Rufus Wainwright performs; Charity fund raiser a success

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell
Photos by Jason W.Gibson

(New York, NY) - More than 500 people gathered at the Chelsea Art Museum for the Ali Forney Center's annual celebration: A Place at the Table.

Beginning with a tour of the Center's drop-in facility, a few doors down from where the reception was held on Oct 5, the Museum, a ultra-modern triple-level space exhibiting contemporary art, most of which were large mural type abstracts in bold splashes of color; was the locus for cocktails, a silent auction and tastings provided by celebrity chefs from eateries around the city, and awards.

Chair of the AFC Board of Directors, Kyle Merker, said that despite the problems with the economy, AFC is scheduled to open a new homeless shelter facility in Astoria, Queens, which would increase by 58 their overall bed capacity.

above: AFC Exec. Dir. Carl Siciliano  below: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Every night, he said, there is a list of more than 125 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people waiting for beds. He encouraged everyone to raise funds for the Center, by hosting house parties and asking friends for donations. Honored with awards, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilor Lewis Fidler, co-chair of the Council's Health Committee, for their work and commitment to serving and advancing the cause of relief for the city's homeless LGBT youth. Introducing the honorees, AFC Executive Director Carl Siciliano said that Quinn and Fidler have together been instrumental in securing more than $500,000 from discretionary funds. To applause, he added that many of the young people living in the Center's transitional houses are already enrolled in college.

above: Carl Siciliano and Steven Gordon of AFC with reigning king and queen of the Imperial House.  middle: Sandra Bernhardt  below: NYC City Council Speaker C. Quinn and fmr. Lt. Dan Cho.

"I'm frustrated that we have over 100 students waiting for a place with us and I'm appalled by the numbers of young people who are beaten up and abused in their homes, and the thousands of young people are thrown out like trash," Siciliano said. Through the funds obtained by the efforts of Quinn and Fidler in the City Council, he added, the Center was able to provide shelter for close to 300 young people. Accepting her award, Quinn said, "Everyday our job is to make sure that the people who don't register on our radar are people we need to be working for." Acknowledging the recognition of the award, Fidler said that being from Brooklyn, he had to speak his truths, which include stating that 3,800 young people had made the streets their bed for the night, 40 percent of whom are LGBT, and at least 150 of whom have sought shelter in the city's mass transit system, sleeping in rail yards, while others are abused in the sex trade.

above: POZ Magazine founder Sean Strub  below: Rufus Wainwright at piano

Speaking to the audience, Mayor Michael Bloomberg cautioned those who would threaten the way of life of anyone who is LGBT: "If you want to live your life as you want to, you have to be tolerant of others." Bloomberg announced the launch of a new initiative for the hundreds of runaway LGBT youth in the city, a Commission headed by the current Commissioner of the Department of Youth and Community Development, Jeanne Mulgrav, and said that together with Quinn and Lewis Fidler, he would be working to keep the poison of homophobia from infecting others. In reference to the hate crimes bill pending in the state's legislature, Bloomberg said, "Our young people need help and sadly many are not getting it. It is important that the state legislature know that gender equality is beneficial for all, and it's not the government's business who you love or who you live with. Take the government out of this!"

above: Carl Siciliano and Lewis Fidler  below: L-r. NYC City Council Speaker C. Quinn, Dianne Taylor, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with AFC Exec. Dir. Carl Siciliano in background

Calling for greater financial support for the work of the commission, Siciliano said that while many of the young people need the community's help, the LGBT community needs to come out and demonstrate their outrage against the lives these young people are forced to live on the city's streets. "After 13 hearings at City Hall," said Fidler, "it's nice to hear there will be a commission to address this. Cash would be nicer." Fidler said that it's a sad commentary on society when Brittany Spears stepping out of a car is seen without underwear and gets three pages in the newspapers, but homeless LGBT gets less than three column inches of news space. Another guest, former U.S. military Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate who majored in Arabic language and environmental engineering, who was discharged for announcing his sexuality which challenged the "don't ask don't tell" policy, addressing the strength and resilience of many LGBT young people, said, "It's amazing when young people do it. I know the feeling of being displaced and not knowing where you are in life."

above: Celebrity Chef and tasters  middle: Guests at cocktail reception and silent auction. bottom: Guest admiring piece during silent auction.

Toward the end of the evening's program, introduced by Justin Bond, Rufus Wainwright performed a number of selections from his extensive musical repertoire, including pieces from his opera "Prima Donna," a movie, and from his musical adaptations of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

above: Justin Bond  below: Mayor Bloomberg and guests