Bronx Bureau | 06/13/2013
As much as it was about supporting the Bronx gay community, a Friday press conference — sponsored by the new LGBTQ Community Center of the Bronx, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and State Senator Jose Serrano — was about introspection.
Diaz, a Puerto Rican, called out the Latino community for nurturing homophobia responsible for hate crimes. District 15 City Council candidate Cynthia Tompkins, a mixed-race lesbian, criticized the white and black communities for not accepting her and faulted lesbians in general for not participating strongly in the movement. And Rev. James Dusenbury criticized the faith community for rejecting its own followers because of their sexuality.
“Today, I look at what is going on in our LGBT community and I am frustrated, I am looking for justice, I am seeking equality,” Thompkins said. “To hear about my community being beaten and killed—a place where we are supposed to feel so safe, and now we are so scared to even walk alone or even in pairs. We shouldn’t have to live like that. We aren’t going to live like that.”
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Naomi Cohen | journalist 