VCS Gay Pride Rockland Hopes To Show All Sides Of LGBT Community

When some people think of gay pride events, they think of over-the-top celebrations. But staff members of Volunteer Clinical Services Gay Pride Rockland believe their gay pride events should demonstrate the fact that this showy side is only one portion of the LGBT community.

“We were aware that the images coming out of pride events that get shown by the media across the country depict a very flamboyant part of the gay community very often, and that is a beloved part of our community, but it is not our whole community, not by any stretch,” said Phyllis B. Frank, director of Gay Pride Rockland and assistant executive director for Volunteer Counseling Services in New City. “The wholeness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community […] looks very much like the heterosexual community with a range of people from every corner of our county […] and that the purpose of our pride event would be to affirm that, acknowledge that, and expose the entire community to that idea.”

Indeed, in  1999 Gay Pride Rockland was founded to help create a gay pride event in Rockland that would appeal to all members of the LGBT community. The first event, called, “Gay Pride Rockland - It’s Not a Parade - It’s an Event for Everyone,” was held that June, which is Gay Pride Month across the country, and had more than 1000 attendees. The organization has been growing ever since and today has over 100 co-sponsors, according to its website.

This June’s festivities included an artist reception and juried art exhibit and sale at the Rockland Center for the Arts in West Nyack and includes today's LBGT pride celebration at the Riverspace parking lot along Main Street in Nyack.

The art exhibit has been part of the festivities for around the last seven years.  The gala featured around 60 artists, including featured artists Inner Light Crystal, made up of New City residents David Sugar and Carol Iselin. They are known around the world for their crystal and glass etchings. Some notable collectors of their work included former Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, singers Madonna and Barbara Streisand, and comedians Bill Cosby and Rosie O’Donnell. Their work has also been featured in numerous museums, including the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C, and the Permanent Art Collection at the United Nations in New York City.

“What’s really powerful, especially looking at the artist exhibit, is seeing the diversity of artists who submit work,” said Joseph Coe, Community Organizer and Liason for Gay Pride Rockland. “Young people, older people, people of color, men, women, people that are lesbian, gay, bi, and trans, so that really shows how that is our community, that we’re in every part of every community.”

The LBGT pride celebration itself takes place today from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fitting in with the organization’s theme of celebrating the various kinds of people within the LGBT community, the event will feature entertainment that will appeal to different segments of society. The family-friendly celebration will include children’s activities like face painting, arts and crafts, and a giant slide. For the adults in attendance there will be various vendors selling products and discussing different non-profit organizations in the area.

The celebration will also feature two special guest groups. The first is Soul Street Dance Company, a hip hop dance crew based in Texas. Diana Wilkins, the LGBT Program Coordinator for Gay Pride Rockland, found video of the group online and thought it would be perfect for the event because it appeals to so many different segments of the community. This is because while the members are hip hop dancers, the music they use ranges from classic to disco to Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. After their performance the members will also hold a hip hop dancing workshop for guests of all ages.

“We felt like this was the perfect group of people, because we want to appeal to every segment of the community, because we want every segment to know that we know that there are LGBTQ people everywhere, and we need freedom for everyone,” said Frank. “So that’s why this particular group appealed to us, because they are going to appeal to everyone.”

The other featured performer is the Lavender Light Gospel Choir the Black and People of All Colors Lesbian and Gay Gospel Choir, who also participated in the Gay Pride Rockland celebration in 2000. The mixed gender choir was founded in 1985 and is the only LGBT gospel choir in the world, according to a press release from Gay Pride Rockland.

Local officials scheduled to attend include New York State Assembly members Ellen Jaffee and Kenneth Zebrowski, New York State Sen. David Carlucci, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, and Clarkstown Town Council members Stephanie Hausner and Shirley Lasker, and Rockland County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell.

“We hear from community members this is going to be a year that the LGBT community feels like there is a specific space for us, that we feel that there is a time where we can come together, we can celebrate our diversity, we can celebrate all the wonderful things that we do throughout the year, and we also can raise our consciousness on issues that are affecting us each day,” said Coe. “Which is why this year I’m sure many of the elected officials will be talking about contemporary issues such as marriage equality and how “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” was ended, and all of these different social justice issues they’ve been working on as a community throughout the year. “

Various local religious leaders will also be speaking at the event. In past years these leaders have includes rabbis, Protestant pastors, and officials from Roman Catholic, Unitarian and Presbyterian churches.

Besides raising awareness and serving as a form of pride for the LGBT community, the event will also serve to raise money for Volunteer Counseling Services. This money is especially needed today, as the agency has faced thousands of dollars in cuts from the federal, state and local governments over the past several years.

Volunteer Counseling Services (VCS) is a non-profit organization in Rockland that provides various community, counseling, and social justice programs. These programs include student advocacy, adolescent services, parenting classes, separation/divorces services, a support group for caregivers, and services for older adults and their families, including a foster grandparent program.  Gay Pride Rockland was founded as part of VCS’ Community Change Project, which analyzes the conditions leading  to various forms of oppression, including domestic violence, racism, sexism, and bias-related incidents.

Gay Pride Rockland initially was solely focused on creating the gay pride celebration during the month of June, but it has since expanded and now includes events throughout the year.  This past year they have had visits from several LGBT authors, including Anton Nimblett, who read his collection “Sections of an Orange” at the Nyack Library in February. The organization has also featured several comedy nights with LGBT comics and earlier this month presented a show from the performing artist duo Climbing PoeTree, who focus on themes of social justice in their work.

For more information on Gay Pride Rockland, visit their website at www.gaypriderockland.org, and for more information on VCS go to www.vcs-ing.org.