I had the pleasure of meeting a relative new community member through the query of our editor for GBMNews. Let me introduce to you Marcus G. May. Marcus works for the AIDS Community Service in Buffalo, NY; he is also the LGBT Community Outreach Specialist. Marcus was kind enough to give GBMNews an interview; he is also the person who spear headed the first ever Buffalo Black Gay Pride.


 

Q. How did the Buffalo Black Pride come about? A. It started with the life changes group and through networking with other social groups, agencies (Pride Center Western NY) and gay houses.
Q. How long did it take to put the pride event together? A. It took approximately 4 mos. This is was done by street outreach, networking, internet annocements and word of mouth.
Q. What was the community reaction? A. We have had mixed reviews, the Caucasians gave the most opposition; they felt why have an identified ethnic specific pride. June 8th was pride day in Buffalo then we (Black Gay Pride) followed out our own on the 26th of July. The Caucasians thought one was enough.
A. What were some of the events that took place? Q. The black pride consisted of several events. Actually, what sparked the pride was that life changes were celebrating its one year anniversary. Everyone else was planning their own separate events, so life changes decided to bring those events together and have one weekend. This in turn started black pride weekend. The events included: meet and greet which was sponsored by (MOCCA), Saturday (life changes celebrated their one year) which was a collaborations of AIDS Community Services, Gay houses of Buffalo and the Ballroom scene. There were a lot of attendees from the Lake Erie area as well as from Buffalo, NY. The event ended Sunday with a Bar-B-Que, approximately 155 men of color attended. The purpose of the pride was to show that there are men of color in the Buffalo area and we wanted to show our pride as well.
A. Did you do any fundraising for the pride? Q. No, no fundraising. The ball was funded and the other events were free to the public.
Q. Tell me about the LGBT community in Buffalo. A. The community is very liberal yet conservative in some ways. There's this division within the race (black) and there's only one black gay bar in Buffalo. For the most part they are willing to change, they are self sufficient and most are employed. One of the goals of life changes is to bring together the community to promote a change in thinking.
Q. What is the plan for next year? A. To be bigger, do more collaboration, network with other agencies in and out of the state.
A. What is the projected date for the next Buffalo Black Gay Pride? Q. It will be an annual thing held on the 26th of July.
Marcus contact info for those who are in or near the Buffalo, NY area is at May @ AIDS Community Services. Com, Phone number is 716 847 0315 x 404