A rainbow flag, doused by rain but still flying proud, was hoisted up a flagpole in front of Bronx County Courthouse on the Grand Concourse by officials, including Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, amid cheers and applause, as Pride Month was officially launched in The Bronx. The sidewalk was filled with joyous smiles on Thursday, June 2, after a ceremony marking the beginning of the month-long celebration was held inside the courthouse during which numerous, prominent LGBTQIA+ activists from the borough were honored for their work.

 

During the ceremony, a tradition started by Gibson’s predecessor, former Bronx borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr., the new head of the borough’s LGBTQIA+ task force, Alexis Ruiz, was announced.

Several honorees were named at the opening Pride ceremony, from business owners like Carlos Cortes, of the Chocobar Cortes brand, to youth leaders like Jaisen Garcia-Castillo, who works in prevention services and outreach at Destination Tomorrow, the borough’s dedicated LGBTQIA+ center, headquartered on the third floor at 452 East 149th Street in Mott Haven. Others included Lailani Muniz, chief operations officer at New York Transgender Bodybuilding Federation, Mx. B Hawk Snipes, entrepreneur, social activist, entertainer, and model.

 

Throughout the ceremony, it was clear the courthouse room was filled with eager leaders of various organizations and passionate supporters of Gibson. “It’s crazy for us because we’ve been longtime supporters of Vanessa’s,” said Grace Detrevarah, LGBT liaison & senior reentry peer & health facilitator at the Osborne Association, which serves individuals, families, and communities affected by the criminal justice system. She showed us an old picture of herself with Gibson.

 

Detrevarah’s aunt, Patricia Martin, agreed, saying she was also a longtime Gibson supporter. Asked her opinion about interactions between Bronxites in general and the LGBTQIA+ community, Martin said, “The Bronx is just as accepting as any other borough.”

 

In light of recent anti-LGBT sentiment in different parts of the country and the recent, so-called, “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida, Norwood News asked Gibson about some preconceptions that The Bronx is not an accepting place for the LGBTQIA+ community. “I feel like it’s gotten a lot better,” she said.

She added, “I think The Bronx was historically known as a borough that is not that progressive when it comes to LGBTQIA+ rights, and I think over the years, as you see more LGBT candidates run for office [and get elected], we have been able to celebrate the community in a real tangible way.”

 

There were, in any event, no complications with the opening Pride ceremony other than the weather. Pride flags of various shapes and forms were waved around by cheerful onlookers who clapped and cheered loudly, while others cried amid the retelling of some touching stories and award presentations.

 

Aside from the scheduled awards, there were a few people who were honored on the day as a surprise, like Sean Ebony Coleman for his ongoing work in the borough as executive director of Destination Tomorrow. Dirk McCall, director of Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District (BID) was also surprised with an award. The John Wade Memorial Award, named after the late LGBTQIA political activist, who McCall greatly admired and had been friends with, was particularly emotional for the honoree.

 

“I knew John Wade for many years,” McCall said. “John Wade was somebody, when I was a young leader, who was very helpful in telling me what I was doing right, and what I should do differently. He was a real inspiration. John was somebody who really set the parameters for how to be a LGBT political organizer,” he added.

 

McCall has worked in The Bronx at three different times, but it was his work on launching the LGBTQIA+ task force, together with Diaz Jr., for which he was honored at the ceremony.

 

“We had a seat at the table,” McCall said. “One of our goals was to keep the new LGBT center, Destination Tomorrow, the successor center to the Bronx Community Pride Center, involved with everything we did. We had the Third Avenue BID working with us. We did everything together. We did work on immigration issues, mental health, and how to combat all sorts of issues. Vanessa’s going to do a lot more of that. The work is going to continue.”

 

As for that ongoing work, itself, Gibson, in her prepared remarks, also spoke of the desire to decriminalize sex work, a situation which she said impacted a large number of both LGBTQIA+ community members and Bronxites in general. She also expressed her wish to protect healthcare and primary care, and to continue providing shelters for homeless LGBTQIA+ members, especially youth.

 

Throughout Pride month, there will also be a specific Pride Week celebration in The Bronx, starting Tuesday, June 14, and ending with a Pride Festival from noon to 6 p.m. at Westchester Avenue between Brook Avenue and Bergen Avenue.

 

Gibson hosted a further Pride event on June 15 at Rosa’s at the Park, located at 2568 Park Avenue in Mott Haven, with Destination Tomorrow, which she said was more of a celebratory party event.

 

“We’re going to have very little speaking because we did that at the Pride flag raising event, and we’re going to acknowledge the LGBT leaders and the staff,” she said on June 2. “We’re going to talk about the awardees, then we’re just going to party! I think it’s important in the post-COVID-19 world, where we were isolated for two years, to have some fun!”

 

The borough president concluded the opening ceremony, saying, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” Meanwhile, as Rev. Vanessa Brown, who was also present at the event, said in her benediction, “Closets are for brooms, not people.”

 

We're leading the way in the fight for our LGBTQ+ community. Join me for an important announcement in the Bronx. https://t.co/TYGwnkH3Os

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 17, 2022

As reported, in April, at the relaunch of the Bronx LGBTQIA+ Taskforce, a concerted effort was made to raise more awareness of a concerning trend in HIV infection rates, ticking upwards, especially within the transgender community. The goal of the relaunch was to bring together experts, advocates, and community leaders and to improve health outcomes in the communities that have been most affected by HIV, which according to the CDC, are “Black/African American people,” as well as “Hispanic/Latino people” who “are also strongly affected.”

 

On Friday, June 17, Mayor Eric Adams visited The Bronx to announce new funding to address the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly for LGBTQIA+ youth.

 

*Síle Moloney and Miriam Quiñones contributed to this story