BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When it comes to helping people in the LGBTQ+ community, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center wants it known it's just not an Allentown nonprofit.
So the center on Saturday held a community day at the Charles A. Brown Ice House in Bethlehem that included a town hall and a live musical performance by local artist and LGBTQ+ activist Dina Hall.
- Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center held a community day in Bethlehem
- Staff said it wants to be known for more than just Allentown
- The panel discussion touched on education, health care, arts and youth
“The Lehigh Valley is not just Allentown,” Christian Orr, senior events manager for the center, said. “It is Easton, it is Bethlehem, it is Nazareth, it is other places besides Allentown."
"So having a community day here at the Ice House in Bethlehem is really important to us because it’s going to help change that reputation.”
Bradbury-Sullivan Executive Director Ashley Coleman and Hall participated in the town hall, which discussed how the group could better serve the Bethlehem LGBTQ community.
The other panelists included Project Silk Lehigh Valley Director Chloe Cole-Wilson and Ariel Torres, associate director of The Pride Center at Lehigh University.
Making sure the story's remembered
Torres said he believes he was asked to participate in part because he used to be the programs manager for the center. He’s also a drag performer, whose stage name is Electra Fearce St James. He’s performed for about 17 years.
“I’m thankful that for situations like this," he said. "My community still looks to me as a voice and I appreciate the platform and I’m humbled by it."
The panel discussed several issues, including arts and culture, youth services, health care and connecting older LGBTQ people in Lehigh Valley together in a healthy way.
“We are the only ones that are going to be teaching this history to our kids if legislation keeps moving in the direction that it is."Ashley Coleman, executive director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
One question centered around how to better serve LGBTQ youth in the area.
Coleman said Bradbury-Sullivan has discussed creating art activities, such as theater shows featuring queer stories. She said it also has talked about creating fun programming around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM education.
Coleman said it’s essential Bradbury-Sullivan in the next few years expand the archives and gather more oral histories, pictures and documents. She said the public education system is failing to teach queer history.
According to the Movement Advancement Project, which tracks LGBTQ+ policy throughout the country, eight states, most of them in the South, censor discussions or issues of queer people in school.
“We are the only ones that are going to be teaching this history to our kids if legislation keeps moving in the direction that it is,” Coleman said. “So it’s our responsibility, so let’s do it together.”
Health care and community events
The panel also talked about health care. Coleman said LBGTQ youth and adults in Bethlehem who need safe and gender-affirming care can use the center’s referral service to find the medical providers they need.
“But we need to, one, add to that referrals list,” she said. “So if you know safe folks and you know folks who are affirming, even if they are really small businesses, let’s get them onto our referrals list.”
“Being an elder is not something that happens just because you get old. It’s earned. Being an elder is someone who is imparting knowledge, has done work in our movement, has cared for other people, that stood at the bedsides during the HIV and AIDS crisis.”Bradbury-Sullivan Executive Director Ashley Coleman
Torres said many people who are not LGBTQ don’t realize how important it can be to have a provider who understands gender-affirming health care.
“They think, ‘A doctor’s a doctor and can help anybody,’” he said. “That’s because your needs are met and you don’t know what mine are.”
Coleman also suggested creating more events and reunions for older LGBTQ people around the Lehigh Valley so different generations to connect and learn from each other.
The events would not be centered around alcohol or other substances.
“Being an elder is not something that happens just because you get old,” she said. “It’s earned. Being an elder is someone who is imparting knowledge, has done work in our movement, has cared for other people, that stood at the bedsides during the HIV and AIDS crisis.”
Hall said Ice House is an underutilized space and hopes more people will use it to bring all kinds of arts, culture and programming to the Bethlehem community.
