The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, often called simply The Center, has been a staple of queer life in New York for over 40 years. The Center was founded during the AIDS crisis as a space for LGBTQ people to access resources and be in community. This past Thursday, the Center held its annual dinner to recognize leaders in LGBTQ representation and the fight for LGBTQ rights.
This year, The Center honored Kesha, Ruth Jacks, and Susie Scher with special guest Bob the Drag Queen. Ashlyn Harris, Harper Steele, Crystal Envy, and Lana Ja’Rae were among the many attendees at the dinner. The Autostraddle team chatted with some of the guests on the red carpet about their favorite lesbian movies, their favorite LGBTQ community spaces, and their advice for queer youth.
Bob the Drag Queen’s favorite lesbian movies are Set It Off and But I’m a Cheerleader. Harper Steele said, “Carol, it’s got to be Carol!” Crystal Envy and Lana Ja’Rae chose the first Scream movie. “Sydney Prescott and Tatum, they’re not lesbians, but I feel like they secretly have, like, a little rendezvous once or twice!”
I asked the guests what their favorite queer community spaces are, and Steele said, “My house!”
To queer youth, Envy and Ja’Rae has the following message: “Stay hopeful. Stay strong. Be yourself. Know that you have unity in community.”
“Thank you. We need you,” Steele said in addressing queer youth.
The night began with opening remarks from Allyn Shaw, The Center’s newly announced Board President. “The center is a place that has never backed down from the fight for our freedom, our visibility, and most importantly, our joy,” Shaw said. “Whether you’re looking for direct support, a cultural program, or simply a place to belong, The Center is here. And it has always been right here. Now, let’s not pretend this moment is not easy. Attacks on our community, trans family, our youth, and our very right to exist are rising, but so is our power, our resilience, our community. And the folks in this room, you are not bystanders. You are the movement. You are the moment. And the center stands because of people like you who show that time and time and time again. So tonight isn’t just a celebration. It’s a recommitment to a world where LGBTQ+ people are not only surviving but are thriving.”
Shaw then brought Felicia Lewis to the stage to present the Visionary Award. Lewis introduced the recipient, Ruth Jacks, her long-term partner. Jacks came to the stage with her three young daughters alongside her. “We want our family to stay together forever,” one of the children said into the microphone to Lewis. The crowd gasped and cheered as Jacks got down on one knee. Lewis replied, “I say yes to the dress!”
Jacks gave her acceptance speech after her proposal. Jacks is the daughter of two moms, from whom she “learned a lifetime of love.” She ended her speech with a call to action: “People think you have to be at a certain level to make a difference, but you don’t; every person can make a difference by saying I see you.”
Special guest Commander Emily Shilling spoke next. Shilling is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit Shilling v. Trump, in which Shilling is challenging the current administration’s ban on military service by transgender people, with the assistance of Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign. “Dignity is worth defending every single time,” Shilling told the crowd.
“We are living in dangerous times,” Dr. Carla Smith, the CEO of the Center, added during her remarks. “Let’s not sugarcoat it. We have an administration that has made it their mission to erase us, to strip away our rights, to defund spaces that keep us safe, to make it harder for us to live with dignity. The executive orders levied by this administration are designed to silence, to dismantle, divide, and push us back into the shadows. They have emboldened and given permission to others to vilify our community and to treat us as less than human. They have targeted our funding, our services, our identities, and for our trans siblings, their very existence.”
“So we didn’t hesitate. Here’s the good news. We sued them,” Smith concluded. The crowd erupted into cheers. “The Center has been involved in this fight for 42 years, and we are not backing down now. Our fight is to exist not just as an organization but as human beings who deserve to celebrate who we are.”
After a night of speeches, awards, and even proposals, it was time for the final awardee. Bob the Drag Queen presented the Visionary Award to Kesha, the multi-platinum global pop superstar, actress, activist, and CEO of Kesha Records.
“You’re my community, and this is my safe space to be authentically myself,” Kesha said. “So I’m going to be authentically myself tonight. I’m going to be a little messy, a little exhausted, I’m still healing, I’m pretty cunty most of the time except when I get insecure, sometimes I just get scared.”
“It’s hard to not be scared in these times when we are faced every day with an administration that is challenging our basic human rights and human freedoms,” Kesha continued. “Although I don’t have the answers on how to combat that whole fucking hot mess… I will say one thing with conviction: What we live through makes us stronger and gives us empathy for the person sitting next to us. In the midst of all of the hate, the chaos, and people trying to take away our freedoms, the most political thing we can do is to love ourselves and love one another. So let’s be fucking radical… Thank you for having me be a part of your beautiful community. Our beautiful community. I don’t know where I would be without this community; I never fit in anywhere else. This is my home. And I will fight for each and every one of you and your rights, the same way you have fought for me and stood up for my rights when I needed it. And I will be doing that for the rest of my fucking life!”
You can learn more about The Center’s programs to support LGBTQ life in New York at www.gaycenter.org.
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