase education among the immigrant community about their rights,  and alternatives to detention, how to file complains and who can advocate on their behalf regarding any irregularity that may happen in while under the care of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

7.    Establish clear protocols as to how the immigrants that are under the care of DHS will have access to HIV medications, anti-depressants, hormone treatment and other mental or physical needs.

8.    Solitary confinement should never be the first option for LGBT immigrants but an alternative to detention, since this causes severe negative emotional impacts.

The Center is thankful that the City Council had this vital conversation and looks forward to collaborating to develop new programs that address the needs of the LGBT immigrant community.

Guest Post by Richard Allen

Though you may not be immediately familiar with the name Jonathan David Katz, you might be aware of the flap surrounding he and his co-curators, David C. Ward and Jenn Sichel last year. They originally organized HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

Jonathan David Katz

The exhibit sought to show the gay presence, both as subject and creator, in American art in the last century, and was intentionally as un-sensationalistic as it could be. (In fact, apart from two or three exceptions, Katz and his colleagues chose to only show nudes by straight artists, and only showed portraits by gay artists that were clothed, and at most obliquely sexual.) One piece, however, a short video by the artist David Wojnarowicz called “A Fire in My Belly,” was removed without the curators’ prior knowledge or consent, due to content that some, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, saw as anti-Christian.  

The content is a brief shot of ants crawling over a crucifix, within a slightly longer scene of ants crawling over other objects as well.  The 1987 short film is meant to allegorize the artist’s feelings about his own looming death from AIDS. (He died in 1992.) The video is uncontroversial, as is the majority of the work in the exhibit (who knew there were so many Robert Mapplethorpe photographs that didn’t contain nudity?), to the extent that one gets the impression that protesters and critics were looking for anything that they deemed scandalous or inappropriate, and that they were clutching at straws to condemn something, anything about the show, because none of the more obviously homoerotic imagery, which was the true target, was particularly shocking or objectionable.

At the Center’s most recent Second Tuesday Lecture Series on November 15th, Katz avoided focusing on that aspect of the exhibit, which opened at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in November; he instead highlighted the curatorial process of the exhibit, and discussed the gay shadow history that lay just past the surface of the twentieth century.  

Katz is currently the director of the graduate program in visual culture studies at SUNY Buffalo, and the depth of his knowledge coupled with his engaging and unpretentious speaking style quickly won over a room that was initially more interested in the mediagenic side of the exhibit.

He began his lecture with a painting by Thomas Eakins called Salutat from 1898, depicting a young, muscular prize fighter on display for a shadowy audience.  The body is not presented only as the winner of a contest, but also as an object for delectation, both for the viewers in the painting, and outside.  Eakins, however, was straight, and this first image laid the groundwork for one of Katz’s main themes in the lecture: that prior to the Lavender Menace of the 1950s, co-witch hunt of the Red Menace, being gay, nebulous concept though that was, was frequently treated with a casual awareness, and even winking tolerance, by the larger, heterosexual culture.  

He went on to show several images of public bathing in World War I-era New York by George Bellows, also straight, that had figures that we moderns clearly peg as “gay”, and Katz hastened to assure us that the original audience of these pictures would also have understood what was being depicted, in a neutral, documentary fashion.  

Katz continued on with his selective overview of the 105 works in the show, cycling through gay touchstones like Paul Cadmus and the wealthy lesbian ex-pat scene in Paris, but also teasing out the overtones of same-sex attraction and gay identity in the works of artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg.  His characterization of the works of Johns and Rauschenberg during their relationship as a sort of lovers’ conversation was particularly poignant, and he convincingly argued that the mainstream art history community’s willful white-washing of this relationship not only robs gay culture of two major figures, but also ignores an entire set of clues for analyzing their output.

The final image Katz showed, and the final image in the exhibit, was of an enormous, wall-engulfing (84×168 inches) photograph by A.A. Bronson called Felix, June 5, 1994.  It shows the artist’s partner in bed, shortly after dying from AIDS, so emaciated that he looks barely human, his skin so drawn across his skeletal face that his eyes could not be closed after his death; there simply was no longer the excess flesh for eyelids.  The photograph is harrowing and brutal, and dares the viewer to look away, or to keep looking; both options are excruciating.  Its placement seems to say that this is where a hundred years of art and history and politics and disease have led to, and that the true scandal of this exhibit is not some ants crawling on a crucifix for a few seconds, but instead the photographic proof of the social and political indifference that led AIDS to ravage a community and a decade.

HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture runs through February 12, 2012 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Guest Post by Otto Coca

On Monday, December 5, the Center hosted a very special holiday event. It was the Broadway Sings for Pride Winter Concert; an evening filled with fabulous music and performances with the emphasis on pride and holiday cheer. Hosted by the irrepressible Marissa Rosen, star of My Big Gay Italian Wedding and the dashing Raphael Miranda, NBC New York’s weekend meteorologist, the evening was an important fundraiser for the Center and a major success.

Before the doors opened, guests enjoyed cocktails in the reception area and browsed a Broadway-themed silent auction featuring signed playbills and window cards from top shows.

Inside, the set may have been minimal, but green and red projections kept the stage animated as the evening’s talent performed songs befitting the season in addition to songs that spoke to the theme of pride and love.

The third floor auditorium was packed as Raphael Miranda and Russell Fischer of Broadway’s Jersey Boys performed a charming Winter Medley while ‘snowclouds’ danced and sang around them. While Miranda played the strong silent type, Fischer, with his full, soulful voice, filled the room and got the evening off to a great start.

With such a full line-up, acts took to the stage in rapid succession and had time for only one or two songs before turning the stage over to the next eager performer. The performers camaraderie and enthusiasm was infectious and the audience greeted each act with huge rounds of applause.

Some highlights were Adam Pascal, the Tony-nominated star of Rent and other Broadway shows; Terri White spent her evening off from Follies to be part of the festivities; singer-songwriter Emily Kinney of Spring Awakening gave the crowd a dose of adorable with quirky selections from her recent album, Blue Toothbrush.

Lesser known performers gave their all: Katie Thompson and her ‘tween guest vocalist, Julia Riglioso, had the audience in hysterics with their I like Christmas for the Food and Amy Toporek raised the roof with her amazing voice and natural stage presence. Each of the evening’s performances earned the audience’s praise, not only from talent but also for simply being part of this wonderful evening.

Andres Hoyos (middle) receiving NASW-NYC Emerging Leaders Award

On December 1, Director of Center Wellness Andrés Hoyos, received an Emerging Leaders Award from the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-NYC). Hundreds gathered at Jing Fong Restaurant in Manhattan to pay tribute not only to Hoyos, but a host of other influential social workers. Hoyos was joined by his Center colleagues Nicole Avallone, Director of Youth Services, and George Fesser, Director of Center Families.

Through its leadership awards, NASW-NYC recognizes social workers who demonstrate exemplary leadership qualities and a unique commitment to the improvement of social and human conditions, assuring a promising future for the profession and the communities they serve.

Andrés Hoyos is a gay Latino man, originally from Colombia, who has been working in the field of social services since he was a teenager. Hoyos began his career in his native Medellín, where he worked with an NGO to establish the first ever national HIV/AIDS hotline in Colombia.

Center Staff: Nicole Avallone, Dir. of Youth Services (left), Andres Hoyos, Director of Center Wellness (middle), George Fesser, Director of Center Families (right)

Since relocating to New York City in 2000, he has worked on a volunteer basis with several agencies and committees to improve the quality of life for our communities—such as GMHC, the NYC HIV/AIDS Prevention Planning Group, Queens Pride House, the Manhattan Alcohol and Substance Abuse Council, and the Cultural Diversity Committee of Association of Substance Abuse Provider NYS.

Hoyos has been working at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in NYC since 2003. In 2007, he founded and became director of Center Recovery, the first and only state licensed substance abuse prevention program serving the LGBT community in New York.

Hoyos currently serves as the Director of Center Wellness. Under his leadership, the program has provided vital support social services to tens of thousands of LGBT people.

Andres Hoyos, Director of Center Wellness, at NASW-NYC Awards

In 2009, Hoyos was selected along with 19 other people of color as new leaders of the LGBT movement nationwide, to be part of the inaugural “21st Century Fellows Program,” sponsored by Arcus Foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, and the Gill Foundation.

Andres Hoyos, Director of Center Wellness (left) and Nicole Avallone, Director of Youth Services (right)

Hoyos’ commitment to social justice has been infused throughout his work at the Center, his private practice, and most recently, as an Adjunct Professor and Faculty Advisor at NYU’s School of Social Work. The Center congratulates him on this well-deserved honor!

The Center is posting this information at the request of our sister organization, the NYC Anti-Violence Project.

Real Talk with AVP: Identifying Intimate Partner Violence

Tuesday December 13th

6:30 – 8:30pm

NYC Anti-Violence Project

240 W. 35^th St., 2^nd Floor, Between 7^th and 8^th Ave.

Want to learn more about what defines an abusive relationship? 

Ever felt powerless when your friends were in unhealthy relationships?

Do you want to end Intimate Partner Violence within Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ)  communities?

Come ready to learn, share, and take action to end Intimate Partner Violence in LGBTQ Communities.  “Real Talks” are chances for AVP community members to join together to learn issues and to create strategies to reduce violence.

Light refreshments will be served.  To register, please visit this link. 

Guest Post by: Stephan Lherisson

On Friday, November 11, LGBT veterans and supporters came together for the Center’s LGBT Veteran’s Day Reception: A Celebration of Service, honoring the first Veteran’s Day since the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Current and former soldiers of the United States armed forces from as far back as World War II, to as present as Afghanistan were available for an event to honor their sacrifices to the country as well as their ability to now serve openly and proudly as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

Photo by Andy Duty

Alfred Eriksson, currently an antique prints and maps dealer, was one of those who served in the Second World War. Drafted in 1943 he served till 1946. He was a Sergeant in Army intelligence studying the Japanese army.  Of the repeal he said,” It’s wonderful.”

“During the actual war they didn’t pay attention to sexual orientation,”   he said when asked about attitudes toward sexuality in the army during that time. “Everyone was very discreet,” he added.

Ed Loecher who served as a Staff Sergeant in Korea from 1951-1955 echoed that sentiment. “I don’t think anyone cared too much. When you’re out in the field people don’t care as much.”

Morgan Cooley, an E5 Sergeant in the U.S. Army for six years in Afghanistan expressed her excitement over being able to attend multiple Veteran’s Day events openly now. She expressed the pressure she felt as a woman, especially in the military environment which can be as close as a family.

Photo by Andy Duty

The mastermind behind the event was Adrian Ogle, the Cultural Programs Coordinator. Why did he decide to make this his first event at the center? “Because following the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal I came to the conclusion I was disconnected from the service.”

The event was marked by a performance from the Gay Men’s Chorus as well as speeches from speakers Zeke Stokes from the Service Members Legal Defense Network, Brenda “Sue” Fulton from Knights Out, Denny Meyer from American Veterans for Equal Rights and the Transgender American Veterans Association, Joshua Seefried from OutServe, and Anu Bhagwati from the Service Women’s Action Network.

For all of its celebration the occasions was also used to remember the battles won but also the battles to come as event goers mentioned the continued plight of transgender soldiers who still cannot serve openly in the military.

One of our sister organizations, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), has asked the Center to help get the word out about its GSA Census.

Here’s direction from GLSEN on how you can get involved:

 Click Here to take the 2011 GSA Census and let your GSA’s needs in the safe schools movement be heard!

How many GSAs exist in the country? What kinds of support do GSAs need? We want to know and we need YOUR help! 

The GSA Census defines GSA as an umbrella term used to refer to all student clubs that bring LGBT youth and allies together to work on creating safe and inclusive school environments (e.g., Gay-Straight Alliance, Gay-Straight-Transgender Alliance, Queer-Straight Alliance, Rainbow Club). All GSA students and advisors/sponsors are welcome to take the GSA Census. 

All GSA Census participants will be entered in a raffle to win a www.glsenstore.org gift certificate!