CenterPiece
Welcome Home!
If there was any doubt that the Hudson Valley was ready for a full-fledged LGBTQ Community Center, it was unequivocally erased when we opened the doors to our new Center in February. What once felt like a vast empty space felt quite cozy as more than 500 well wishers piled in to celebrate the building’s Grand Opening. As supporters struggled to maneuver through the crowd, one man offered this advice: “Stake your claim, and hold onto it!”
Indeed. Those words apply equally well to the LGBTQ rights movement as a whole, and to this community today. In less than two years time, the idea of a Center crystallized into an organization and the dream materialized into an actual building. 
It has taken a tremendous amount of time, energy, and commitment to get to this point.
As with any story, there are many beginnings. Some will say it started with the first New Paltz Pride March and Festival in 2005. Others place it around the same-sex weddings celebrated a year earlier. But because the Center is made up of hundreds of individuals, each one of us is a part of its origin. The moment we came out, the moment we wished for a place to gather, the moment we dedicated ourselves to changing the world—these were all beginnings.
Fueled by the needs and energies of the community
and led by long-time activist Ginny Apuzzo, the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center slowly but surely became a reality. Over the past two years, a Board of Directors was elected, surveys and outreach meetings were held, and a vision for the Center evolved. Structural measures were taken—by-laws written, 501(c)(3) status obtained, office space rented, grants written, funds raised, and so on. There were also celebrations—1,500 people gathered at the New Paltz Pride March and Festival last June, 200 more came out for the Center’s first educational conference in September, and hundreds have enjoyed movie nights, and recreational activities organized by the Center to further the Center’s mission. 
The movement grew, snowballing as it gathered members, volunteers, and resources. But every community, every movement, every individual needs a place to come home to.
The site committee, led by local realtor Rachel Evans, located an ideal space at 300 Wall Street in the historic Stockade District of Uptown Kingston. The building’s deed goes back to the early 1800s, when it was owned by Congressman and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Charles H. Ruggles, Esq. Ulster County Bank purchased the building in 1831 and the bank operated there through most of the 20th century. It has a 2,000 square-foot common area, a bank vault and kitchen on the ground floor, and meeting rooms and a library on the second floor. 
While board member Ted Hayes jokingly appreciates the bank vault for the “safe space” it provides, it is equally meaningful that this bank, unlike many others, survived the Great Depression. Indeed, we are all here because we have survived, and we crave a safe space in which to grow. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Apuzzo proudly declared: “To those of you who are here to wish us well, let me say welcome. To those of you who are members of the LGBTQ community, let me say welcome home!”
On opening day, the energy of this community was evident. Representing a number of elected officials in attendance, State Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, who grew up in Kingston, wished the Center well and thanked us for bringing vibrancy back to uptown Kingston. The vast range of age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and gender identity was noticeable all around—a vivid symbol of the great diversity of our community.
Apuzzo said that we, as a community, have too often “allowed our experiences [of discrimination] to deprive us of our sense of potential.” But when people are aware of potential, and dedicate themselves to it, great things can happen, as evidenced by this Center. Apuzzo sees the Center as part of “where the movement as a whole is going, that is, from urban centers to Main Street, USA,” and she challenged the community to “bring its hopes, aspirations, dreams, and needs.”
By cutting the ribbon and opening our doors, we have officially staked our claim. Our task now is to hold onto it. The Center now has a building, but the Center is not a building. It is a community. The Grand Opening was a great accomplishment, and also an invitation: Come, join us, make this dream a reality, and then dream some more.
The Center is more than 900 members proud. The programs committee has received dozens of emails with suggestions, and created new ways to utilize the space, including men’s and women’s discussion groups, youth groups, programming for the transgender community, the new CenterFamily, and a regular coffeehouse. Other organizations, like PFLAG Kingston, have sprung up because there is a building where they may safely meet. A library and archive have been established and soon we will celebrate the 3rd New Paltz Pride March and Festival. Our programs committee is busy planning our second annual Come OUT Find OUT conference in September, as well as other other events and activities to raise awareness of the Center. Volunteer needs continue to grow and the Cornerstone Campaign is raising funds to pay off the mortgage so the building can be ours “for keeps.”
The building is solid, its history is secure, its present is vibrant, but its future remains open to possibility. Wanna’ get in on the ground floor of a dream? Δ
- J. B. McNeil