lgbtq community centers

It’s not easy for any person of African descent to be LGBTQ in our black communities, but our transgender brothers and sisters might feel the most discrimination. The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), in collaboration with the National Gay and Lesbian task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) released a groundbreaking study in September called "Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at Black Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey."

Pride parades will be taking place all over the country this month.  As we all rev up for this year's festivities, so, too, the fault lines of race, gender identity and class will emerge as well. In addition to Gay Pride events, there will be a segment of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) population attending Black Gay Pride and Latino Gay Pride events.
 

As we all know, June is Pride Month for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities across the country -- and parades abound. Some in our community contest that we are in a holding pattern while other argue that we are ready to assimilate into mainstream society.

Our culture’s egregious forms of commercialism always bother me -- and its anemic recognition of other celebratory forms of this holiday season other than Christmas, like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, and the celebration of the winter solstice. Too often we see the glitz and glamour that this holiday brings and we have totally missed its spiritual message. And because many of the spiritual aspects of this season are lost, so too, by too many of us, is the gift of giving to the neediest in our communities. In my community, some of the neediest are our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) homeless youth and young adults. And unfortunately, our LGBTQ homeless youth and young adults face the annual angst of searching for home for the holidays.

As you’re gearing up for that love-it or hate-it holiday, Valentine’s Day, we wanted to introduce you to (or remind you about) Revel & Riot, an awesome company that has updated the world of symbols and products for the LGBTQ (and supportive) community.

Every year Mayor Tom Menino's Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events puts on its annual Boston GospelFest at City Hall Plaza. And because the Gospelfest is a public and taxpayer-funded community event, it’s open to all -- even its African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. But with Pastor Donnie McClurkin, the poster boy for African American ex-gay ministries, who spews anti-gay religion-based vitriol, billed as the main event, many in the African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities will not be in attendance at this year’s event. And neither will the mayor.
 

Irish and African-American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities share a lot in common when it comes to being excluded from iconic institutions in their communities. For LGBTQ African Americans, it's the Black Church, and for LGBTQ Irish, it's the St. Patrick's Day Parade. St. Patrick's Day has rolled around again, and like previous March 17th celebrations nationwide, its LGBTQ communities are not invited. As a contentious and protracted argument for now over two decades, parade officials have a difficult time grasping the notion that being Irish and gay is also part of their heritage.