Undaunted by rain, the fourth
annual Pride and Solidarity March & BBQ drew some 150 people to the office of Make the Road New York in Brooklyn’s
Bushwick section on June 20.
"Thank you for being here is
spite of the rain," said Karina
Claudia,
the organizer for Globe, a project of Make the Road, a social justice group, as marchers prepared to step
off in front of the group’s office.
Chanting "We’re here, we’re
queer, we’re fabulous, get used to it" and other similar refrains, the group
took about 45 minutes to walk roughly 30-blocks and end up back at the Make the Road office. The chants and the marchers themselves, who donned ponchos of
different colors that matched the balloon bouquets they carried, drew people to
the front doors of buildings and the windows of their apartments. The march was
greeted with some cheering and applause, just as many blank stares, and no
hostility.
"It lets the people of
Bushwick know that there are homosexuals and transgendered people here," said
Omotayo France, 19, a Globe member. "It also tries to wind down the homophobia
here."
In 2008, Jose O. Sucuzhanay,
a straight Ecuadorian immigrant, was attacked just blocks from Make the Road’s office along with his brother, Romel, by two men who allegedly yelled
anti-gay and anti-immigrant slurs. Jose suffered severe head injuries and died.
Two men, Keith Phoenix, 29, and Hakim Scott, 26, are charged with multiple
counts of second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault, and attempted assault,
some of those charged as hate crimes. If found guilty, they could face a
minimum sentence of 78-years-to-life in prison.
Globe was formerly known as Gays and Lesbians of Bushwick Empowered,
but changed its name to Globe: A
Group To Support and To Empower the Bushwick LGBT Community in order to be more inclusive. Globe
has also expanded geographically, with some 100 to 200 members in Brooklyn,
Queens, and Staten Island.
"You got to show pride," said
Annabel Salmeron, a 19-year-old member from Queens.
"You got to let people know that being gay and lesbian, it’s just a normal
thing."
Salmeron’s friend Marcela,
17, said, "We’re basically here supporting Globe. Globe is part of what unites us."
A contingent from the
Manhattan-based FIERCE!, or Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for
Community Empowerment, a group that works on behalf of LGBT youth, also joined
the march.