Part of the frenetic pace this blog has taken as of late (at least compared to my first several post which were spaced out by about a month at a time) is the fact that so many exciting events have been going on in the region as of late! I fully confess that I have been unable to keep up 100% with telling you all the awesome things that are going on here that you can’t really find elsewhere.
Across the country, June has quite recently been declared Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Month, and here in New York State many cities are celebrating Pride this weekend, the annual celebration of acceptance of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Here in Rochester, our Pride is a bit belated this year, celebrated July 10th – 18th but that doesn’t mean the Finger Lakes LGBT community is any less active.
I have heard say in the past that Rochester had actually made a list of top ten gay-friendly cities. Although I am not sure as to the veracity of this statistic – or, even if it is accurate, how old it is – I can say that while there are certainly pockets of intolerance and ignorance, as a whole the Flower City is pretty darned open-minded, I think. We have several gay bars, many of which feature weekly drag shows. We have stores that are openly gay-friendly, whether be it because the owner/s are gay, they support gay employees, or sell rainbow products – and I can even think of one particular adult-store that caters largely to the Leather and BDSM subcultures (although no, one does not have to be gay to enjoy either subculture). There is Equal Grounds, a coffee shop in the trendy South Wedge neighborhood that is openly an LGBT-happy java stop (with some kick-ass hot cider in the fall, by the way). There is even the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus and Lilac Squares, a gay square-dancing group (I totally didn’t know about the latter until doing some background searches, and it made me smile far more than it should have when I did)!
At the forefront of the LGBT Community here in Rochester is the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (GAGV), an organization with a mission to help those who are gay, bi, transgender, questioning, or otherwise identify as Queer. They publish a monthly newsletter called The Empty Closet addressing local and national LGBT news. They run youth programs for LGBT and Questioning teens, as well as programs for Rainbow Seniors. On a weekly basis, free STD rapid tests are offered to anyone who comes to their office.
They are also very active in terms of getting out into the community for education. For example, I recently graduated from a Master’s program in Mental Health Counseling. Two representatives of GAGV (who also happened to be wives to each other) came into our course on Counseling Diverse Populations to discuss not only what is not helpful in counseling someone who is not straight, but also to describe the Coming Out process (no, it’s not just a singular event) to those who might not have been in the know.
They do also run lectures at their home base including a class series called InQueery. I for one wish I had not had my own class to attend last night (one last class to officially get that diploma!), because I could have gone to a lecture describing Rochester’s particular history during the Stonewall Era and beyond. I think it would have been a fascinating history lesson, and I am sorry to have missed it. Look at their calendar and see what else is coming up!
Tonight through Saturday, 6/26, another agency is offering a fundraiser to benefit Pride 2010: Method Machine, a local performance and art company (of who, I confess, I didn’t hear about until now) is presenting The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. This production revisits those originally interviewed in The Laramie Project, a landmark play written from speaking with those in the town of Laramie, Wyoming following the brutal murder of Matthew Shepherd, a college student who was killed for no reason other than the fact that he was gay. Tickets are available at the aforementioned Equal Grounds, Outlandish Gifts (the adult store mentioned above), and the GAGV website for $10 each.
No matter which way you slice it, growing up as a LGBT or Questioning kid has a large likelihood of sucking a lot more than other kids’ youths if that Rainbow child does not have a supportive environment. Although kids can still be cruel and some families just as hateful, to me it is an encouragement to have such a wide-reaching, positive agency in the area like the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. If their message can reach these kids, tends, or even adults who might feel they aren’t accepted, these former outcasts can rest assured that at least somewhere in this world, they are welcomed exactly as they are.
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